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p Women in socialist countries have always sided with those who fight for social liberation, freedom, independence, peace and social progress. Raised in the spirit of revolutionary traditions, they are ever faithful to the principle of proletarian internationalism.

p The diverse and active international activities of women in socialist countries are carried out through national women’s organisations. In the Soviet Union it is the Soviet Women’s Committee (until 1956 the Anti-Fascist Soviet Women’s Committee), which was decorated by the government with the Order of Friendship Among Peoples for its activities. It was created shortly after the Second World War began, when the Soviet nation mobilised all its forces to repel the fascist aggressors. During those days Soviet women 97 helped to consolidate and strengthen Ihe forces battling fascism by creating an anti-fascist peoples’ front.

p On September 7, 1941, at the first Ail-Union meeting of the organisation, the women made a ringing appeal to their sisters all over the world to combine their efforts in the battle against the nazi aggressors. Women responded everywhere. They wrote from Great Britain, the United States, India, Australia and other countries expressing their solidarity with the Soviet people in their struggle, and making known their desire to contribute to the victory over mankind’s most evil enemy.

p It was during these trying days that the first contacts were made between Soviet women and those of Central and Southeastern Europe, who joined in the battle against the fascists on occupied territory by working with the Resistance. Many Bulgarian, Yugoslav, Polish and Czechoslovak women took part in the armed struggle as members of guerilla groups and army units. Women of Vietnam, China and Korea fought for freedom and independence of their nations, against the Japanese militarists and foreign colonialists.

p In the course of the national liberation and revolutionary struggle of these countries, women’s organisations were formed which, together with the progressive women of France, Italy, Belgium and other countries, were the first to create a genuinely international, broadly based, democratic women’s organisation after the war. The active role in the creation of this organisation was playedby the women of the Soviet Union, the country that made a decisive contribution to the victory over fascism.

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p It was due lo the will of lens of thousands of women who took part in the struggle against German fascism and Japanese militarism that on December 1, 1945, at the International Women’s Congress in Paris, the Women’s International Democratic Federation was born. It declared that its goal would be to consolidate the peace that had been won at so great a cost, to struggle against any reappearance of fascism, to battle for the national independence of the world’s peoples, for the rights of women and the happiness of children.

p The women’s organisations of the USSR and other socialist countries are active participants in the undertakings of this Federation—-international congresses and bilateral meetings, international seminars and regional conferences. At forums held by the WlDF participants are constantly discussing how they can best work for peace and democracy, national independence, the rights of women, and a better life for children.

p The women of socialist countries regard the preservation and consolidation of peace among the peoples of the world as the fundamental goal of their international activities. They give enthusiastic support to the active international policies of their governments in the cause of peace and international detente, and make a creative contribution to the implementation of these policies.

p Women in socialist countries support general and complete disarmament, peaceful coexistence among states with different social systems, and international detente. They have been in the vanguard of the World Movement of Champions of Peace. They did a tremendous amount of work 99 in collecting signatures for the Stockholm Appeal cf the Wcrld Council cf Peace to Ban Atomic Weapons and Avert the Threat of Nuclear War (1950); they participated in the work of world congresses for peace and disarmament, including the World Congress of Peace Forces (Moscow, October, 1973), which will go down in the history of social movements as the First General Assembly of the Peoples of the World.

p Women’s organisations in socialist countries have founded peace funds and participate in their activities.

p It was with relief and satisfaction that the women of socialist countries greeted the onset of detente in Europe, the treaties signed between the Federal Republic of Germany and the USSR and between the FRG and the Polish People’s Republic, and the annulment of the notorious Munich Agreement of 1938, which betrayed the interests of Czechoslovakia.

p These real strides made on the path toward European security were facilitated by the tireless efforts of socialist governments and the support given them by all social organisations, including women’s organisations.

p In September 1971, for example, Moscow hosted the Seminar for Women of European Countries. Participants included members of parliaments of various West European nations, deputies of the highest state bodies from the socialist countries of Europe and the leaders of national women’s organisations. Maria Milczarek, Chairwoman of the National Council of Polish Women expressed the thoughts and aspirations of women in socialist countries when she said in a speech before the Seminar, "We wish that all the peoples of Europe, all European states, could cast off 100 the heavy burden of the arms race. This would have enormous significance for their economic, scientific and cultural development. We would like Europe to be free once and for all from the political tension which was born during the cold war and which still exists. Finally, we would like to see the complete normalisation of political, cultural and other relations among all European nations".

