Indicator history

Chapter three in the Discrimination Act, contains rules on the requirement of employers and education providers to actively promote equality, so called active measures. These rules do not require positive action if it is defined as eliminating or reducing a certain barrier for a certain protected group or to compensate that group for its disadvantaged position, Country Report 2010, Sweden, Per Norberg, http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2010-SE-Country%20Report%20LN_final.pdf, p. 9). 

However, the rules containing "active measures" can from an EC-law perspectivebe considered to be within the realm of positive action in a more general meaning. The Act requires that the employers carry out a goal-oriented work to actively promote ethnic diversity in working life (Chapter 3 Section 3 of the Discrimination Act). 

Ethnicity and religion have an exemption from the prohibition of discrimination regarding labour market policy activities and for the people’s universities (Ch. 2 Sec. 6 and 9). A right for members of certain religions to refuse military service is also explicitly exempted (Ch. 2 Sec. 15).

In education strong forms of positive action is allowed only at the people’s universities, a form of education designed to admit students that have little or no academic background. People’s universities are free to design their own courses and programs. They are not bound by the normal educational hierarchy. The universities are required to do goal-orientated work with regard to ethnicity. There is a requirement on the universities to adopt plans to this end on a yearly basis (Ch 3. Sec. 16.).There is a Roma People’s University and other people’s universities can (and sometimes do) give courses aimed at and reserved for the Romany population. Creating educational programs reserved for special groups like immigrants, persons with disabilities or women is considered normal in this form of education (Country Report 2010, Sweden, Per Norberg, http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2010-SE-Country%20Report%20LN_final.pdf, p. 87). 

As regards indigenous minorities such as the Sami and the Roma, there are special rights and supportive measures as regard the use of their native language as well as access to media and as regards the Sami also on land rights and reindeer management. From 2011 the Sami people have their reindeer management rights recognised in the constitution.

The CERD Committee raised concern in it's concluding observations in August 2008, that the Committee is concerned that the new Anti-Discrimination Act of July 2008 does not provide for the adoption of special measures regarding vulnerable racial or ethnic groups, with the exception of certain measures related to immigrant employment agencies. It recalls that special measures for the advancement of certain groups are required when circumstances so warrant, provided that such measures do not, as a consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different racial groups. (arts. 1(4), and 2(2)).

Source: The CERD Committee, CERD/C/SWE/CO/18, 21 August 2008 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/co/CERD-C-SWE-CO-18.pdf (accessed 2012-03-10).

Country Report 2010, Sweden, Per Norberg, http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2010-SE-Country%20Report%20LN_final.pdf (accessed 2012-03-10).