Our mission

The mission of Winnet Sverige is, through coordinating and supporting regional and local resource centres and networks, to ensure that

• women claim their share of society’s resources
• women’s competence is utilised by society
• efforts made by women and men are equally valued.
• terms and prerequisites for women and men are equal
  
  

Winnet Sverige influences public opinion and spreads information about women’s situation. Winnet Sverige shall, through influencing and cooperating with organisations and authorities, nationally and internationally, promote a society in which women’s potential, rights and obligations are upheld. Winnet Sverige works to ensure that women and men have the same conditions and opportunities concerning work, working conditions, development potential and entrepreneurship and to promote an equal gender division in respect of power and influence.

Membership
Local and Regional Resource Centres and women’s networks can apply for membership in Winnet Sverige. Find more information about membership here.
Winnet Sverige invoices the membership fee when application of mediating MS chapters have been granted. Individuals, networks, association or organisation that are not a resource centre and want to support Winnet Sverige's activity can become a support member or apply for membership in our memberorganisations.

Activities 
Winnet Sverige works to ensure women’s inclusion and participation on equal terms in growth and development work locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. This work is conducted on various fronts, such as the labour market for women, entrepreneurship and business administration, leadership and management issues, health, women and technology, and the conditions and opportunities for young women.

One of the fundamental concepts of resource centres and networks is that they shall develop and grow out of local needs and prerequisites. An important task is therefore to contribute to reinforcing the work of the resource centres on a local level so as to with collective force reinforce and uphold women’s possibilities to independently make a living and support themselves through education, employment or running their own businesses.

How it began
During the 1980s women’s rights enthusiasts were working proactively with local village development and women’s issues. This included work within the framework of the countryside campaign called “Let all of Sweden live”, which was part of regional development policy. Some women formed a group that initiated various cooperative projects, conferences and network building efforts. The group was linked to the Swedish National Rural Development Delegation at the Ministry of Labour from 1988 to 1992. The women’s group sought to give regional policies a women’s perspective through lobbying regarding the distribution of funds for regional policies and the unequal gender division in regional policy issues.

Women’s Power
Women’s Power was a three-year project that started in 1992 where the women’s group had left off. It was linked organisationally to the Swedish National Rural Development Agency, which, together with the Ministry of Labour financed the project. This led to a secretariat being established in Stockholm. Women’s Power conferences were held all over the country. The goal was to create Regional Resource Centres and also create a National Resource Centre in Stockholm.

Women’s Power achieved these goals when the government decided in June 1994 to give the County Administrative Boards the responsibility to prioritise means of establishing Regional Resource Centres for women. The Parliament also decided to give the Swedish Business Development Agency (NUTEK) and the Swedish National Rural Development Agency the mission to set up a National Resource Centre for women in NUTEK.

Winnet Sverige - NRC (National Resource Centre for women)
And so the NRC, now Winnet Sverige, was born. The government successively prolonged the project until 1999. The main task for the NRC was to support and coordinate the work of the Resource Centres nationwide. The NRC developed a variety of educational courses, produced research and investigation reports, published the news pamphlet “Women’s Power” and organised conferences. When the NRC’s project term was over, the project was wound up and the staff disbanded. NUTEK was to integrate the work NRC staff had previously done into NUTEK’s other operations – i.e. mainstreaming. The board of the NRC felt that the knowledge, competence and experience built up in the NRC project should be put to good use. Accordingly the board decided to create a non-profit association. On the16th of December 1999, the Swedish National Federation of Resource Centres for women was founded.