BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH SDG 5

Sweden is internationally recognized as one of the leading countries in gender equality and has adopted a long-term gender mainstreaming approach in its public policies. Gender equality is considered a fundamental principle of Swedish society and is integrated into legislation, education, labour policies, and political decision-making. The country has developed policies promoting equal opportunities, parental leave, women’s economic participation, and the prevention of gender-based violence.

current challenges and recent developments

However, despite its strong performance, Sweden continues to face challenges. These include the persistence of the gender pay gap, unequal distribution of unpaid care work, occupational segregation between men and women, and violence against women. Recent debates have also focused on improving measures against domestic violence and addressing inequalities affecting migrant women and other vulnerable groups.

Sweden is an important country to include in an SDG 5 discussion because it represents a country with advanced gender equality policies while demonstrating that structural inequalities can persist even in highly developed societies.

list of references

Sweden.se. (n.d.). Gender equality in Sweden. https://sweden.se/life/equality/gender-equality

European Institute for Gender Equality. (2025). Gender Equality Index 2025: Sweden. European Union. https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2025/country/SE

Government Offices of Sweden. (n.d.). Gender equality policy. Government of Sweden. https://www.government.se/government-policy/gender-equality/

Swedish Gender Equality Agency. (n.d.). Gender equality in Sweden. https://swedishgenderequalityagency.se/gender-equality-in-sweden/

United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). Sweden: Human Development Report data. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data/countries/SWE

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). SDG indicators: Sweden country profile. United Nations. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/countryprofiles/swe

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (n.d.). Sweden. United Nations Human Rights Office. https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/sweden

UN Women Sweden. (n.d.). UN Women Sweden. https://www.unwomen.se/

UN Women. (2021). Partners for change: Sweden. UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Partnerships/Donor%20Countries/Partners-for-change-Sweden-en.pdf

UN Women. (n.d.). Sweden country data. UN Women Data Hub. https://data.unwomen.org/country/sweden

useful links

• Country report/Voluntary National Reviews

  • https://sweden.se/life/equality/gender-equality 

  •  https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2025/country/SE

  • https://www.government.se/government-policy/gender-equality/

  • https://swedishgenderequalityagency.se/gender-equality-in-sweden/ 

• Bibliography and UN pages about this country:

  • UNPD: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data/countries/SWE 

  • UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/countryprofiles/swe

  • UN human rights: https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/sweden 

  • UN Women: https://www.unwomen.se/ 

  • UN EOCD: https://www.oecd.org/en/countries/sweden.html 

  • UN WOWEN pdf: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Partnerships/Donor%20Countries/Partners-for-change-Sweden-en.pdf

  • UN WOMEN count: https://data.unwomen.org/country/sweden