Latvia women in EU – before and after

1. Latvia women in EU – before and after Full member of the Latvia Academy of Sciences Baiba Rivza Helsinki, 27 October, 2004 Address: Council of Higher Education of Latvia Meistaru street 21, Riga, LV 1050, Latvia Phone: + 371 7223392; + 371 9254469 Fax: + 371 7220423 E-mail: aip@latnet.lv

2. The Republic of Latvia in Facts(situation on 1 January, 2004) Area: 64 589 km2 Population: 2.33 million Capital: Riga – 739 000 inhabitants GDP growth: 7.5 % GDP per capita: 4.215 EUR or 2.719 LVL Inflation: 2.9 % Registered unemployment: 8.6 % Source: RIS Latvia - An innovation strategy for Latvia, 2004

3. Current situation

4. Percentage of women in population Total in the country – 54 % Urban population – 55 % Rural population – 52 % Source: Demographic Yearbook of Latvia, 2003

5. President of Latvia - Vaira Vike - Freiberga

6. Females by main age group Source: Demographic Yearbook of Latvia, 2003 (according to the working and retirement age laid down in the respective legislation)

7. There are 32.5 % women of the employers in LatviaProportion of women employers in regions:

8. Women among researchers in the new EU memberstates, %

9. Percentage of women in PhD graduates

10. Percentage of women in researchers by main field of science

11. Problems

12. Riga region and other Latvia

13. Unemployed women from total unemployed, % • 2000 – 57.6 • 2001 – 57.4 • 2002 – 58.7 • 2003 – 58 .0 Source: Report on Economic Development of Latvia, Ministry of Economics Republic of Latvia, 2004

14. Monthly average gross wages and salary by gender and kind of activity,LVL

15. Relative share of women & men in a typical academic career

16. Share of women from the new EU member states in HE positions, %

17. FEMALE PROFESSOR BY THE FIELD OF STUDY, %

18. Percentage of total number of women in the fields of studies Source: Overview on Latvia higher education 2003, Ministry of Education and science

19. Possibilities from EU

20. International cooperation in science • EU framework programs • COST • INTAS • EUREKA • Bilateral cooperation Germany France USA • Latvian – Lithuania – Taiwan support foundation for scientific cooperation

21. EU structural funds in Latvia, 2004 – 2006

22. Support for Latvia women from EU structural funds • Specially targeted initiatives will promote employability and entrepreneurship of women, especially of those returning to the labour market after the child – care leave • Capacity of the institutions responsible for development and implementation of gender equality will be strengthened

23. Support for Latvia women from EU structural funds EQUAL initiative measure – equal opportunities for women and men

24. Support for Latvia women from EU structural funds The gender quality aspect as horizontal objective is included throughout the Latvia Development Plan 2004 – 2006, primarily within the priority “Development of Human Resources and Promotion of Employment”, e.g.: • Output indicators and baseline data are broken down by gender to monitor gender gaps and to measure progress in gender equality • Additional points in the selection criteria will be assigned to those projects which contribute to gender equality • Gender balance in Monitoring and Steering Committees will be encouraged

25. Microcredit → Interreg

26. Activities of project Interreg • Building up resource centres and meeting places to strengthen the role of women in society and in local and regional development. Resource centres: • Latgale - 3 • Vidzeme – 1 • Kurzeme – 1 • Zemgale – 1

27. Activities of project Interreg • Networks for training and exchange of experience for advisors and resource centre leaders • Mentorship program for women entrepreneurs

28. Activities of project Interreg • Networking in microcredit groups and/or other financial solutions for women entrepreneurs • Internationalization of women’s entrepreneurship in the BSR

30. Thank You for Your attention!