2013 Press release 22 August 2013 Ministry for Foreign Affairs Press invitation: Raoul Wallenberg lecture on civil and personal courage and the limits of diplomacy To commemorate Raoul Wallenberg Day, 27 August, the Government is organising a lecture on civil courage, personal courage and the limits of diplomacy. The keynote speaker will be Staffan de Mistura, Ambassador and former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq and Afghanistan. Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, Minister for EU Affairs Birgitta Ohlsson and Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag will also take part. Time and place Tuesday 27 August 2013, 10.30-13.00. Aulan, Centralposthuset, Mäster Samuelsgatan 70, Stockholm. The Raoul Wallenberg Lecture - Personal courage and bravery - exploring the limits of diplomacy Speakers: Ambassador Staffan de Mistura Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt Minister for EU Affairs Birgitta Ohlsson Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag Olle Wästberg, the Government's coordinator for the Raoul Wallenberg Year 2012 Participants in the panel debate: Ambassador Diana Janse Ambassador Jörgen Lindström First Secretary Pontus Rosenberg First Secretary Fredrick Lee-Ohlsson Moderator: Lars Weiss, journalist. The lecture will be given in English and broadcast on the Ministry for Foreign Affairs website. As the number of places is limited, advance registration from media representatives is required. Please email Karin Nylund at the Press, Information and Communication Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. We look forward to welcoming you. Contact Erik Zsiga Press Secretary to Carl Bildt +46 72 573 91 30 email to Erik Zsiga Karin Nylund Press Officer +46 8 405 23 32 +46 70 928 08 55 E-mail to Karin Nylund Marie Bendegard Desk Officer 08-405 36 08 Press release 31 January 2013 Ministry of Employment Ministry of Education and Research Swedish language education for immigrants in need of reform Swedish language education for immigrants is not as good as it should be. The Government has therefore decided to expand the remit of the Sfi Voucher Inquiry. The Inquiry has therefore been tasked with the following additional remit: to examine whether the Swedish Public Employment Service should be given the opportunity of procuring Swedish language education as part of an introduction plan under the Act on introduction activities for certain newly arrived immigrants; to examine whether Swedish language education for adult immigrants should, in the future, be organised as part of municipal adult education instead of Swedish for Immigrants (Sfi) being a school form of its own; and to propose how Swedish language education can be better adapted to the goals set by the individual for his or her studies, for example by introducing academic and vocational tracks in the courses. At present, most adult immigrants receive their basic education in Swedish through Sfi. Many of the students subsequently need to continue their studies, and so move on to study Swedish as a second language within municipal adult education. The transition between Sfi and municipal adult education often results in delayed or terminated studies. Needs are also great regarding more individualised solutions, based on the students' previous education, experience and study goals. In December 2010, the Swedish Public Employment Service was made responsible for coordinating introduction activities for newly arrived immigrants. Sfi is one component of the introduction plan that is drawn up for each individual. At present, the municipality has responsibility for Sfi, even when the education is included in the introduction activities. When work experience or employment is to be combined with Sfi, this divided responsibility is often a complicating circumstance, for example if Sfi is not offered at times that can be combined with work experience or employment. "When people who immigrate to Sweden do not learn Swedish, it is devastating for both society and the individual immigrant. We therefore want to make fundamental changes to Swedish language education for immigrants. Individualisation must increase significantly and the link to jobs be made clearer," says Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag. "Sfi as a form of school has important tasks and, at the same time, great challenges. We want to see whether the solution might lie in greater individualisation and the inclusion of Sfi in municipal adult education. It is now important that we leave no stone unturned," says Minister for Gender Equality and Deputy Minister for Education Maria Arnholm. The Inquiry is to present its report by 1 October 2013. The Inquiry Chair is former State Secretary Christer Hallerby. Contact Lena Hallerby Press Secretary to Erik Ullenhag +46 70 301 47 90 email to Lena Hallerby Carl-Otto Berg Political Adviser +46 8 405 10 00 2012 Press release 21 September 2012 Ministry of Employment Ministry for Foreign Affairs Sweden submits human rights report to the UN In May 2010, Sweden was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council. The Government has since taken a number of measures, which it describes in a mid-term report. The mid-term report is being delivered to the Council this afternoon, Friday 21 September. In the report, the Government draws attention to its work on combating and preventing violence against women, expanding health and medical care for asylum seekers, persons in hiding and persons without documents, transposing the catalogue of crimes in the Rome Statute into Swedish law, and promoting Roma Related inclusion. Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human The Government underlines the continuing high priority given to combating men's violence against women Rights Council: Sweden's and highlights a range of current legislative measures and political initiatives in the area. Attention is also national mid-term report given to the framework agreement on asylum policy between the Government and the Green Party concerning health care for asylum seekers and others, as well as to the Government's Roma strategy for 2012-2032. "It is essential that we are receptive to international views where human rights are concerned, primarily because this helps us in our efforts to fully respect human rights in Sweden. Moreover, doing so gives us a stronger voice internationally," says Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag. Contact Lena Hallerby Press Secretary to Erik Ullenhag +46 70 301 47 90 email to Lena Hallerby Press release 28 June 2012 Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ministry of Employment Popular website on human rights relaunched The website www.humanrights.gov.se was relaunched today. Since it was created 10 years ago, the website has become a well-visited platform for information about human rights and what the Government is doing nationally and internationally. New features on the website include clearer access to facts, information about what to do if your rights have been violated and a world map containing links to country-specific human rights reports. The Government's human rights website is a tool to promote the dissemination of knowledge and information about human rights in accordance with our convention commitments. Sweden has also been commended for the website in a review by international mechanisms for the protection of human rights. External links The Swedish Government's The number of visitors to the website is increasing steadily. There are on average some 32 000 visitors every human rights website month, and some months this number exceeds 45 000. During the past year, the website's information pages have been viewed almost one million times. This confirms the huge interest in information about human rights. - More knowledge and accessible information about human rights is a prerequisite for the promotion and protection of these rights in Sweden. The Government's human rights website is an important tool in this work, says Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag, who is responsible for the Government's national efforts on human rights. - To be able to influence the world around us, we must both be aware of what is happening and why. In this respect, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs human rights reports and the Government's human rights website have an incredibly important function. Openness and free access to information are two of the most important tools in the work to highlight and fight shortcomings in the respect for human rights, says Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson. Background The website is a joint project between the Ministry of Employment and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which are responsible for the national and international policies for human rights respectively. In addition to reports on human rights in the countries of the world, the website includes information about the conventions ratified by Sweden, recommendations from the monitoring committees of the conventions and judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in cases against Sweden. The target groups for the website are schools, government agencies, journalists, civil society and the interested public. A development project took place during the spring to review the information structure and content, and to redesign the website. 2010 Press release 12 November 2010 Ministry of Employment Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality Ministry of Health and Social Affairs Ministry for Foreign Affairs Minister for Integration to award prize to human rights activist Government Offices representatives will be taking part in the Human Rights Days in Örebro on 15-16 November to inform about human rights work. Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag will be awarding this year's Per Anger prize to human rights advocate Jelena Urlajeva (Elena Urlaeva) from Uzbekistan. National and international human rights experts will be on hand to answer questions at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs stand. Time and place External links 15-16 November For the programme and more Örebro, Conventum, Olof Palmes torg 1. information visit the Human Rights Days website: The prize will be awarded on Monday at 13.30, after which time Mr Ullenhag will be available at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs stand.