The Women's Table #3 was held yesterday evening in Gröndalshús. Women of different origin and different level came together and discussed literature in Icelandic. Karítas Hrundar Pálsdóttir gave us a presentation about her books Árstíðir and Dagatal, stories for learners, and answered our questions. We then discussed the topic "Literature to learn Icelandic. What do we need?" We thank deeply Karítas Hrundar Pálsdóttir. Her work is very important to us. We cannot wait to see what she does next! Here it is possible to get Árstíðir ebook and audio. We also thank deeply Reykjavík Bókmenntaborg UNESCO for this incredible space. An amazing evening in a unique place! We need more evenings like this. Let's keep on supporing each other!

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Kvennaborðið #3 var haldið í gærkvöldi í Gröndalshús. Konur af mismunandi uppruna og mismunandi stigi komu saman og ræddu um bókmenntir á íslensku. Karítas Hrundar Pálsdóttir flutti kynningu um bækurnar hennar Árstíðir og Dagatal, sögur á einföldu máli, og svaraði spurningum okkar. Við ræddum síðan um "Bókmenntir til að læra íslensku. Hvað vantar okkur?" Við þökkum Karítas Hrund Pálsdóttur innilega. Verkefni hennar er mjög mikilvægt. Við hökklum til sjá hvað hún gerir næst! Hér er hægt að kaupa Árstíðir - hljóðbók og rafbók frá Unu útgáfuhúsi. Við þökkum Reykjavík Bókmenntaborg UNESCO innilega fyrir rýmið. Ótrúlegt kvöld á fallegum stað! Við þurfum fleiri svona kvöld. Höldum áfram að styðja hvert annað!

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Samtök kvenna af erlendum uppruna á Íslandi gagnrýna harðlega ummæli sem fram komu í dag í viðtali sem Sólveig Jónsdóttir formaður Eflingar birti á Rúv . Það er mikilvægt að hafa í huga að hún er formaður stærsta stéttarfélags á Íslandi sem er með stærsta hlutfall félagsmanna af erlendum uppruna. Yfirlýsingin er skaðleg áratugalangri baráttu okkar sem hafa flutt hingað til Íslands um að fá aukinn aðgang að vönduðum íslenskunámskeiðum af hendi atvinnurekenda. Gagnvirk aðlögun (integration) á vinnumarkaði er í mörgum tilfellum forsenda fyrir samfélagslegri aðlögun. Stuðningur á vinnumarkaði við að sækja vönduð tungumálanámskeið er lykillinn að gagnvirkri aðlögun í samfélaginu og þróun á vinnumarkaði almennt. Margir starfsmenn af erlendum uppruna fá hvorki aðstoð né raunverulegan aðgang að íslenskunámi frá vinnuveitendum sem oft krefjast lágmarks íslenskukunnáttu. Fyrirheit um stuðning og aukið aðgengi að íslenskunámskeiðum á vinnustöðum myndi styðja að fullu framför upp á við fyrir fólk af erlendum uppruna, sem tekur oftast við störfum sem eru undir menntunar eða fyrri starfsreynslu. Við mótmælum því harðlega að eftirspurn eftir íslenskunámskeiðum fyrir starfsfólk af erlendum uppruna komi frá menntaelítu. Raunveruleikinn er sá að hann kemur í flestum tilfellum beint frá okkur. Við vonum svo sannarlega að þau stéttarfélög sem berjast fyrir jöfnum launum og jafnrétti á vinnumarkaði, skilji gildi þess að veita okkur jafnan aðgang að íslenskri tungu auk sveigjanleika og stuðningi vinnuveitenda við að læra hana. Í könnun sem gerð var af Samtökum kvenna af erlendum uppruna á Íslandi, sem birt var árið 2021, drógu niðurstöður okkar áherslu á málefni sem konur af erlendum uppruna sögðu að væru þeim mikilvæg. Við hvöttum yfirvöld, hjá vinnuveitendum, ríkinu og sveitarfélög til að taka mark á og bregðast við þessum niðurstöðum okkar. Mikilvægasta aðgerð sem hægt væri að ráðist í myndi tengjast stuðningi við aðgang að vönduðum íslenskunámskeiðum. Yfirgnæfandi fjöldi svarenda óskaði eftir stuðningi við íslenskukennslu þar sem þeir töldu að það myndi hafa beinar afleiðingar fyrir efnahags- og samfélagsvöxt ef ekkert væri gert í því. Ef ekki er brugðist við myndi það áfram hafa áhrif á konur af erlendum uppruna sem upplifa ójöfnuð í samfélaginu. Samtök kvenna af erlendum uppruna á Íslandi mælir eindregið með því að forysta stéttarfélaga með félagsmenn af erlendum uppruna geri rannsóknir meðal félagsmanna, af erlendum upprunna, til að ákvarða hversu mikilvægur stuðningur atvinnurekenda á íslensku er. Stéttarfélögum sem þiggja háar fjárhæðir félagsgjalda frá félagsmönnum af erlendum uppruna, á að vera skylt að gera sér grein fyrir ábyrgð sinni í að styðja við jafnrétti á vinnumarkaði og raunveruleg tækifæri til árangurs á íslenskum vinnumarkaði fyrir starfsmenn af fjölbreyttum uppruna. Það er okkur mikil ánægja að sjá fræðimenn úr íslenska menntakerfinu loksins standa með okkur í að viðurkenna þá skyldu vinnumarkaðarins að styðja við víðtækari aðgang að tækifærum til að læra íslenska tungu. Auk þess vonum við innilega að yfirlýsing okkar verði tekin til greina af forystu beggja megin samningaborðsins í kjarasamningaviðræðum. Read more

