ESTONIA: NOMINATION FOR SEC STATE AWARD FOR

UNCLAS TALLINN 000090 SIPDIS FOR G/IWI SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL KPAO EN SUBJECT: ESTONIA: NOMINATION FOR SEC STATE AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE Ref: A) STATE 12871 ¶1. (U) Post nominates the following individual for the Secretary of State's annual Award for International SIPDIS Women of Courage (IWOC). Name: Ms. Barbi Pilvre Title: Editor in chief Organization: "Areen", a weekly cultural affairs newspaper Date of Birth: 1963 Contact Information: barbi@ekspress.ee ¶2. (U) Justification: Ms. Pilvre is an Estonian journalist who was a pioneer for gender-equality issues. She has promoted the equal role of women in society through her work with the Estonian media and in higher education. Ms. Pilvre first addressed the issue of women's rights in Eesti Ekspress, Estonia's leading weekly current events magazine, in the mid 1990s. At that time, however, Estonian media and society as whole were almost completely male-dominated. It took a great deal of courage to bring these issues to the forefront, and ensure that the benefits of Estonia's newly recovered independence were enjoyed by Estonian women as well as Estonian men. Ms. Pilvre also played a leading role in the establishment of a women's studies program at Tallinn University, where she teaches a popular course on media and gender. Today, at the age of 43, Ms. Pilvre not only continues to be a leading feminist journalist and lecturer, but she is also one of Estonia's most influential researchers of social expressions and representations of gender in culture, especially in the media. Throughout her career, Ms. Pilvre has also been a staunch advocate of human rights issues. Post strongly recommends Ms. Pilvre for this award. She is an excellent example of an individual who embodies the courage and ideals in the IWOC Award through her work to further the cause of freedom, justice, and equality. ¶3. (U) Post contact is Peter Lee (Email: Leeph@state.gov; Tel: +372-668-8201). GOLDSTEIN