Lubna Jaffery

Lennart Fjell

​

(m. 2003)​

Lubna Jaffery
Minister of Culture and Equality
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 June 2023
Children	1
Alma mater	University of Bergen

Lubna Boby Jaffery (born 2 April 1980) ^[1] is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She has served as minister of culture and equality since 2023 and a deputy member of parliament for Hordaland since 2009. She previously served as Bergen city commissioner for labour, social affairs, and housing from 2019 to 2021.

Early life and education

Born in Norway to parents of Pakistani origin she grew up in Bergen. ^[2] She took her secondary education in Åsane in 1999, and at the University of Bergen she took the cand.mag. degree in 2004 and the master's degree in 2007. Jaffery married Lennart Fjell in 2003 and they have one daughter together. ^[3]

Political career

Youth league

She was an adviser in the Workers' Youth League in 2000, before becoming a central board member from 2000 to 2004. She had previously chaired the county branch from 1998 to 1999.

Local politics

Jaffery was a member of the Bergen city council from 1999 to 2003 and Fjell municipal council from 2003 to 2007. ^[4]

In 2019, she was appointed Bergen City Commissioner for Labour, Social Affairs and Housing in the Roger Valhammer city government. ^[5] She resigned from this position when she was promoted to permanent representative in the Storting to cover the duties of Marte Mjøs Persen. She was succeeded by Ruth Grung as city commissioner. ^[6]

Government

In 2008, Jaffery was appointed a political advisor in the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. From March to October 2009 she was a political advisor for the Minister of Health and Care Services. From 2009 to 2012 she was a State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture as a part of Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet. ^[7]

Parliament

Jaffery has been a deputy representative in the Storting since 2009, having been re-elected since. In 2021, she was promoted to full member, covering for Marte Mjøs Persen after she was appointed to the Støre Cabinet. In the Storting, she sat as a member of the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services in 2021, before being moved to the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs, where she also served as first vice chair between 2021 and 2023. ^[1]

Minister of Culture and Equality

Jaffery was appointed minister of culture and equality on 28 June 2023 following Anette Trettebergstuen's resignation due to impartiality issues. ^[8]

2023

In July, she attended the Moldejazz music festival, ^[9] and in commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the 2011 Norway attacks, called for action against outsiderness and extremism, and to secure local communities. ^[10]

A day before the 2024 state budget was presented, Jaffery confirmed that the government would be allocating 10 million NOK to combat sports poverty for children youths in what the government designated as an "ambitious" action plan. ^[11]

On 30 November, Jaffery and TV2 signed a new commercial public broadcasting agreement for the channel for the new term from 2024 to 2028. ^[12]

In December, Jaffery announced the government's strategy for gaming, which was originally meant to be put forward the year before. With the announcement, she stated that politics should be more offensive in that regard and that with the strategy, the field would lifted up more. ^[13]

2024

Following the release of a UN report into racism in Norway, Jaffery pledged that the government would take the report into consideration and continue the fight against racism and discrimination. She went on to highlight the importance of inclusion and that the discrimination level is low in the country. ^[14]

Jaffery received the report into male equality from the commission specialising in said issues in April. The report concluded that some measures against more male equality would be to have a two parted paternity leave, more flexible school starts and increased recruitment of men to more female dominated jobs. Jaffery highlighted that there are still inequality gaps between genders and that the declining birth rates were worrying. ^[15]

In late June, she announced that the government would be postponing the implementation of a third gender in identification papers until 2032, on the recommendation of the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs. Furthermore she stated that national supervision would be implemented for public and private actors for gender diversity. ^[16]

On 25 June, Jaffery gained widespread attention, both in national and international press, after flashing her breasts in a show of support for LGBT people. ^{[17] [18]}

On the issue of AI illustrations, Jaffery expressed in late September that companies ought to be free to chose between AI and human illustrations. She did however emphasise that AI should be utilised as a tool and expressed hopes for a continued active demand and appreciation of human illustrators in the future. ^[19]

She expressed disagreement with finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum in November after he expressed support for the Chrsitian Democrats' leader Dag Inge Ulstein's views on the gender debate and that there was only two genders. Jaffery reasserted the Labour Party's position on inclusion of queer and non-binary people and their recognition of a third gender. She also criticised the Christian Democrats for importing the debate from the United States and making the issue larger then necessary. ^[20]

Criticism was pointed towards the government and the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision in December for failing to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and failing to appropriate accommodation for disabled individuals, by the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud. Jaffery argued that the municipalities were responsible to uphold the convention and that the government was listening to proposals for incorporating the convention into Norwegian law after the report from the expert committee has been consulted by parliament. ^[21]

References

1. "Lubna Jaffery" (in Norwegian). Storting.
2. Bergenser overtar Saera Khans sentralstyreplass (in Norwegian) Aftenposten , (21 March 2009), retrieved 11 June 2013
3. "Migrapolis ønsker god jul!". NRK. 20 December 2007.
4. "Statssekretær Lubna Jaffery" (in Norwegian). Government.no . Retrieved 21 May 2012.
5. "Her er Bergens nye byråd" (in Norwegian). NRK Vestland. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
6. "Grung ny sosialbyråd: Her er dei vanskelegaste sakene ho må takle" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
7. "Jens Stoltenberg's Second Government". Government.no. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
8. "Lubna Jaffery er ny kultur- og likestillingsminister" (in Norwegian). NRK. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
9. "Årets Moldejazz er i gang!" (in Norwegian). NRK Møre og Romsdal. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
10. "– Uten 22. juli, hadde nok ikke jeg vært statsråd" (in Norwegian). TV2. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
11. "Varsler kraftig oppgjør mot idrettsfattigdom: – Folk sliter" (in Norwegian). TV2. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
12. "Staten og TV 2 inngår avtale om kommersiell allmennkringkasting for en ny periode" (in Norwegian). government.no. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
13. "Regjeringa vil at fleire skal gjere som Edvard" (in Norwegian). NRK Vestland. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
14. "Kulturministeren: – Vi tar dette på alvor" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
15. "Mannsutvalget: Vil gi menn lik rett til foreldrepermisjon" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Verdens Gang. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
16. "Regjeringen setter i gang arbeid med veileder for kjønnsmangfold" (in Norwegian Bokmål). government.no. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
17. "Kulturministeren flashet puppene som årets «fag hag»" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Verdens Gang. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
18. "Minister drops the covers on stage". Kronen Zeitung. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
19. Slotten, Alexander (27 September 2024). "Frykter KI kan ta jobbene fra illustratører" (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK . Retrieved 28 September 2024.
20. Dyrkorn, Trond Magnus (28 November 2024). "Regjeringen uenige med seg selv om kjønnsidentitet" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Aftenposten . Retrieved 28 November 2024.
21. Arnsten, Erlend Ofte; Berg, Ronny (9 December 2024). "Statsråd om flyttinger: –⁠ En fryktelig vond situasjon" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Verdens Gang . Retrieved 9 December 2024.

Political offices
Preceded by Anette Trettebergstuen	Minister of Culture and Equality 2023–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Sverre Myrli	First Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs 2021–2023	Succeeded by Frode Jacobsen
Preceded by Erlend Horn	Bergen City Commissioner for Labour, Social Affairs and Housing 2019–2021	Succeeded by Ruth Grung