Posted by lagna on March 01, 19100 at 16:12:28:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/updates/lat_network000222.htmFIRST OF TWO PARTS Mongolian Women Typify a New Global ActivismSociety: Organizers at grass roots help set public agendas with greater effectiveness than even elected officials.By ROBIN WRIGHT , Times Staff WriterLos Angeles Times. Tuesday, February 22, 2000Summary:Oidov Enhtuya of Ulan Bator leads the Liberal Women's BrainPool - which explains civil rights, recruite candidates, and educates voters about the political process in Mongolia.Since 1993, the Brain Pool has opened 187 branches in Mongoliaand has even launched its own Internet site. Enhtuya won aseat in the Mongolian parliament in 1996. To Enhtuya is is the natural order of things for Mongolia. Enhtuya explainsthat 'In a nomadic culture, women are managers and decision-makers in the family and community, while men go off for long periods to herd and hunt.' Mongolia's women account for 84% ofuniversity graduates, 80% of doctorates, 67% of vocational school students, 77% ofdoctors and 60% of lawyers, according to the Women's Information and Research Center, a new Mongolian citizens group. 'Most dropouts are males who quit to work,while girls stay in school. So women have always been independentthinkers. Plus, we're not influenced by Islamic or Confucian traditions, which give more power to men,' explains MongolianForeign Minister Nyam-Osorin Tuyaa, the country's only female Cabinet member.TheWomen for Social Progress whose executivedirector isRatnaa Burmaa has demanded the release of statetelephone numbers, which had been classified secrets, and published them in a Citizen's Guide to Government. It has also pressured three presidential candidates into the country'sfirstpublic debate in 1997.Mongolia's Women for Social Progresswas one of 50 organizations worldwide that in 1998 received the Democracy and Civil Society Award from the United Statesand the European Union to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.The group is not entirely composed of womeneither - 30% of its trainers and 6,000 volunteers are male.TheWomen for Social Progresshttp://www.mol.mn/wsp/LIBERAL WOMEN'SBRAIN POOLhttp://www.mol.mn/leos/