p Members of the Democratic Union of German Women devote considerable energy to the activities surrounding the traditional Baltic Sea Week. The meetings held during this week contribute to the active cooperation of the social forces of northern European nations in the name of peace and progress.

p The consistent work of women’s organisations to achieve these goals is reflected in the fact that the women of socialist countries have taken part in the work of all forums dealing with the problems of European security. They made contributions at the assemblies of the representatives of public opinion for security and cooperation in Europe, which were held in 1972 and in 1975, and participated actively in the Conference of Women’s Organisations on European Cooperation and Security held in Dipoli, Finland, where the problems discussed included the securing of peace on the European continent and ways for increasing cooperation among the peoples of Europe.

p In defending the rights of peoples seeking national independence, women in socialist countries do not overlook acts of aggression, regardless of where they might take place. For many years their attention was concentrated on the struggle of the peoples of Southeast Asia and how best to support that struggle.

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p The heroic Vietnamese people emerged victorious in their battle against the imperialist aggressors. The Vietnamese victory was at the same time a victory for the militant solidarity of the progressive, peace-loving forces of the whole planet. It was made possible due to the tremendous fraternal aid which the people of Vietnam received from the socialist community, and particularly from the Soviet Union. At meetings and rallies Soviet women expressed their solidarity with the Vietnamese people in their struggle against the aggression of the United States and its satellites. They expressed their solidarity by sending shiploads of food, medicine and clothing for women and children, supplies desperately needed by the nation at war. The women of the German Democratic Republic collected and sent priceless blood plasma to Vietnam to save wounded adults and children. Polish women also launched campaigns of solidarity. One of these campaigns was called "A Gift from the Heart”. All across the country, in cities and in the country, women and girls sewed clothing for Vietnamese children. The date set for the delivery of these gifts to their Vietnamese sisters coincided with International Children’s Day.

p Members of the Czechoslovak Women’s Union also rendered tremendous material aid to Vietnamese women. For several years now a campaign has been going on in socialist countries to collect funds for the construction of a scientific research centre in Vietnam devoted to the problems of motherhood and childhood. Work is also going on to help the Vietnamese heal the wounds of the war.

p The women of socialist countries also render all forms of aid and support to the women of Arab 102 countries, who have suffered the perfidious attack of Israeli forces. They demand the cessation of provocations against Arab states, the liquidation of the consequences of Israeli aggression, the restoration of peace in the Middle East. The campaign of solidarity with the Arab people manifests itself in the most diverse ways. In declarations of protest against the arbitrary actions of the Israeli military the women of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea and other socialist countries convey their expression of total moral support to the women of the Arab Republic of Egypt and Lebanon, and to the Arab women of Palestine. They declare their solidarity at meetings and gatherings. Soviet women are frequent guests of women’s organisations in Arab countries. Expressing their solidarity and support for their Arab friends, they also provide necessary material assistance. For the most part this aid goes to women’s centres in camps for refugees who have been driven from their native land by the Israeli aggressors.

_p When the whole world was shaken by the events taking place in Chile Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, Chairwoman of the Soviet Women’s Committee, made a radio broadcast on behalf of millions of Soviet women, condemning the criminal actions of Chilean reactionary forces, their attempt to turn back the clock of history, to wipe out the social and economic transformations so successfully carried out in the course of three years’ rule by the Popular Unity Government. "In this hour, so trying for the people of Chile,” she said in her statement, "we express our fervent solidarity with all the workers of Chile, with all the parties of the Popular Unity who are 103 heroically resisting the forces of reaction and are faithful to the struggle for independence, democracy and social progress.

p “We are with you, Chilean friends! We firmly believe that justice will triumph!”

p ’All the women in the socialist community shared these thoughts and words. They are ready to render whatever assistance they can to the women of Chile in the difficult struggle they face.

p The last few years have witnessed growing cooperation between Soviet women and those of other socialist countries with women’s organisations in young African states. This cooperation takes on many forms. During the 1974/75 academic year 342 female students from 37 African, Asian and Latin American countries received stipends from the Soviet Women’s Committee to study in Moscow and other cities. The National Council of Polish Women also provided stipends for girls from Ghana, Nigeria and Mali.

p The first graduates, having acquired the training they sought, have returned to their homeland. Some members of the leading cadres of women’s organisations in some developing countries have studied in Bulgaria and the German Democratic Republic.

p The Cuban Women’s Federation has consistently given aid to African countries fighting for their freedom and independence. Children orphaned during the war in Guinea-Bissau are studying in Cuba. African girls attend Cuban technical schools, nursing schools and other educational institutions. They acquaint themselves with the way pre-school establishments for children are run in Cuba.

p Women’s organisations in socialist countries help their sisters in developing countries to 104 organise women’s centres and send them the equip ment they need for these centres.

p They share their experience—the socialist experience—in showing others how equality can be achieved.

p The International Seminar on Education for Women of Africa held in Tashkent in 1962, focused on problems of women’s education. The Soviet Women’s Committee together with the WIDF and the All-African Women’s Conference organised the Seminar on Mother-and-Child Protection in African Countries, held in Bamako in 1965, and another on the Training of Cadres to Combat Illiteracy among Women in the African and Arab Countries (Khartoum, 1970).

p In August 1972, the Mongolian People’s Republic welcomed representatives from 67 national women’s organisations of Asia and Africa and a number of regional and international organisations, representatives from the socialist countries of Europe, delegates from Latin America and various leading figures in the women’s movement to the Second Afro-Asian Women’s Conference.

p |In an atmosphere of constructive cooperation, solidarity, friendship and mutual understanding, the Conference discussed questions of vital importance for the women and peoples of Africa and Asia: the role of women in the struggle for liberation, national independence and peace, their contribution to the cultural, economic and social development of their people, and the rights of women in their role as mothers, spouses, workers and citizens.

p In sharing their own experiences at the Conference, women from socialist countries made a 105 valuable contribution to the discussions. A graphic example of this is the way Mongolian representatives acquainted their fellow delegates with the accomplishments of their country, which has moved directly from feudalism to socialism, bypassing the intermediary stage of capitalist development.

p When the Second Afro-Asian Women’s Conference had completed its work, the delegates visited the Soviet Union. They took part in a seminar organised by the Soviet Women’s Committee entitled "Experience in Resolving the Question of Women’s Rights in a Multi-National State".

p At the time the Soviet republics were celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the USSR, a voluntary union of equal peoples. In numerous congratulatory messages sent to Soviet women on the occasion of the anniversary, people everywhere expressed their gratitude for the help and the vivid example set by Soviet women through their own accomplishments in various spheres and through their extensive international work.

p “Accept, dear friends,” read a telegramme from the United Committee of the Anti-Dictatorial Movement of Greek Expatriate Women, "our fervent gratitude and thanks for your aid, manifest in so many ways, and for your expression of genuine solidarity and sympathy with our people, and especially with our captive sisters.”

p In a letter from the Helsinki branch of the Democratic Women’s Union of Finland we read the following lines: "We, the women of capitalist countries, have to fight for our rights. In this struggle we are greatly assisted by your experience in eliminating racial and national 106 oppression, by the possibility of witnessing your life and accomplishments.”

p The participants of a meeting organised by a regional branch of the Ceylon Women’s Front of Colombo sent warm greetings to the Soviet Women’s Committee: "The accomplishments of the women of the USSR are an inspiring example for women all over the world who are fighting for peace, democracy and socialism.”

p To work for peace and mutual understanding among women on all continents, the women of socialist countries maintain contacts with various national and international women’s organisations. They send and receive delegates, which helps to allay the distrust of women from those countries where intense efforts are made to discredit socialism and its achievements.

p The Conference for Social Activities of Yugoslav Women (a permanent organisation) maintains ties with 110 women’s organisations. Every year it sponsors theoretical seminars and invites representatives from many national and international organisations to take part. The Bulgarian Women’s Committee maintains friendly ties with progressive women’s organisations in 80 countries.

p Through their own Committee Soviet women maintain ties with women’s organisations in 120 countries, and also with international organisations, among them the International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom, the International Federation of University Women, the International Council of Women and other organisations which understand the need for strengthening ties with women’s organisations in socialist countries,

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p Women in socialist countries are very interested in the development of international cooperation to deal with problems concerning the status of women and children. Representatives of socialist countries participate in the work of the Commission on the Status of Women of the UN’s Economic and Social Council, the activities of UNESCO, ILO, and international forums discussing these problems. They speak out against the discrimination that women suffer in capitalist countries, support demands for women’s equality, and formulate documents which reflect the vital interests of women all over the world.

The women of socialist countries have endorsed the decision of the 27th Session of the United Nations’ General Assembly declaring 1975 International Women’s Year. They have enthusiastically supported this decision, which was accepted on the initiative of the WIDF and other international organisations, and are hopeful that 1975 will prove to be an important milestone for those who seek to wipe out discrimination against women in those countries where it still exists.

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