Some of the Nordic region’s rural and sparsely populated areas are found in the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. The countries have different challenges and opportunities, but what they share is that their geographical position, combined with the challenges of being small, in different ways affects LGBTI people’s ability to live a life on equal terms. Additionally, knowledge of the conditions faced by LGBTI people in the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland is limited, which affects the ability to design targeted initiatives and action plans.
In January 2020, Nordic cooperation through the Nordic Council of Ministers was expanded to include work on equal rights, treatment and opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic region. The Nordic Council of Ministers works in various ways to strengthen the rights of LGBTI people in the Nordic region and to promote a Nordic voice against the growing opposition to gender equality and LGBTI rights in various international contexts. An important part of this work is the Nordic LGBTI Fund, which aims to stimulate Nordic cooperation in the LGBTI field.
Since 2021, the Nordic LGBTI Fund has been funding projects aimed at addressing the challenges and barriers that limit the equal rights and opportunities of LGBTI people in the Nordic region. In the projects that have been awarded funding, organisations from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland are participating to a lesser extent than those from the other Nordic countries. As a result, stakeholders from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland participate to a lesser extent in Nordic cooperation and benefit less from the financial support, exchange and capacity-building it entails. Nordic cooperation, in turn, misses out on important perspectives, experiences and initiatives.
In 2026 a targeted call for proposals will therefore be launched to ensure that projects applying for funding from the Nordic LGBTI Fund include stakeholders from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. The purpose of the call for proposals is:
To increase knowledge and understanding of the issues that limit the rights and opportunities of LGBTI people in the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.
To provide organisations in the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland with better opportunities for cooperation and knowledge exchange
To expand and strengthen Nordic cooperation on equal rights and opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic region