Yesterday, 23 January 2019, the photo exhibitions Swedish Dads and Zambian Dads were officially opened, at the Lusaka National Museum. It was such a lovely evening. Thank you to everyone that came to join us.
Please see Ambassador, Henrik Cederin's, speech below.
It is an honour for me to be here today to officially open the two exhibitions Swedish and Zambian Dads. These two exhibitions highlight the role of a father and fatherhood, telling stories and sharing perspectives from two different contexts, two different countries.
Swedish Dads is a photo exhibition based on portraits of fathers who choose to stay home with their babies for at least 6 months.
Sweden has one of the world’s most generous parental insurance schemes in th world, enabling parents to stay home with their children for 480 days, paid for by the state. In Sweden, both parents are encouraged to stay home, shown by the decision in 1974, as the first country in the world, to replace providing maternity leave, to instead providing the broader parental leave.
90 of these 480 days are reserved for each parent exclusively. Today, fathers take roughly 25 per cent of the total number of days available to the couple. 14 per cent of the country’s fathers choose to share equally, with the mother, the days available.
On a more personal note, I am happy to have seized this opportunity myself, having taken five months of parental leave back in 2001 during my son’s Nils’ first year. I am very pleased that I was given that opportunity. It helped me get involved at an early stage and I think it has helped me stay involved throughout. Of course, now he is 18 years old, and doesn’t want me that close all the time.
In this Swedish Dads photo exhibition that we are opening today, the photographer Johan Bävman examines why these fathers have chosen to stay at home with their children, what the experience has given them, and how their relationship with their children, but also with their parents, has changed as a result.
The other exhibition, Zambian Dads – inspired by the Swedish Dads exhibition, shows a selection of Zambian dads from Chongwe and Lusaka identified and chosen with the help from our own network and local partners (Zambia National Men’s Network and NGOCC). These fathers kindly share with us their stories of how they view their role as fathers and how their relationship with both their children, and their partners, are positively affected by being involved and sharing responsibilities. The photos capture everyday situations and everyday interaction between these dads and their children, indeed picturing the reality of bringing up children in an active and participatory way. I want to thank you for sharing your stories with us.
Why is this exhibition interesting? The simple answer is that it highlights something very important, something that we know has positive effects in a number of ways. It is a question of gender equality. It is good for society. It is good for the economy. Active Dads make a big difference. And that is really the key message. Regardless of the opportunity for parental leave or not – it is a question of an overall approach to being a father. As I see it, all these Dads presented here today, they are all role models. They lead us by example.
Some facts:
So, the arguments for being an active, involved and attendant Dad are overwhelming. Zambia is a country that already works hard to improve gender equality and much progress has been made. Today, let’s listen to these fathers and to what their experiences have given them. And let’s together go out and convince also others that much is to be gained if also the fathers take full responsibility and do their share.
Welcome and thank you.
