Ministry of Culture

In the spring amending budget for 2018, the Government is investing an additional SEK 15 million in 2018 to provide temporary enhanced support to smaller cinemas and film festivals. This is a boost in addition to the investment of SEK 25 million being made annually in 2016–2019. The investment is based on an agreement between the Government and the Left Party.

The Government has presented a bill on media support to the Riksdag. The bill proposes introducing a supplementary new media support scheme while preserving the existing press subsidy scheme.

One of the Swedish Government’s gender equality policy sub-goals is that men’s violence against women must stop. With reference to #metoo, the following lists some examples of implemented and forthcoming measures to counteract sexual violence, harassment and assault.

The #metoo movement in Sweden strongly demonstrates that more needs to be done to combat sexual harassment and sexual violence in workplaces and society at large. The Swedish Government requires all employers to take responsibility for a secure work environment. In the area of work environment and discrimination there are already many tools and relevant legislation, but the power and size of the petitions show that there are deficiencies in compliance with the regulations. For this reason, Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson and Minister for Gender Equality Åsa Regnér have met with the labour market and union partners, and several ministers have in recent weeks convened meetings with heads of government agencies and business leaders in order to focus on the responsibility of employers to counteract sexual violence and harassment.

This publication is an abridged version and contains the Government of Sweden’s strategy for national work with human rights. The Government’s complete, unabridged strategy also includes a progress report on Sweden’s international commitments on human rights.

At 13.00 on Thursday 19 October, Minister for Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke will present the Per Anger Prize to women’s rights activist Gégé Katana Bukuru, in honour of her work for human rights and women’s rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prize ceremony will take place at Södra Latin Upper Secondary School in Stockholm.

On 14 July 2018, Ingmar Bergman would have celebrated his 100th birthday. He was one of Sweden’s internationally most renowned and important artists ever. The Budget Bill for 2018 proposes allocating grants to the Royal Dramatic Theatre, the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, the Fårö Bergman Centre Foundation and the Swedish Film Institute for initiatives to highlight the centenary nationally and internationally.

The Government proposes in the Budget Bill for 2018 to give the National Library of Sweden an extra SEK 25 million per year for three years. The aim is to improve people’s digital skills and ability to critically appraise sources.

The Government proposes that SEK 250 million be allocated each year in 2018–2020 to increase the range and accessibility of library activities throughout the country. A total of SEK 25 million per year of this investment will be provided to the cultural cooperation model, which allocates funds to libraries and activities to promote reading and literature. The Budget Bill for 2018 is based on an agreement between the Government and the Left Party.

The Government proposes that the appropriation to the National Archives be increased by SEK 10 million from 2018 to abolish fees to access digital archive material. This will make some 100 million digital archive images freely available, reducing costs for private individuals to conduct genealogy or area research.