Purpose: The City of Reykjavik has initiated various practices to increase migrants´ participation in local political elections.
One practice organised by the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association that was implemented for in October and November 2017, were classes in politics for migrant women to promote their political participation. The project was fulfilling the aims of the City’s Human Rights Policy and both working against gender inequality and supporting the city´s intercultural approach.
Another practice was implemented from February to May 2018 by the City of Reykjavik to improve the participation of young people, disable people, women older the 75 years, and migrants in the municipality elections 2018. The City of Reykjavik introduced an information campaign targeting migrants.
Stimulus: Participation of migrants in local elections has been very low, according to data provided by the Statistic Office of Iceland – in 2006 - 40,4% of citizens with voting right took part in local election in Iceland (62,5% from Nordic countries and 34,4% from other countries) and in 2014 – just 21% of citizens with voting right took part in local election in Iceland (56,7% from Nordic countries and just 17% from other countries).
At the end of 2017 Reykjavik City set up a task group to explore ways to improve participation in local elections. The date showed that specific groups are taking less part in elections then others. These groups are mainly: young people, disabled people, women older than 75 years, and migrants.
Process: The practice on classes in politics for migrant women from 2017 took 7 weeks. The programme consisted of: basics of political system in Iceland both on municipal and governmental level, “unwritten” rules of politics, empowerment training for women, and training in making speeches, contacts with media and interview skills. The participants had the opportunity to meet representatives of all political parties represented in the Icelandic Parliament and visit Alþingi guided by parliament members. Classes on politics were advertised on social media and on the home-pages of migrant associations. The teacher of the class was Ms Sabine Leskopf - substitute in the City Council of Reykjavik. She is herself an excellent example of the possibility for foreign women to take an active part in political life. Twenty women from different countries took part in the training. Women Rights Association will submit the closing report and the evaluation to the Human Rights Council. The action was implemented as a cooperation between the Women Rights Association, W.O.M.E.N. - Association of foreign women in Iceland, and the Human Rights Council of Reykjavik.
For the other practice on the 2018 information campaign, after consulting with representatives of young people, disabled people, women older than 75 years, and migrants the task group came with actions that has been accepted and financed by the City Council of Reykjavik.The main obstacle for the mentioned groups in taking part in elections appeared to be the lack of accessible information about the elections. There was a need to spell out this information in a much more clear and simple language and to make it available in open and accessible places. Also, people had difficulties to understand the difference between local and state elections, and where and how to vote. The main aim of the actions was therefore to properly inform them about the election process. Information was collected and set in simple and accessible language, in Icelandic and at least English and Polish. The mentioned information was published on the web page www.egkys.is. The information campaign was launched and directed to specific groups on social media. The information campaign was visible on the boards in the city, at bus stops, shopping centres and companies where migrants work. Moreover, an official letter was sent to migrants getting their voting right for the first time to inform them about their rights and orientate them to the polling station. NGOs and civil society associations were involved in the information campaign. Last but not least the City made a specific service on the day of elections more accessible for migrant groups, for example by advertising the info-line in other languages then Icelandic, and employing people talking other languages than Icelandic on the election day. The city wants to ensure that information about participation of migrants in elections will be gathered in all elections.
Impact: The expected impact was to increase the percentage of migrant participation in local political elections
Key reference documents: More information
