A strong woman fighting for social fairness and equality
"Saving the mother, you save the child" said Miina Sillanpää who dedicated her life to campaigning for a wide range of social issues.
Miina Sillanpää (1866-1952) was ahead of her time when she started shelters for single mothers and their children. The Ensi Koti ("First Home") movement was initiated in the 1930s by her and the first shelter was established in Helsinki in 1942.
Miina’ s life work
Miina Sillanpää’s first jobs were as a factory worker and domestic servant. She later worked actively towards improving servants’ rights and working conditions.
She also was a member of the Finnish Parliament for a total of 38 years, and she was the country’s first female minister. As a member of the Parliament and the Minister for Social Affairs, her focus was particularly on the social circumstances of children, families, elderly people and domestic servants.
Miina Sillanpää Foundation
From 1945 there has been a central organization of "First Home", now called Mother and Child Homes and Shelters(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), for its 30 member associations around Finland. Through their services they support families in managing their daily lives and they strengthen the parent-child interaction. They help mothers and fathers to find their particular strengths as parents amidst the trouble.
The Miina Sillanpää Foundation(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) was founded in 1965. It organizes and supports rehabilitation services for working-age and elderly populations and do research and development that promote public health, well-being and quality of life.
The Foundation seeks practical models and solutions,that are implemented nation-wide. Eg. the Clinical Neuropsychology Research Group at the University of Helsinki together with the Foundation has been developing a network based rehabilitation model for patients with early phases of memory problems and has developed a software based on the FORAMENRehab which is freely available for everyone to try their memory https://www.miinasillanpaa.fi/aivotreeni/(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window).
Finland has launched new International Gender Equality Prize
The primary goal of the International Gender Equality Prize(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) is to create a platform for the further promotion of gender equality across the world.
The prize committee is accepting suggestions from the general public. Who do you think the first winner should be? Submit your suggestion(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) until May 31, 2017.