The Norwegian Women's Lobby was founded on 27 January 2014 by eight nationwide women's rights organisations. The establishment followed several years of prior discussion in the Norwegian women's movement, where Torild Skard, the former chairman of UNICEF, had been the key proponent for the establishment. The organisation currently has ten member organisations. Its establishment was in accordance with the recommendations of the government-appointed Gender Equality Commission of 2010. It is modelled after similar organisations in other countries, particularly the Swedish Women's Lobby and the European Women's Lobby at the EU level. The first president was Margunn Bjørnholt and the first vice president was Fakhra Salimi. In 2017 Ragnhild Hennum, the pro-rector of the University of Oslo and a professor of public law, was elected president of the organisation. Hennum was also the director of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights in 2018. The organisation aims to promote women's human rights, based on the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action and other fundamental international agreements. Its member organisations include all the significant women's rights organisations of Norway and have been championing women's human rights since 1884; the founding organisations were described by the Equality and Anti-Discrimination OmbudSunniva Ørstavik as "the very foundation of the efforts to promote women's rights in Norway." As a civil society umbrella organisation, the Norwegian Women's Lobby only accepts nonpartisan organisations as members. The Norwegian Women's Lobby is led by an elected political leadership, the executive board. The organisation is advised by an independent body of experts, the Expert Committee. The Norwegian Women's Lobby has a particular focus on the United Nations system and prepares shadow reports to the United NationsCommittee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on Norway's implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the 2017 report was coordinated by Supreme Court JusticeKarin Bruzelius, a member of the Norwegian Women's Lobby's expert committee. The first Norwegian NGO CEDAW shadow report was initiated by the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights during Torild Skard's tenure as president, and the Norwegian Women's Lobby's reports represent a continuation of that work. Most of the member organisations are also participating in the Forum for Women and Development, which focuses on development issues in the Global South. The Norwegian Women's Lobby by contrast has a broader focus on women's issues nationally and internationally. In 2018 the Norwegian Women's Lobby and five other key NGOs organised the customary torchlight parade in Oslo in honour of that year's Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, who were awarded the prize for their work to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. The Norwegian Women's Lobby receives funding from the centre-left city government of Oslo.
Gunhild Vehusheia, attorney-at-law, former executive director of Legal Aid for Women
Ragnhild Hennum, Professor of Public Law, pro-rector of the University of Oslo and director of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
Expert Committee on Women's and Gender Equality Policies
The Expert Committee on Women's and Gender Equality Policies is a permanent body of experts tasked with making policy recommendations in fields that affect women and girls and gender equality, and works under the sponsorship of the Norwegian Women's Lobby. The expert committee is chaired by professor of sociology Cathrine Holst. The additional members of the committee are supreme court justice Karin Bruzelius, professor of gender studies Beatrice Halsaa, professor of public law Anne Hellum, professor of history Eirinn Larsen and professor of political science Hege Skjeie, the former chair of the government-appointed Gender Equality Commission.