W.O.M.E.N In Iceland strongly disagrees with the comments made today in an interview published on Rúv by Sólveig Jónsdóttir Chair of Efling . It is important to note that she is the head of perhaps the largest union in Iceland, representing the largest number of employees of foreign origin. The statement is harmful to the decade-long struggle for foreigners living in Iceland to receive increased access to quality Icelandic courses on behalf of employers. Job market integration is in many instances critical to societal integration. Support from the labour market in accessing quality language courses is key to integration in society and job market development. Many employees of foreign origin are not provided with assistance or genuine access to learning Icelandic by employers who often require a minimum amount of Icelandic skills. The promise of support and increased access to Icelandic courses in the workplace would fully support upward mobility for people of foreign origin, who most often accept jobs below their educational or prior work experiences. We strongly object to the idea that the demand for Icelandic courses being provided by employees comes from educational elites. Reality is it comes in most cases directly from us. We certainly hope that the very unions fighting for equal wages and equal rights in the job market should understand the value of allowing us equal access to the Icelandic language in addition to the flexibility and support from our employers in learning it. In a survey conducted by W.O.M.E.N in Iceland published in 2021 our findings highlighted issues women of foreign origin expressed to be of vital importance to them. We encouraged both national and local authorities to take note of and respond to these issues with proactive initiatives. The foremost import initiative related to the demand for support in accessing quality Icelandic courses. An overwhelming number of respondents requested support for Icelandic language tuition, as they felt it would have direct consequences for economic and societal growth. If not addressed, it would continue to have repercussions for women of foreign origin who experience inequality and a lack of access to upward mobility in the job market and in society. W.O.M.E.N in Iceland highly recommends that leadership of unions with members of foreign origin conduct research among their members of foreign origin to determine just how important Icelandic language support by employers is. Unions that receive vast amounts of membership fees from members of foreign origin are obliged to realize their responsibility in supporting labour market equality and genuine opportunity for success in the Icelandic labour market for employees of diverse backgrounds.  We are very glad to see members from the Icelandic Education realm finally stand with us in recognizing the obligation of the labour market in supporting wider access to opportunities to learn the Icelandic language. Additionally, we sincerely hope that our statement will be taken to account by leadership on both sides of the negotiation table in collective wage agreement negotiations. Read more

For the past three years W.O.M.E.N in Iceland has participated in a collaborative project forming the The Rede de Pares Network. We were asked to participate through an Open Call#4 ‘Projects to improve the protection of victims of violence against women and domestic violence, promoted by ISPA – APPsyCI, funded by the EAA Grants. Organization like ours from Iceland (being one of the sponsoring countries) are asked to take on a role limited in scope related to shared dialogue training and the opportunity for shared practices in the civil action area. This project was operated by the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (IIC), in a partnership between the university and the community, aimed at promoting social justice and the best articulation of systems to respond to violence against women.

