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<p>UN is a non-governmental organization which should promote gender equality within the organization. It is an organization which is based on human rights and claims that in order to solve the problem of poverty, famine and development we need to promote women’s status. In Sweden there is a strong tradition of gender balanced representation at the governmental level and this perspective raise the question if there is a spill-over effect to the civil society as in the case of a non-governmental organization. This makes it interesting to look at if a non-governmental organization which is not under state control work for gender equality within their own organization. What does the gender equality pattern look like in a sphere that is not controlled by the government? Does it work by itself? The main purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine opinions about the gender balance within the Swedish UN-movement.</p><p> In order to understand and analyse the gender equality context within UN, interwievs with chairmens for each UN-district in Sweden was conducted and it was found that there was no active promotion of this issue within the organization. Instead, the survey showed that the promotion of gender equality issues was directed towards other societys. To a certain extent it was also shown that women’s understanding of UN as a gender equal organization was less prominent than men’s understanding. This thesis concluded therefore that gender equality does not work by itself in the civil sphere. Instead, it seems as if work for gender balance needs directive and control from the government in order to function. </p><p>Key words: Gender equality, FN, feminism, politics of presence, non-governmental organizations.</p>

UN is a non-governmental organization which should promote gender equality within the organization. It is an organization which is based on human rights and claims that in order to solve the problem of poverty, famine and development we need to promote women’s status. In Sweden there is a strong tradition of gender balanced representation at the governmental level and this perspective raise the question if there is a spill-over effect to the civil society as in the case of a non-governmental organization. This makes it interesting to look at if a non-governmental organization which is not under state control work for gender equality within their own organization. What does the gender equality pattern look like in a sphere that is not controlled by the government? Does it work by itself? The main purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine opinions about the gender balance within the Swedish UN-movement. In order to understand and analyse the gender equality context within UN, interwievs with chairmens for each UN-district in Sweden was conducted and it was found that there was no active promotion of this issue within the organization. Instead, the survey showed that the promotion of gender equality issues was directed towards other societys. To a certain extent it was also shown that women’s understanding of UN as a gender equal organization was less prominent than men’s understanding. This thesis concluded therefore that gender equality does not work by itself in the civil sphere. Instead, it seems as if work for gender balance needs directive and control from the government in order to function. Key words: Gender equality, FN, feminism, politics of presence, non-governmental organizations.

Drawing on earlier research and theories regarding female political representation and its effects on gender equality, the attempt in this study is to investigate whether political gender quotas, legislated in the constitution, has a positive association and effect on gender equality in a society. A substantial number of studies supports the notion that quotas increase female representation in the political context. Yet, few studies examine gender quotas effect on women’s everyday life. The study investigates the variation in gender equality amongst new democracies where countries with gender quotas are compared to countries without. The overall findings appoint that political gender quotas demonstrate more far-reaching effects than to increase the number of women elected. Having a high female representation does affect women’s everyday life and a quota will increase gender equality in a society. This should be regarded as a solid argument in favour of an implementation of a gender quota. Additionally, the results from this study indicate that Anne Phillips theory the Politics of Presence, which points out the importance of having high female representation, does exert an effect.

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The purpose of this paper is to study how the attitude of giving women increased opportunities to get employment as a commander in the Swedish Armed Forces changed during the period 1972-1981. The aim is to show which arguments that dominated the debate in the political parties and in government investigations that affected the outcome of the decisions that were taken in 1978 and 1981 regarding women’s increased opportunities within the Armed Forces. The following three defence branches: the air force, the army and the navy are investigated. A combination of a qualitative and a quantitative method are used with the source material in the form of political decisions and government investigations to answer this study’s questions. The result of this paper shows that the main argument that motivated the change towards giving women increased opportunities to get employment as a commander in the different branches of defence was equality. The second argument is that other western countries have given women better opportunities and increased their possibilities to get employment within the Armed Forces. The third argument is that by giving women increased opportunities to get employment as a commander within the three defence branches could lead to a domino effect and spread equality in other working areas that still are closed for women. The fourth argument is that this may result in loosening up the traditional gender division of labour. The decisions taken in 1978 and 1981 shows that there was a consensus among the parties and there was not any difference in voting when it comes to gender.