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The moments here caught in amateur photos show how intensive and eventful our life is. Of course, we could not include the photos of all the members of our society, nor every event. However, we tried to fully illustrate the ten years of activities of the LWS with photos from our archives.

In 1992 the Lithuanian Women's Society was accepted into the International Women's Alliance. We participate in the international conferences and seminars where we inform the world about the situation of Lithuanian women. We have established especially good relations with the European Women's Lobby, the European Women's Council, the European Academy for Women and other international organizations. Active participation in the international women's movement, and cooperation with the German, Irish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, and East and Central European women's organizations enables us to convey new ideas to Lithuanian women. We have been writing and working on common projects.

Rosy Weiss from Austria (first from left) and Marijke Peters from Holland (second from left) are leaders of the International Women's Alliance - we are constantly aware of their attention to Lithuania and to our organization.

Dublin, Ireland, 2000. The European Women's Foundation invited women from the Balkan and Baltic countries to the conference "Women Building Democracy - 2000 and beyond". The women not only had discussions, they also formulated plans of action for the next decade in the field of strengthening democracy in their countries. One of the most important tasks identified by the Lithuanian delegation was that of establishing a Forum between women's NGO's and state institutions.

Delegation of Lithuanian women at the reception held by President of Ireland Mary McAleese (fourth from right).

Elvyra and Boris Pustyncev from Saint-Petersburg, fighters for human rights in Russia, are also partners of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Northern Ireland greeted seminar participants from the LWS with hospitality. Wonderful country, friendly people, new knowledge about adult education. We quite forgot that not far away people were fighting and shooting each other. Belfast felt like home.

Lithuania is the ancestral home of Pnina Herzog (on the right), President of the International Women's Council. So her attention and warm feelings towards our organization were not accidental. She visited the Lithuanian Women's Society in Vilnius.

The international relations of the Lithuanian Women's Society have been developing and growing stronger from the days of its foundation. Participation in the conference on Human Rights in Copenhagen in 1990 opened the doors to many other international events for us. We received lots of invitations, but there was one problem - we had to know English. So we began studying at various courses. Later we organized courses specially for the LWS members, and then new opportunities were open to us. In the photo (right, top) - on the jury of the European Union television film festival NIKI PRIX in Thessaloniki, Greece. Representatives from Eastern Europe participated in this film festival, dedicated to women's problems, for the first time. The Lithuanian documentary "Venus with a Cat" was very warmly received.

The British organization "Project Parity" held a seminar in Druskininkai together with the LWS. Its purpose was to teach women leaders how to take part in political campaigns. The seminar will be remembered for the interesting topic and for the presence of a very bright personality - member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament - Baroness Janet Fookes.

Baroness Janet Fookes (seated, third from left) with members of the LWS after a seminar in Druskininkai, 1998.

Members of the "Hello" Club, President of the club Irina Izgorodina (standing second from left).

Isabel Menken (a native of the US) learned to speak Lithuanian and conducted the seminars in Lithuanian. Those who did not know English were very happy at that. Mrs. Menken (on the left) came to the Centre every Monday as if she were reporting for work. She was a very valuable assistant at the Centre. Now we have volunteers too. They are young women who are studying to be social workers.

We met Birthe Arnholtz of the Danish Soroptimists Club in 1990. Close and cordial cooperation gave good results - she helped to send gift parcels to Lithuania, she also organized courses for our women in Copenhagen. She became a godmother to the Soroptimists Club organized in Pasvalys. B.Arnholtz (standing third from right) conducted courses "How to Enjoy Life in Old Age". We love her dearly and correspond with her constantly.

We use modern equipment during our courses - computers, video camera, etc. Adolfina Blauzdžiuniene (standing first on the right) is the President of the Women's Activities Centre in Marijampole.

Mette Riisberg Jensen (first on right) came to Lithuania from Denmark in 1992 after having read about the Lithuanian Women's Society in a magazine published by the International Women's Alliance. She wanted to teach us English. But she stayed in Lithuania thinking that Vilnius is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Mette knows Lithuanian already, she is studying our culture and history and in her free time she is a volunteer at our Centre.

We started a common project with the Swedish Adult Education Association (ABF-Norra Stor Stockholm) in 2000. It is a parents' education program, "Dialogue". The main idea of the program is to teach parents communication with their children. The project is financed by the Olof Palme Fund (Sweden). Ten Lithuanian regions are participating in it. Two experienced teachers from Stockholm acquainted us with what had been achieved in Sweden during two training courses held in Vilnius. In addition, plans have been made to prepare local teachers who could organize parent education courses all over Lithuania. Hopefully, the "Dialogue" will help parents to find a common language with their children and give them self-confidence.

