Civil Society

(Archive)

Throughout the NEI region, increased public participation in the political system will contribute significantly to internal stability and economic prosperity. Estonia and Latvia in particular face the challenge of integrating their Russian-speaking minorities in a way that strengthens social cohesion. Together with its Nordic partners, the U.S. has undertaken a number of activities to promote social integration in Estonia and Latvia, including native language training programs in Latvia and a job retraining and language training program for Russian speakers in northeastern Estonia. The U.S. co-finances (with the Soros Foundation) the Baltic American Partnership Fund (BAPF), established in 1998 to develop a dynamic NGO community in the three Baltic states.

The Third Baltic Sea Women's Conference on Women and Democracy was held on February 13-14, 2003 in Tallinn, Estonia. The main topics of the conference were women in power and decision-making, violence against women, women and economy, and women and media. The United States was represented by 25 citizens people from non-governmental organizations as well as U.S. Government agencies. The head of the delegation was Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, U.S. Delegate to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. For further information, see http://www.sm.ee/women/e_index.htm. The conference followed up on the October 1999 Reykjavik Conference on Women and Democracy, co-sponsored by the United States, Iceland, and the Nordic Council of Ministers, and a second conference in June 2001 in Vilnius.

The Department of State has sponsored programs designed to capture the momentum of the Women in Democracy events. Women In International Security received a grant to conduct programs on Baltic Sea regional security issues in Riga and in Washington. For a U.S. view on this topic, see Baltic Regional Security Challenges.