SOCIETY 375

We have to aim
for the moon
SOCIETY spoke with the Swedish Ambassador
H.E. Mikaela Kumlin Granit about the
Swedish stance on gender equality.
For your work as Ambassador of Sweden
to Austria and the United Nations,
what takes up most of your time?
I have to follow up what happens
domestically, politically and economically
here in Austria. You have a very
dynamic political direction, especially
within the field of the European Union.
Then of course, I am working on strengthening
the relations with Austria and
the Austrian society and businesses.
There is a large curiosity and interest
here for Swedish societal solutions and
the implementation of the sustainable
development goals. In this regard, there
is a lot of exchange happening. The
upcoming year, I will focus a lot on the
IAEA because Sweden is nominated to
chair the board.
In 2014, Sweden proclaimed the “first
feminist government worldwide”, with
gender equality being a central priority.
How important is it to strive for this
equality and what kind of impact can
it have on a country and its society?
It was our foreign minister Margot
Wallström who launched the feminist
foreign policy. This policy is based on
what we call “the three R’s”: First, the
rights – we think that equality is not
only a women’s right but a human
right and something the whole society
can profit from. The second one is
representation: pushing for women’s
representation in everything from pa-
Fotos: SOCIETY/Prokoffief
WOMEN AMBASSADORS
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