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Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott Remarks at the Conference on Women and Democracy, Reykjavik, Iceland, October 8, 1999

Progress and Hardship: Women as a Force for Change in the Northern Neighborhood Thank you all for the chance to add an American perspective on the theme of this conference. But first, let me add an expression of my own gratitude to our Icelandic hosts. For centuries, this island has been a crossroad between the Old World and the New, and for decades, this nation has offered itself as diplomatic common ground between east and west. That's how I first came to know this lovely city. I was one of many journalists who arrived here 13 years ago this month, in October 1986, to cover the meeting of Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev less than 3 kilometers from here at Hofdi House. They were grappling with the terms of the nuclear peace in the twilight of the Cold War. Since then, all 10 of the nations represented here today have helped bring about the end of the Cold War. Three of these nations have, within the past decade, regained their sovereignty. They are among the many countries in central and eastern Europe that have -- through the vision and determination of their people and reformist leaders -- undertaken a brave transformation -- really three transformations: from dictatorship to democracy, from a command economy to the market, from a closed, repressive society to an open and civil one. For the first time in history, all of us -- new democracies and older ones alike -- share a basic set of values and aspirations about national and international life. Women have been a driving force behind the positive changes of the past 10 years. Quite a few heroic examples are here today. I'm sure they would be the first to confirm that women have also borne the brunt of the hardships and setbacks that have accompanied these great changes. Deputy Prime Minister Matviyenko and President Vike-Freiberga have given us a vivid and compelling sense of how they and their colleagues are grappling with this problem in their homelands. That problem is pervasive in the post-communist world. Women held 14 million of the approximately 25 million jobs lost in those countries since the dissolution of the Soviet system. The aftershocks of that momentous event have hit hardest those sectors of the economy that have traditionally employed women -- medicine, bookkeeping, and teaching. Women are also disproportionately the victims of the rise in crime and the fall in health care. And then there's a painful political irony: With the spread of democracy in what used to be Communist countries, there's been a 10-18% drop in the number of women elected to the national legislatures of the region over the past 10 years. That means that there's all-the-heavier burden of leadership, courage, and vision on the shoulders of the Baltic and Russian elected officials here today. We must find new and better ways to support them and others who are fighting the good fight in their parliaments, city councils, and societies. Meeting this challenge will require sustained, multiple, and mutually reinforcing efforts at every level -- from grassroots to global, from village councils to federal parliaments to international organizations. It will also require partnerships between the public and private interests, between governments and NGOs. In short, it will require exactly the sort of collaboration we see around this hall today. The United States is committed to being part of this effort. That commitment is part of Secretary Albright's determination to make advancing women's interests, women's rights, and women's roles an integral objective of U.S. foreign policy. We're doing so in numerous ways, including through Vital Voices and our Northern European Initiative, which channels American resources to the cause of Nordic-Baltic cooperation, development, and integration. Under its aegis, the U.S. Agency for International Development has helped create 60,000 jobs and more than 6,000 new companies in Russia. The U.S. Information Agency has brought to our country nearly 800 Russian women from 60 cities to learn business skills. In Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the Baltic-American Enterprise Fund has been making low-interest loans and grants to small businesses. With help from the Soros Foundation, the Baltic-American Partnership Fund is helping establish NGOs in the region, with special emphasis on the welfare of women, families, and children. We want to do more. Therefore, I'm pleased to announce today that the United States will donate a million dollars to match the generous commitment of the Nordic Investment Bank in establishing a new program to provide credits to small businesses in the Baltic States and Russia. In addition, we and our Nordic partners will soon be launching a number of new programs that will allow young Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Russians to learn the skills of law, accounting, marketing, and banking in Western firms. This program, too, will be targeted to meet the needs -- and develop the capacities -- of women in these fields. We have here, in the Baltic and Russian delegations, women who have contributed to one of the most positive and promising trends in their homelands: the growth of entrepreneurship as a force for social development. Finally, a word about the American delegation. There are 85 of us here. Our group ranges from government officials to entrepreneurs and foundation executives. In the workshops today and tomorrow, you will find all of them eager to share with you -- and to hear from you -- concrete ideas on how to strengthen the role of women in public and economic life. Another American participant arrives later today. Ever since I first got to know her 25 years ago -- well before she was the First Lady even of the state of Arkansas -- she has been active and articulate on women's issues and, I need hardly add, in the workings of democracy. I can already tell from what I've seen and heard that she will enjoy being part of these proceedings. More than that, I'm sure she will be proud to be part of your work this weekend and into the future. So will I. So will all of us in the American delegation. Thank you very much. [end of document]