The Estonian Gender Equality Commissioner – presently, Margit Sarv, is an independent expert, appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2005 with five years mandate  to monitor the compliance of the Gender Equality Act and to act for diminishing gender based discrimination in all spheres including labor market, education, social insurance, as well as to implement measures for encouragement of gender equality.

One of the main roles of the Commissioner is to analyze statistics on gender equality in the labor market gathered by the employers in Estonia according to the Gender Equality Act and to find out reasons for inequalities. Analysis shows in some cases that small groups of people who never addressed the gender equality bodies suffer most often from discrimination on several grounds. The work of the Commissioner is also oriented to possible ways for mentality change and raising the public awareness in order discriminative practices and behaviors to be escaped and limited to the minimum in the labor market. Furthermore, the Commissioner in Estonia provides methodological assistance to employers and advises them on the implementation of gender equality legislation.

More about the Estonian Gender Equality Commissioner’s functions and gender equality legislation and policies could be found at http://eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2004/05/inbrief/ee0405101n.html  and www.svv.ee .