News

On June 21-22 in Vilnius, Lithuanian Foreign Ministry is organizing a conference “Gender, Science and Democracy”, which is part of Lithuania’s programme of coordination of activities of the Nordic Baltic Eight (NB8) for 2012.

The fact that Lithuania is organizing this event confirms that Lithuania has been paying consistent attention to such priority issues in Nordic and Baltic States as women’s rights and equal opportunities.

The conference will discuss issues of gender equality education from the state level perspective, and the role of science, education system and different means and media for gender equality education.

Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius highlighted the importance of this event. According to him, it is expected that the best experts in this field from the Baltic and Nordic States, EU Eastern Partnership countries, Mediterranean region, Africa and Middle East will share their unique experiences, discuss the best problem solving examples and outline guidelines for further initiatives.

Ignatavičius also noted that equal opportunity issues were long-term priorities for the Lithuanian foreign policy, which was properly reflected in the 2009-2011 programmes of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Community of Democracies and Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The Foreign Ministry plans to further organize events on gender issues also next year, when Lithuania will be holding the Presidency of the EU Council.

The conference was organised in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers, Lithuanian and foreign non-governmental organizations.

For more information on the event, please visit the website: http://nb8.mfa.lt/.