The European Social Fund's joint initiative – Equal – has been set up to combat discrimination and exclusion within people's working lives. The objective of the Equal Program is to promote new methods to counteract all kinds of discrimination and inequality at work and within the labour market. The point of departure of the project is that all people's ability, competence and development potential be benefited from irrespective of gender, age, ethnical background, sexual disposition, or disabilities.

The methodology within Equal is known as "development partnership". The concept is that several partners from different areas and sectors, such as public administrations, companies, municipalities and individual organisations shall join forces and develop ideas, ways of working and methods within a given, joint theme. Within the Equal Program in Sweden, we have chosen to support projects that focus on employability, entrepreneurial spirit, ability to adapt, and equal opportunities for men and women. The promotion and encouragement of equality between women and men is a permanent feature of all of the themes.

Another aspect of the Equal Program is that the projects that receive support shall be creative, because a professional life that is characterised by multiplicity requires new thinking and fresh ideas. Projects may be performed within a geographical area, be oriented towards a certain sector, or focused on the underlying reasons for discrimination. Several development partnerships have been in progress in Sweden since 2002 to test new methods that can lead in various ways to system changes and new attitudes.

The first round of Equal started in 2002, and the second round started in 2004. Through Equal, a total of approximately SEK 1.5 billion is being invested in Sweden, and the program is the largest multiplicity project in the history of the European Union.

Source: www.esf.se and Equalkanalen, Epos.