p The active participation of women in economic production, the higher educational, professional and cultural level they have achieved, .their growing self-consciousness, the measures taken by the state which permit women to combine family life with productive social labour—all these things make it possible for women to engage fruitfully in the social and political life of the country and in public service on all levels. And everywhere they justify the trust society has put in them, displaying responsibility and initiative and contributing to the formulation and implementation of the internal and external policies of the state.
p Enjoying the same political rights as men, women play a very active role in election campaigns, are themselves elected to positions on all levels of government, and are appointed to posts in the {rovernment. In Bulgaria, for example, the latest elections ^ave women 18.75 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly; in the People’s Councils women make up one-quarter of all elected deputies. Among those occupying executive posts we find two women ministers—the Minister of Light Industry and the Minister of 93 Justice—and six depuly ministers, including one in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
p Women make up 23.8 per cent of the deputies in Hungary’s National Assembly, and 24.3 per cent of the deputies elected to local councils.
p In the German Democratic Republic the number of locally elected women officials rose from 53,000 in 1965 (25.8 per cent of all deputies) to 65,000 (more than 30 per cent of the present total). On the national level—the People’s Chamber—the number of women deputies has reached 32 per cent. It is interesting that among mayors women make up 21 per cent of the total, whereas in 1965 the figure was only 11.2 per cent.
p In Poland among the members of the Sejm (Parliament) elected in 1969 there were 62 women or 13.5 per cent of the total number of deputies while in 1938 there was only one woman among the 208 members of the Sejm.
p In 1964, Rumanians elected 19 women deputies to their Parliament; at present there are 66 women there. More than 50,000 women—one-third of all deputies—occupy positions in local governments. 349 women occupy positions as presidents of the court, judges and notaries public. Three justices on the Supreme Court of Rumania are women. The well-known Rumanian writer Zacharia Stanku wrote with some justice: "I can still remember the time when a woman would not dare to raise her eyes from the stove and look directly at her husband. But look at her now—everywhere she holds her head high, affirming herself, speaking out publically.”
p During the last local elections in Mongolia 99.9 per cent of all eligible women voted, and a full quarter of those elected were women. Women comprise 21.9 per cent of the deputies 94 in the People’s Great Mural—the highest legislative body in the country. Women hold such posts as member of the Presidium of the People’s Great Hural, Chairman of the State Committee for Labour and Wages, Deputy Ministers of Health, Education, Foreign Trade, Finance, and Communal Services.
p In 1964, ten women were elected deputies to the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam—a figure representing 2.5 per cent of the total number of deputies; in 1971 the figure was 125 women, or almost 30 per cent of the total. In 1965, only 8 per cent of the members of administrative committees in cities and provinces were women; in 1969-1970—15.9 per cent; women members of the administrative committees of districts and blocks rose from 12 to 26.5 per cent, and of commune committees—from 14 to 32 per cent. Women occupy 11 deputy ministerial posts or their equivalent; 65 women are the heads of government boards, 800 are chairmen and 3,800 assistant chairmen of administrative committees at various levels. In 1960, only one woman was a departmental head; now six women hold such posts. 90 per cent of the cities and provinces have women heading various governmental services.
p In the world of socialism it would be difficult to find any sphere where women do not play a significant role. Women participate in all spheres of political life, and many of them are members of ruling Communist and Workers’ Parties. Women make up 20 to 28 per cent of the total membership of these Parties. Many of them are members of the central committees of Communist and Workers’ Parties and take an active part in the internal and external political life of the country.
95p The active participation of women in economic, social and political activity is accompanied by an increase in the number of those who belong to trade unions. They are also occupying more and more places of leadership in these organisations. In Hungary, for example, half of all the elective posts in trade unions are held by women.
p Every year women play a greater role in the trade union movement in Cuba. Forward-looking women have assumed positions of responsibility in the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Confederation of Cuban Workers and head various individual unions.
p The women of socialist countries carry out a tremendous amount of social and political work in mass organisations—the Fatherland Front of Bulgaria, the National Front of the German Democratic Republic, the All-Poland Committee of the National Unity Front, the National Front of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the Fatherland Front of Vietnam, and others.
p Within the framework of these national organs there are women’s organisations which were formed immediately after the Second World War on the basis of women’s committees and groups which participated in National Fronts during the period of Resistance. Along with other organisations—trade unions, youth groups, cooperatives—and under the guidance of Communist and Workers’ Parties, they carry out tremendous organisational, ideological, educational and cultural work among women and the entire population, and help to solve problems that women face.
The Bulgarian Women’s Committee, the National Council of Hungarian Women, the Democratic Union of German Women (GDR), 96 the National Council of Polish Women, the National Council of Women of the Socialist Republic of Rumania, the Czechoslovak Women’s Union, the Conference for Social Activities of Yugoslav Women, the Korean Democratic Women’s Union, the Mongolian Women’s Committee, the Women’s Union of Vietnam, the Cuban Women’s Federation—all these organisations have been very successful in drawing women to the task of building socialism on a mass scale. The women’s organisations of socialist countries share their experiences, thus facilitating this task.
Notes