□ The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (Minister Lee Jung-ok) concluded an MOU on December 18 with the Ministry of Employment of Sweden for cooperation and policy exchanges for the improvement of gender equality. 
 ㅇ The MOU is aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two nations for the realization of gender equality as well as an embracing society, taking the visit of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven of Sweden to Korea as an opportunity.

□ The MOU is the second MOU signed by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family with the department in charge of gender equality in Nordic countries following the conclusion of an MOU with Finland in June of this year.
 ㅇ The major contents of the MOU are: sharing of performances of policies related to gender equality; personnel exchanges of the people in charge of gender equality policies and experts; and joint operation of lectures and education programs as well as cooperation in international conferences such as global forums on gender equality and UN Commission on the Status of Women.

□ Sweden is implementing policies for gender equality with a secretary in charge of gender equality in the Ministry of Employment and improving gender equality by grasping the reality of inequality based on gender, ethnicity, etc. through the equality ombudsman system.
 ㅇ In particular, Sweden introduced in 1974 the childcare leave system and in the early 1990s the “daddy quota” that allows 30 days’ paternity leave so that both the dad and the mom can take care of the baby while keeping their jobs.
 ㅇ As such, the parents of a new baby can have a total of 480 days of childcare leave (240 days for each parent), and one of the parents should use at least 90 days for the activation of the childcare leave system.

□ Owing to the implementation of such policies for gender equality, childcare policies, etc., Sweden is making great achievements in women’s participation in economic activities as the No. 1 in the glass-ceiling index* among the 29 member nations of OECD.
    * Glass-ceiling index: The index used for the evaluation of the opportunity of women to be treated equally at the workplace by putting together the ratio of women managers and BOD members, gender gap in wage, employment ratio of women, etc. A higher score in the glass-ceiling index means higher gender equality.
 ㅇ The percentage of women ministers is 54.5%, with congresswomen accounting for 47.3% (as of January 2019); thus making Sweden a leading country in increasing women’s representativeness.

□ In particular, the year 2020 will mark the 25th anniversary of adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and the 20th anniversary of adoption of UN Security Council Resolution No. 1325. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is also planning to implement various commemorative programs including hosting international conferences in order to publicize the results of implementation of policies for gender equality to the world.
 ㅇ In addition, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will strengthen cooperation with the international society for the discovery and execution of joint programs using the recent MOU with Sweden.

◆ Comparison of the major statistics of Korea and Sweden in relation to gender equality◆

□ 2019 Gender Gap Index (GGI) 
 ㅇ (Concept) Index announced by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is used for grasping the level of gender equality with the disparities between genders in economy, politics, and health 
 ㅇ (Score) 0 – complete inequality / 1 – complete equality

□ 2019 Gender Inequality Index (GII)
 ㅇ (Concept) Index used for the measurement of loss of human development caused by gender inequality in health, empowerment, and labor market through the Human Development Report published by UNDP
 ㅇ (Score) 0 – No inequality / 1 – Complete inequality

□ Status of advancement of women in political areas (IPU, as of Jan. 1, 2019)

□ Glass-ceiling index (Economist, 2018)
 ㅇ (Concept) Index used for the evaluation of opportunity for women to be treated equally at the workplace by putting together the ratio of women managers and BOD members, employment rate of women, etc. (2018, survey of 29 nations)

□ Economic activity, employment, and employment rate of women

□ OECD Better Life Index (2017)
 ㅇ (Concept) Index showing the level of well-being in each nation in 11 areas including work-life balance, dwelling, income, and environment (2017, survey of 35 nations)