Baltic women get backup from First lady

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Hillary Rodham Clinton's support for women's organizations in former Soviet republics could help boost their status, according to a Latvian delegate in a women's training seminar in Washington, D.C.

A delegation of women activists from the Baltic states and Russia met the First Lady during a U.S. government-supported training seminar in Washington, D.C., last week. In a reception at The White House, Mrs. Clinton "said 'hello' and acknowledged women's work in their home countries," according to Erika Batcheller at the First Lady's press office.

"The brief meeting at The White House proved Mrs. Clinton's positive attitude and support for the women's initiative," said Inese Kikule, the secretary-general of the Coalition for Gender Equality in Latvia. "Mrs. Clinton's approach might lead to changes in public opinion about women's organizations."

The training seminar was a part of the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative, a U.S. government program dedicated to advancing the political and economic progress of women in emerging democracies. The seminar, a follow-up to the Vital Voices Conference in Iceland last fall, was hosted by President Bill Clinton's Interagency Council on Women and the U.S. State Department in conjunction with Podesta.com and other private partners.

Latvian delegates - Inese Kikule, Ligita Zandoska, a Radio Latvia journalist, and Eleonora Maisaka, a women's training program manager in Bauska - joined nine colleagues from neighboring states to participate in week-long training sessions in leadership, message development, communications, coalition building and issue advocacy.

Women's groups face a difficult future in the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe.

As international funds gradually decrease financial support to NGOs, not only women's organizations but also the whole nongovernmental sector is under risk in Latvia, according to Kikule.

"Neither government, nor business companies are ready to make use of the great potential of non-governmental organizations," she said in an interview with The Baltic Times.

The Baltic-Russian delegation met a galaxy of stars from politics, to media and business. Among them were Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn, Time Magazine correspondent Karen Tumulty, Charlie Ries, principal deputy assistant secretary for European affairs, Tony Podesta, a powerful D.C.-based lobbyist and brother of White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, and others.

The next Vital Voices conference in North European region is set for summer, 2001, in Vilnius.