Fair Play 1/2000 [antikvár]

Dear Readers, This is the birth of a unique magazine that was thought out as a networking tool for women's organizations of Central and Eastern Europe united in the KARAT Coalition. The feature that makes this magazine special is that every issue is prepared by an international team of contributors who reside in different countries and communicate via e-mail. The goal is to provide the regional perspective to important issues affecting women's lives in the post-communist countries of the CEE region. The KARAT Coalition originated out of the common problems that women face in the transition from a totalitarian communist past to a free market society and the need to give women's organisations a voice and space. The magazine aims to enhance the Coalition's contribution to the democratic sustainable development of these countries through providing visibility of the gender-related effects of the reforms presently underway. The voices of grass-root women's organizations of the region are finally to be heard in politics where to exist means to be visible and to be taken into account. The idea of creating a quarterly printed magazine of the Coalition was agreed upon during KARAT's mission to the 43rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (March 1999, New York). KARAT's participants approved a funding proposal prepared by the Women's Alliance for Development (Bulgaria) on behalf of the Coalition that was later accepted by NOVIB (the Netherlands), one of the major supporters of Gender and Development projects in Europe. Thanks to NOVIB, 12 representatives from 10 KARAT member countries (Poland, Slovakia, Moldova, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Chech Republic, Russia and Bulgaria) assembled in Sofia on April 1-2,2000 to discuss the magazine's objectives, structure and expected outcomes, as well as the major topic areas that will be covered in the 5 issues to be published within 12 months. It was decided that the current issue will be very different from the following ones. It is meant to present the KARAT Coalition's structure and history, and an archive of the most important documents produced by KARAT. Each of the following issues will focus on one topic area that is of key importance to women's advancement in the transition countries (such as Women in the Economy; Minority Women, etc.). There will also be an information section presenting a calendar of important regional and global events, announcements of competitions, Internet services, etc. Each issue (including the present one) will feature the work of popular women-artists from the KARAT member countries. The magazine's team will strongly rely on your feedback and suggestions for the future issues. You can personally contribute to making the women's agenda a legitimate part of civil society in the CEE region by becoming one of the magazine's sponsors. Enjoy reading!