Iceland-Overview

Iceland has a strong democratic tradition and a culture of participation and activism. While the country has seen several corruption scandals in recent years, most recently exposed by the Panama Papers leaks, each time there has been a strong civic response that has led to rapid political change. Iceland’s culture of activism was further demonstrated in 2015 when the government doubled its refugee resettlement quota following a campaign supported by 12,000 of the circa 330,000 population. Iceland lacks a national human rights institution, but the government has committed to consulting on and establishing one.