Partners from Sweden (from the left) - Berit Wijk, Christina Bergman, florist A.Zuokiene (Vilnius) and Ann-Britt Hedlund.

LWS clubs and societies are active in many towns and regions. Thanks to Anykciai Women's Club a Citizens Advice Bureau has been opened - affiliated to the Lithuanian Citizens Advice Union. Elvyra Lasskaja (seated, second from left) is the President of this club, and also manager of the bureau.

It is difficult to show our political activities during the period of transition to new Lithuania through photos. We took part in discussions in the Seimas (Parliament) when a Law on Equal Opportunities was being prepared, we wrote a report for the World Women's Conference in Beijing, China, and took part in it. It is significant that the Draft Law on Marriage and the Family has been blocked. Such a law would have legitimised the woman's inequality in the family, her financial dependence on her husband and some other strange side effects which had not been noticed by the compilers.

The activities of the LWS were reported at the World Women's Conference in Beijing, China in 1995. We met many like-minded women.

The cooperation of the Lithuanian Women's Society and the Lithuanian Citizens Advice Union has been mutually useful. (President of the LCAU Dr. Egidijus Kurapka is standing second from right). We received literature about advice services, an information system, help from legal specialists in advising women in Lithuania, and the LCAU found willing helpers to esdtablish Advice Bureaux. Pasvalys Women's Society (president Zita Lapinskiene is standing third from the right in the first row) initiated opening the first Advice Bureau in Lithuania.

Carrying out moral and civic duties, the protection of nature and cultural treasures, ecological education - these are the activities of the Society for Making Lithuania More Beautiful. These are our views too.

Festival of Poetry in Svedasai celebrating the 130th anniversary of J.Tumas-Vaizgantas; first on left in the first row - the Honorary President of our Society, Monsignor Kazimieras Vasiliauskas.

"Women are the best audience in theatres. Only in their faces can I read appreciation and find the strength for further creation".
(A. Latenas, Artistic Director of the Youth Theatre).

Each spring for five successive years Vilnius Women's Society nominates the best drama theatre actress in Vilnius. The goal of the contest is to support and to show women in theatre. It has become well known and recognized. The main award which goes to the best actresses is a knitted white horse (created by a folk artist Janina Cekanauskaite, a participant in the LWS program "The Art of Surviving"). Our colleagues from Pasvalys Women's Society and Anykšciai and Druskininkai Women's Clubs are regular sponsors of the event

The Program "The Art of Surviving" gave us joy but it also gave means of subsistence to many women. We organized exhibitions of original handicrafts, fashion shows (even in Japan), etc.

We cooperated with many organizations, especially with disabled people with clever fingers under the program "The Art of Surviving". These colourful, delightful toys spread all over the world, warming people's hearts. Women from the disabled people's club "The Destiny" were especially creative, they often visited the Women's Consultative Centre.

A new partner for the LWS - The German Friedrich Ebert Foundation financed the conference on "The Dangers of Prostitution" organized together with the Police Faculty of the Law Academy in 2000. Dalia Cymbaliuk - President of Vilnius Women's Society - (seated, first on left).

When we started the program "Steps into the XXI Century" we hoped to attract more young women into the activities of the LWS, to get them to take interest in the women's problems, and to bring in fresh and modern ideas. We succeeded. Young women identified topics and problems which were urgent to them, entered into relations with the similar organizations, and took part in international seminars.

The Lithuanian Women's Society has grown and changed in the last ten years. It became a modern organization using the latest information technologies in its work. The staff of the Consultative Centre have been improving their professional skills in various courses and seminars. The Heinrich Böll Foundation gave it high priority and funded it. Cooperation with the British Know How Fund gave us new opportunities - we took part in the setting up of Advice Bureaux in Lithuania. The LWCC has become the main coordinator and methodological centre for the provision of advice services. It is one of the main activities of our Centre. Training volunteers, updating the information system, distributing informational literature, organizing meetings with specialists in different parts of Lithuania - these are activities which will continue. We have written a PHARE ACCESS project with the Danish Soroptimists. The ideas of the Consultative Centre are further developed in it, with the stress on unemployed people who want to rejoin the labour market. The first step in this direction is the common project with the French organization SEFIA in the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci project (2001). We shall receive know-how about how to prepare women for telephone work and establish a telephone information centre. SEFIA and the Polish organization Centrum Promocji Kobiet, which is the third partner, will help us. We are working on the parents education project "Dialogue" together with the Swedish Adult Education Association (2000 - 2001). We have other plans as well. The Lithuanian Women's Society and the Consultative Centre will carry on their work. We are sure that our work is useful, and we are full of determination and optimism. Besides, we have many friends in the world who are ready to help us to bring our ideas to reality.