Iceland is running a gender-equality conference without any women

September 30, 2014, 2:56 PM UTC
Iceland's Foreign Minister Sveinsson addresses the 68th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York
Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, minister for foreign affairs of Iceland, addresses the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 30, 2013. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FFVG
© Adrees Latif / Reuters REUTERS

This post is in partnership with Time. The article below was originally published at Time.com.

By Rishi Iyengar, TIME

Iceland is organizing a gender-equality conference that won’t have any female attendees.

In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson said the “Barbershop” conference aims to bring together a group of men discussing gender equality among themselves, focusing particularly on violence against women.

“For our part, we want to bring men and boys to the table on gender equality in a positive way,” he said, describing the first-of-its-kind conference as an “exceptional contribution to the Beijing+20 and #HeforShe campaigns.”

The event will take place in January and will be co-hosted by the South American nation of Suriname, according to Sveinsson.