The project has four partners, local and community-based associations in Portugal dedicated to supporting migrant, older and rural women, who act in a logic of proximity, have a fundamental role in the identification of these women: the Cabo-Verdiana Association of Setúbal, Casa do Brasil de Lisboa and Taipa in Portugal and WOMEN of Iceland.

The EEA Grants are a multiannual financial mechanism representing the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway to reducing disparities in the European Economic Area (EEA) and strengthening bilateral relations with 15 EU countries located in Central and Southern Europe and with greater deviations from the European average gross domestic product per capita. The EEA Grants also contribute to strengthening Europe’s core values such as democracy, tolerance, and the rule of law. This is a project that aims to generate new opportunities for survivors of violence in its various manifestations, including domestic violence, gender violence, harassment and/or discrimination. The Rede de Pares aims to empower and facilitate the civic participation of these women through the creation of a Peer Network – an innovative tool for the intervention and prevention of Gender Violence. Peer groups bring together women survivors of violence who want to make their views on how to develop and implement best practices, policies, and services more visible – supporting them to become self-representatives, and to be able, through their experiences, to transform the political, and social system and eradicate violence against women. Additional information about the project available here: https://redepares.eu/en

The final project conference was held September 9th and 10th at Ispa- University Insititute in Portugal under the heading „Gender violence, activism and leadership “. Nichole Leigh Mosty, participated via Zoom in two panels on behalf of W.O.M.E.N in Iceland. The presentation slides are readily made available here below. Read more

For the past three years W.O.M.E.N in Iceland has participated in a collaborative project forming the The Rede de Pares Network. We were asked to participate through an Open Call#4 ‘Projects to improve the protection of victims of violence against women and domestic violence, promoted by ISPA – APPsyCI, funded by the EAA Grants. Organization like ours from Iceland (being one of the sponsoring countries) are asked to take on a role limited in scope related to shared dialogue training and the opportunity for shared practices in the civil action area. This project was operated by the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (IIC), in a partnership between the university and the community, aimed at promoting social justice and the best articulation of systems to respond to violence against women.

The project has four partners, local and community-based associations in Portugal dedicated to supporting migrant, older and rural women, who act in a logic of proximity, have a fundamental role in the identification of these women: the Cabo-Verdiana Association of Setúbal, Casa do Brasil de Lisboa and Taipa in Portugal and WOMEN of Iceland.

The EEA Grants are a multiannual financial mechanism representing the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway to reducing disparities in the European Economic Area (EEA) and strengthening bilateral relations with 15 EU countries located in Central and Southern Europe and with greater deviations from the European average gross domestic product per capita. The EEA Grants also contribute to strengthening Europe’s core values such as democracy, tolerance, and the rule of law. This is a project that aims to generate new opportunities for survivors of violence in its various manifestations, including domestic violence, gender violence, harassment and/or discrimination. The Rede de Pares aims to empower and facilitate the civic participation of these women through the creation of a Peer Network – an innovative tool for the intervention and prevention of Gender Violence. Peer groups bring together women survivors of violence who want to make their views on how to develop and implement best practices, policies, and services more visible – supporting them to become self-representatives, and to be able, through their experiences, to transform the political, and social system and eradicate violence against women. Additional information about the project available here: https://redepares.eu/en

The final project conference was held September 9th and 10th at Ispa- University Insititute in Portugal under the heading „Gender violence, activism and leadership “. Nichole Leigh Mosty, participated via Zoom in two panels on behalf of W.O.M.E.N in Iceland. The presentation slides are readily made available here below. Read more