Iceland’s Foreign Minister defends his UN 'men-only' conference
Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson. UN Photo/Kim Haughton
Iceland’s Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson has defended what his critics dubbed a "men-only" UN conference on gender equality, arguing "we all need a seat at the table" in the discussion.
The so-called Barbershop Conference, due to be convened at the UN headquarters in January, attracted criticism almost immediately after it was announced.
Many accused Mr Sveinsson of simply taking the barbershop, a space its own website describes as a place where “behaviours and attitudes about gender relations, including what it means to be a man, are learned and reinforced”, and providing it with a bigger platform from which to continue.
Answering his critics in an interview with The Independent, Mr Sveinsson explained most of the negative reactions he received as a “miss-understanding” over whether women would have a place at the conference.
Instead of being banned from the conference, he claimed women were welcome to attend all Barbershop seminars and workshops.
Mr Sveinsson said: “What is a barbershop? It’s a place where men meet, where they get their hair cut or beard cut. What do they discuss? Politics, probably women and you know, their status and so on.
“We want to take the barbershop into a bigger room. Think of these typical stereotypes that are discussed in a locker room or barbershop - we have to try to change the discussion that we have in there.”
