Gender mainstreaming

Gender equality can be promoted through targeted measures, such as promoting equal pay or combating violence against women, and by taking gender perspective into account in all decision-making and preparation. Integration of gender perspective into all decision-making and preparation is called gender mainstreaming.

Finland committed to gender mainstreaming in the late 1990s following the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action and EU membership. Gender mainstreaming is coordinated by the Gender Equality Unit at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Gender mainstreaming requires gender equality planning. It also requires that the impacts of any planned measures and decisions are assessed from gender perspective. The purpose of gender mainstreaming is to transform organisational procedures and cultures that fail to recognise the impact of gender. The goal is to promote gender equality.

Public authorities have the duty to promote gender equality 

The Finnish Equality Act (Act on Equality between Women and Men) obliges all public authorities to promote gender equality in a targeted and systematic way. The act also includes an obligation for the authorities to prevent discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression. Gender perspective must be one of the perspectives in all preparatory work. 

In central government, gender mainstreaming means that core functions are developed, and practices changed to promote gender equality. Ministries must take gender perspective into account in all their activities, for instance when drafting laws, preparing draft budgets and carrying out various programmes and projects.

Mainstreaming is concretised into objectives and measures in the Government Action Plan for Gender Equality. The action plan sets out the ministries’ working groups on operational gender equality and objectives for gender equality training for public officials. The achievement of the objectives is monitored during each government term. 

Public authorities’ operational gender equality plan 

The authorities are encouraged to develop an action plan for gender mainstreaming, i.e. an operational gender equality plan. The plan brings together the concrete objectives and measures to integrate the gender perspective into the organisation’s core functions and areas of responsibility. 

Public authorities are also required under the Non-Discrimination Act to prepare a non-discrimination plan. The non-discrimination plan and the gender equality plan may be combined into a single plan.

In some organisations, gender equality and non-discrimination plans have been incorporated into, for instance, responsibility and sustainability plans. If these plans are integrated, it is essential to ensure that objectives and measures concerning gender equality and non-discrimination are clearly set out.
The organisation may appoint a working group to support its equality work. The working group may monitor and assess gender equality in its field of activity, draw up a gender equality plan and provide gender equality training. It is considered good practice for the group to be chaired by a member of senior management and to have a designated coordinator. Both the chair and the coordinator should be allocated sufficient time to support gender equality work. The working group may act as a working group on both gender equality and non-discrimination.

The ministries have established their own working groups on operational gender equality and non-discrimination and a joint network of working groups on operational gender equality and non-discrimination within the Government.

The operational gender equality plan is not the same thing as the statutory personnel policy plan on gender equality. Under the Equality Act, any authority employing more than 30 employees must draw up a plan on promoting gender equality among its personnel. 

Gender impact assessment

Gender impact assessment is a method for gender mainstreaming. The impacts of measures, decisions or legislation should be assessed beforehand from gender perspective whenever activities have an impact on different groups of people. The aim is to prevent any undesirable effects and to promote gender equality. Based on impact assessments, it is possible to make corrective proposals for reducing discrimination and any undesirable impacts, promoting gender equality and removing obstacles to gender equality.

The gender-related impacts of government proposals are assessed as part of the legislative process. The number of assessments is monitored annually. This monitoring shows that gender impact assessments are carried out for approximately one third of all submitted proposals.

According to a qualitative evaluation in 2025, the greatest challenges are related to gender-neutral interpretation, a binary understanding of gender and a lack of concrete measures.  Assessments often lack descriptions of the impacts on gender equality. According to the evaluation, a high-quality assessment requires sufficient time and cooperation between different parties.

Gender budgeting

Gender budgeting means integrating gender perspective into the budgetary process. The aim is to highlight the impact of budgeting on gender equality and to promote gender equality through budgeting. In the Finnish central government, gender budgeting is implemented by means of entries on gender equality in the budget, performance guidance and gender impact assessments of legislative proposals. Additionally, the gender impact assessments of economic policy decisions have been carried out as separate ex post evaluations in 2018 and 2023.

In 2025, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health investigated best practices for gender budgeting in the central governments of Sweden, Spain and Ireland and assessed how these practices could be implemented in Finland.

Gender Equality Unit supports mainstreaming

The Gender Equality Unit of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health coordinates, develops and monitors gender mainstreaming in the Government. The Ministry provides training and guidance and coordinates the network of working groups on operational gender equality and non-discrimination, which acts as a communication channel between the ministries and the Gender Equality Unit.

Gender mainstreaming is monitored as part of the Government Action Plan for Gender Equality, for example. The Ministry also reports on the structures and practices for mainstreaming to the EU and other international institutions.

Material on gender mainstreaming

The Gender Glasses in use handbook provides practical guidance on gender impact assessment, legislative drafting and the planning of the ministries’ operations and finances, for example.

The online training session Gender equality and non-discrimination, which is intended for central government personnel, supports the authorities in their equality work and in mainstreaming the gender perspective into all activities. The training is provided jointly by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the government digital learning environment eOppiva.

Updated: 2.9.2026 10.53

Further information

Annamari Asikainen, Senior Specialist 
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Department for Work and Gender Equality / TTO, Gender Equality Unit / TASY Telephone:0295163331   Email Address:

Hanna Onwen-Huma, Ministerial Adviser 
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Department for Work and Gender Equality / TTO, Gender Equality Unit / TASY Telephone:0295163233   Email Address: