Marit Nybakk (born 14 February 1947, in Nord-Odal) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, a former First Vice-President of the Norwegian Parliament, the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years ...

, and a former President of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

. From 2016 to 2018 she was President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights, the preeminent women's and girls' rights organisation in Norway. A pragmatic social democrat and a proponent of the

Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born f ...

, she became a Member of Parliament in 1986 as the substitute for Gro Harlem Brundtland when the latter became Prime Minister. In 2009 she became the Storting's Third Vice President, before becoming First Vice President in 2013. She did not stand for reelection in 2017; at that point she was both Norway's longest-serving incumbent member of parliament and the longest-serving woman of all times. Nybakk served as President of the

for the term 2013. Nybakk has been one of the Labour Party's principal politicians in foreign and

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

affairs since the 1990s and has been her party's spokesperson on defence. She was Chairman of the

Standing Committee on Defence Standing Committee on Defence (SCOF) is usually a parliamentary committee of parliaments of nations following a parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or ...

between 2001 and 2005 and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs between 2005 and 2009. She is a former leader of the Socialist Group in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Education

Nybakk studied English, French and political science in Oslo, Paris and Cambridge, and graduated with the cand.mag. degree at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top univers ...

in 1972. She also studied theatre and drama in

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-w ...

in 1974. As a student, she was a member of the university board of the University of Oslo, as the first woman to serve in that body. She was President of the Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund 1977–1981.

Political career

Member of Parliament

Nybakk was elected as a deputy member of the Parliament of Norway, the

, for the Oslo constituency in 1985. As the deputy of Gro Harlem Brundtland, she became a substitute member of parliament in 1986 when Brundtland became Prime Minister. She became a full representative in 1987, following the death of Foreign Minister

Knut Frydenlund Knut Frydenlund (31 March 1927 – 26 February 1987) was a Norwegian diplomat and politician for the Labour Party who served as foreign minister from 1973–1981 and again from 1986–1987. Frydenlund was born in Drammen and began his dip ...

. Nybakk was reelected as a member of parliament for the Oslo constituency in 1989,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, 1997,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, 2005, 2009, and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

. She has for several years been the Labour Party's second candidate from the Oslo constituency, second only to party leader and Prime Minister (now

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

secretary-general) Jens Stoltenberg. Since the 1990s, Nybakk has focused on foreign and defence policy, and has been one of the Labour Party's principal politicians covering this field. She was Chairman of the

between 2001 and 2005 and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs between 2005 and 2009. She is a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and the European Committee, and Chairman of the Preparatory Credentials Committee during the term 2013–2017. Nybakk has also been the Labour Party's spokesperson on defence. Nybakk was Third Vice President of the Storting during the term 2009–2013, and was elected First Vice President in 2013. In 2013 she became both the longest-serving incumbent member of the Norwegian parliament and the longest-serving woman of all times. Nybakk has been a delegate to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

since 2004.

NATO Parliamentary Assembly

She was a delegate to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from 2005 to 2013, and became leader of the Socialist Group in 2009.

President of the Nordic Council

In 2012, Nybakk was elected as the President of the

for the term 2013. As President, she promoted Nordic defence cooperation and increased Nordic cooperation on rescue and emergency services.

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions

Nybakk was leader of the Oslo chapter of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (''LO i Oslo'') from 1992 to 1997.

Norwegian Association for Women's Rights

In May 2016 Nybakk was elected president of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights, the main Norwegian advocacy group for women's and girls' rights, in succession to sociologist

Margunn Bjørnholt Margunn Bjørnholt (born 9 October 1958 in Bø, Telemark) is a Norwegian sociologist and economist. She is a research professor at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) and a professor of sociology at the Un ...

. She was succeeded by Supreme Court Justice Karin M. Bruzelius on 16 June 2018. She became a board member of the Forum for Women and Development in November 2016.

Other offices

Nybakk was a member of the council of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation 1978–1988, President of the Advisory Committee for Development Cooperation of the Nordic Council of Ministers 1984–1989 and President of the Council on Foreign Aid, a public advisory body appointed by the Ministry of Development Cooperation, from 1987 to 1988. She is a member of the advisory board of the

Oslo Center The Oslo Center was founded by former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik in January 2006. The purpose of the center is to work for world peace, human rights and inter-religious tolerance worldwide. The center cooperates closely with the ...

, founded by former Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, and a member of the council of SOS Children's Villages in Norway.

Political positions

Nybakk is considered a

pragmatic social democrat; she is widely described as a member of the right wing of the Labour Party.

Foreign and defence policy

Nybakk supports Norwegian membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

. Like the Labour Party itself and most Norwegian politicians, she supports Norway's

membership. She supported the war in Afghanistan, and argued that it liberated women in the country.

Women's rights

Nybakk has also advocated women's

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

, especially in states such as Iran and other areas of the Middle East. She was vice chair of the committee for human rights in Iran 1995–1997. In 2015, Nybakk and Liberal Party leader Trine Skei Grande boycotted a parliamentary delegation visiting Iran due to the requirement that female members would have to wear a

chador A chādor ( Persian, ur, چادر, lit=tent), also variously spelled in English as chadah, chad(d)ar, chader, chud(d)ah, chadur, and naturalized as , is an outer garment or open cloak worn by many women in the Persian-influenced countries of I ...

, which they argued was discriminatory to women.

Publications

* Marit Nybakk and Alexander Kvedalen (eds.): ''Arbeiderbevegelsens århundre: 100 år i kamp og framgang: en billedkavalkade over viktige hendelser fra fagbevegelsens historie i Oslo'', LO i Oslo, 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nybakk, Marit Norwegian women's rights activists 1947 births Living people Members of the Storting Women members of the Storting Vice Presidents of the Storting Labour Party (Norway) politicians People from Nord-Odal Politicians from Oslo University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian politicians 21st-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians 21st-century Norwegian women politicians Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people