History of Gender Mainstreaming at federal state (Land) level in Germany

The following provides an overview of the main developments in the history of the strategy Gender Mainstreaming at the level of the federal states (Länder). If you need further and more detailed information about Gender Mainstreaming, please use the link provided to the Gender Mainstreaming website [in German] of the Land in question.

Baden-Württemberg

To implement Gender Mainstreaming at the level of Land administration, a cross-departmental steering group, an inter-ministry working group and an advisory board were set up in Baden-Württemberg in 2001.
In 2005 a law was passed establishing equal opportunities for women and men in the Land civil service in Baden-Württemberg.

Further information on Gender Mainstreaming in Baden-Württemberg
Chancengleichheit als Leitprinzip - Gender Mainstreaming in der Landesverwaltung
Chancengleichheit als Leitprinzip - Umsetzung in der Landesverwaltung

Bavaria

Since 2002 the “gender-responsive perspective” has been supplementing and extending the Bavarian strategy of Gender Mainstreaming, the gender equality policy up to now in Bavaria. In Ministerial Decisions of 25 July 2002 and 1 October 2002, it was established in law and became a guiding principle in the Bavarian administration. The “gender-responsive perspective” is seen as both strategy and method and is intended to give impetus to the actual implementation of equal opportunities.

Berlin

In 2002, the Senate adopted the implementation of the strategy Gender Mainstreaming in Berlin policy making and administration. The process of implementing Gender Mainstreaming is divided into three stages in Berlin and has since 2003 been initiated, coordinated and evaluated by the Gender Mainstreaming Office in the Senate Administration for Economic Affairs, Employment and Women. A Land Gender Mainstreaming commission was set up in the same year.
Since 2004-2005, Gender Mainstreaming has been implemented in the relevant sectors in all Senate and District authority administrative bodies.

Further information on Gender Mainstreaming in Berlin:
1st Report on Gender Mainstreaming in Berlin Policy-Making and Administration
2nd Report on Gender Mainstreaming in Berlin Policy-Making and Administration
3rd Report on Gender Mainstreaming in Berlin Policy-Making and Administration

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is committed in its state constitution to ensure effective measures for the equal treatment of men and women at work, in public life, education and training. The process of implementing Gender Mainstreaming began in 2002 with an inaugural event for the management of the Ministry for Employment, Social Affairs and Health. This event resulted in concrete agreements on integrating Gender Mainstreaming into the guiding principle and work of the Ministry.

Bremen

In 2002, the Bremen Senate adopted a concept for the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities for men and women in Bremen political life according to the principles of Gender Mainstreaming. A Senate Resolution on the implementation of Gender Mainstreaming in the Bremen administration followed on 6 May 2003.

Hamburg

The Hamburg Senate decided in 2001 to introduce and implement the strategy Gender Mainstreaming in Hamburg Land political life.

Hessen

In 2003, the Hessen State Government committed itself to adopt Gender Mainstreaming in the Joint Rules of Procedure for the Ministries. Since 2005, Ministries, State Chancellery and the State Parliament in Hessen all base their decisions on the strategy Gender Mainstreaming. The implementation of the cross-sectional goal “equal opportunities for women and men” is taking place at the level of Land initiatives and political steering as well as at the level of consultancy and support for activities and projects.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

In 2000, the State Government in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern decided on implementing the strategy Gender Mainstreaming in the Land administration. In 2001, a programme for implementing Gender Mainstreaming was started, the first results of which are documented in a guideline on the implementation of Gender Mainstreaming in the State Government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony introduced the strategy Gender Mainstreaming (“GemiNi”) in 1998 and gave the entire Cabinet comprehensive training in Gender Mainstreaming. Gender Mainstreaming is regarded in Lower Saxony as complementing policy on women and gender equality policy and its aim is to integrate and realise equality between women and men in all areas of the Land Government and administration. A planning group was set up in 2000 to implement Gender Mainstreaming.
Equality of women and men was established as a guiding principle in the Joint Rules of Procedure  for the Land Government and the Lower Saxony Ministries and State Chancellery in 2004.

North Rhine Westphalia

The process of implementing Gender Mainstreaming in North Rhine-Westphalia began with the resolution by the State Parliament (Landtag) of 15 November 2002 which instructed the State Government in future to establish and implement the principle of Gender Mainstreaming in all fields of policy. In this Resolution Motion (“Gender Mainstreaming – equal opportunities  for female and male ways of life. Implementation of equality between women and men in Land political life and in the Land administration”). measures are described for supporting the process of implementation. In 2003 the Cabinet decided on a steering concept including various implementation measures. The content of the steering concept and information on pilot projects in North Rhine-Westphalia have been published in 2005 in a Report by the Land Government.

Rhineland Palatinate

By Decision dated 14 November 2000 the Land Government of Rhineland Palatinate committed itself to introducing and implementing the strategy Gender Mainstreaming. From then on, the principle for steering action has applied of checking policy actions as a matter of course for their effects on women and on men. Since the end of 2000, awareness and training measures for management have been carried out in almost all departments of the Land Government as well as information and training measures for equal opportunities commissioners and staff. Various procedures and tools have been developed in the departments to support the implementation and application of Gender Mainstreaming.

Further information:
Report by the Land Government “Developing Equality between women and men – consistent implementation of Gender Mainstreaming”

Saxony

In 2003, a “Gender Mainstreaming” inter-ministry working group was set up by resolution of the Land Government. In early 2004, Gender Mainstreaming was adopted by the State Government of Saxony as a policy guiding principal. After the State Government had decided on 15 March 2005 to introduce Gender Mainstreaming in the highest levels of the Land civil service, an implementation concept was drafted as an aid to orientation. In October 2005 a “Gender Mainstreaming” inter-ministry working group was set up to which all the contact persons for Gender Mainstreaming in the State Government departments belonged.

Saxony-Anhalt

On 17 July 1998 the Land Government of Saxony-Anhalt resolved to examine every paper brought before the Cabinet to check whether women were affected differently or to a different degree from men. As early as 1999 the Land Government adopted a “Programme for Implementing Equal Opportunities for Women and for Men in Saxony-Anhalt”. Then, in 2000, a comprehensive concept for implementing Gender Mainstreaming in the administration was started. On 1 March 2001 the German Gender Institute G / I / S / A was founded in Magdeburg as a Gender Mainstreaming competence center for administration, policy-making and industry. In 2002, the CDU and the FDP established Gender Mainstreaming in their Coalition Agreement as the fundamental principle for gender equality policy in Saxony-Anhalt.
Following the publication in 2004 of the 2nd Gender Report in Saxony-Anhalt, the Gender Mainstreaming information system (GMI) of the German Gender Institute (G / I / S / A), Germany’s very first, went online.

Schleswig-Holstein

By Cabinet Resolution of 18 June 2002, all departments of the Land Government in Schleswig-Holstein were committed to implementing Gender Mainstreaming. Following this, the management levels of the highest Land civil service authorities were offered information and discussion events as well as model projects in the individual departments. The Ministry for Education and Women of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein is supporting the model projects by means of parallel training and regular cross-departmental exchange of ideas. In addition, a Gender Information Center has been set up in Schleswig-Holstein, which offers consultancy and training as well as information.