Gender Equality Academy

Illustration of a teacher in front of the board in a classroom.

The Reykjavík Gender Equality Academy provides education, consultation, and support on equality education, human rights, and sexual health for young people, their immediate families, and staff involved in the City's school and recreational activities.

Staff and parent toolkit

The toolkit includes a wide range of resources to help staff and parents prepare to educate, support, and have conversations with children and young people.

For sex education to be effective and empowering, staff and parents must play active roles in the process. 

Illustration of a married couple with a teenager between them.

Week6

Week6, held during the sixth week of the year, is one of the Gender Equality Academy's best-known campaigns. 

To mark the occasion, the Gender Equality Academy publishes comprehensive sex education materials for preschools as well as the youngest level, mid-level, and adolescent level of primary school. The city's young people choose each year's theme. 

Staff at preschools, primary schools, community centers, and after-school programs are encouraged to make sexual health a priority and provide varied sex education tailored to the age and developmental stage of the young people they serve.

Are You Normal?

"Are You Normal?" gives young people a platform to examine societal norms—what is considered acceptable and what is not—and express

their perspectives through video or photography. 

Work produced through the project is showcased every year at the Children's Culture Festival.

More about Are You Normal?

Gender Equality Academy policy

Icelandic law, the national curriculum for primary schools, Reykjavík City's Education Policy, approved parliamentary resolutions, and international agreements all require Icelandic authorities to ensure that sexual health, human rights, and gender equality are taught throughout the school system. All Gender Equality Academy content is designed to uphold those provisions and laws. 

The Gender Equality Academy is grounded in UNESCO's themes on comprehensive sex education, which are described below. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and not every item in each category applies to all age groups. Sex education is always tailored to the age and developmental stage of the children and young people involved. Read more about primary school sex education focus areas below.

An illustration of two women, one seated in a wheelchair, holding a child.

Project managers of the Gender Equality Academy

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