Reprinted verbatim with permission of Radio Free Europe. Lidiya Blokhina, president of the Russian Confederation of Women in Business, told Ekho Moskvy on 5 January that her organization believes that women should account for at least one-third of senior government decision makers. She noted that women currently make up about 10 percent of the State Duma. "However, there are virtually no women at the decision-making level," she said. "In the cabinet, where decisions are made, women are virtually nonexistent." Blokhina further criticized the government for failing to heed a UN recommendation to increase the representation of women in governing circles. "For balanced decisions to be made, women should account for at least one-third of the decision makers," she said. RC
Copyright 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rfrel.org