Nearly half of GDR's : Women have made an emi- nent contribution to the develop- ment of the German Democratic Republic over the years since World War II. At working age, 84.5% of all women and girls are working in a vocation, or are training or studying. Every second employee of the GDR’s national economy, and every third production worker is a woman. The pro- portion of women working in socialist agriculture is 44%. The 10th federal congress of the Democratic Women’s League of the GDR, held this ° - year in Berlin, made it clear: what relates to industry goes also for socialist agriculture; re- garding equality of women there are no “foresaken vil- lages” in the GDR. “In no other domain has the building of socialism produced as visible changes as in the countryside, and especially in the life of women farmers,” says GDR writer Ulla Trebse in a recent article for Panorama feature service. “Before socialism,” she -re- minds us, “women in the coun- tryside always had to do the hardest manual work. and cold weather, and in dust, the woman had to toil from sun- rise till late at night in the Stables and in the fields. She never had access to education, technology, culture and_ pro- gress.” Cooperatives and Liberation It was the formation of agri- cultural production cooperatives which led to liberation and equality of women farmers in the GDR. “The present switch-over to industrial production methods in agrciulture, the formation of large-scale collective farms, have fundamentally changed the socio-economic position of women farmers,” Trebse_ re- ports. Her article continues: Their work resembles more and more the activity of women workers in industrial plants. Women farmers today, for in- stance, work as cattle breeders in dairy cattle farms with 2,000 In hot) farmers are women The introduction of the eight-hour day in socialist agriculture has given farmers more time to take part.in education and culture. Sixty-three percent of women working on the farms are fully trained. Shopping centres, daycare and medical facilities all add to the drive to make work easier. - and more cows, or in pig-fatten- ing farms with 25,000 to 50,000 pigs. 3 In these production processes they operate modern machines, electrical apparatus and electro- nic control devices. New trades have been introduced for wo- men working in agriculture. To- day they handle automatic milk- ing and fodder plant, and use new methods in planting and harvesting, and a modern style in planning and management. This involves problems which women farmers in the GDR have solved with industry and elan. They have been supported by the socialist government which has furnished the legal founda- tions for this and the prerequi- sites for all women in the GDR having the opportunity of mak- ing full use of their equal rights. To quote a few exam- ples: @ 66.3% of all women work- ing in agriculture are fully trained. Two thirds acquired certificates in the past 10 years. e 28,000 women from GDR agriculture are qualifying in handling modern technology. Laos to hold general elections in VIENTIANE, Laos: — General elections ,will be held in April next year, an official spokesman said in Vientiane last week. Head of State King Savang . Vatthana dissolved the coun- try’s predominantly right wing National Assembly last April and general elections should have been held within 90 days. These were delayed by a crisis which ended with the removal of right-wing officials from all levels of the Laos administra- tion, A session of the Joint Na- tional Political Council of Laos has just approved the new pro- gram of elections. It includes elections at a, national level, for the people’s councils and administration committees throughout the country. The council chairman, Prince Souphanouvong, who is also the leader of the Pathet Lao Libera- tion movement, said this -deci- sion would lead to the liquida- tion of the present division in the country — between liberated and formerly puppet-controlled districts. April 1976 In. Saigon, the Liberation Press Agency said the South Vietnamese Red Cross has help- ed almost 25,000 families to re- turn to their home villages or to new economic regions to cul- tivate the land since May. — More than 127,000 people have been provided with food, household items and agricultural tools. Private businessmen in South Vietnam have formed a building association to help in the coun try’s post-war reconstruction, the Vietnam News Agency re- ported. ; The agency said some 300 “national bourgeois traders and industrialists” from Thu Duc district had decided to form the, Thu Duc Building Association for National Reconstruction. In Geneva it was announced that the U.S. has equipped a cargo vessel to take Vietnamese refugees back to their country. It will carry about 1,300 Vietna- mese from Guam Island and 450 from the U.S. —Morning Star PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 31, 1975—Page 8 In 1974, 21,600 women already had drivers’ licenses for har- vesting machines _and_ trac- tors. ; e More than 4,000 women have licenses for operating modern combine harvesters, and 22,900 have permits to control milking plant. Health and Eight-Hour Day But does operating modern farming machines impair wo- men’s health? A justified ques- tion considered very serious in the GDR. As a principle, farm- ing machines operated by wo- men are designed to correspond with the specific physical quali- ties of women. To enable women farmers to achieve higher education and take an equal part in the trans- formation of socialist agricul- ture, it was necessary to pro- vide more shopping centres, creches and nursery schools, medical consultation centres and first-aid stations in rural re- gions, . The introduction of the eight- hour working day in socialist agriculture was of great impor- tance to give women farmers more spare time to engage in education and culture. In line with the decision at the Eighth Socialist Unity Party (SED) Congress in 1971, the 40- hour working week was granted to women with three and more children. Women farmers enjoy also the extended pregnancy leave of 18 weeks for all women in the GDR. Unlike a few decades -ago, it is natural now for all women living in the countryside to give birth to their children in maternity hospitals where they are looked after by obstetri- cians, and to have free medical care for themselves and their families. ‘ At work and in the family, wemen are equal to men, in-: cluding wages paid. But above all this has found its expression in women making active use of their democratic rights. Women farmers have been elected into the state apparatus in the GDR and are members of the People’s Chamber (par- liament). Thousands more are elected people’s representatives in local governments. More than 35,000 women are members of executive committees of coope- rative farms, and about 150 agricultural production coopera- tives in the GDR are chaired by women, ’ holed up with Mr. Herrema. : retary-General to participate.” WORLD NEWS SADAT TO ASK U.S. FOR $5-BILLION IN ARMS NEW YORK — Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is expected ask the United States’ government for $5-billion in arms Over at least ten years during his present visit to that country. Sadat has been criticized recently by numerous Arab states the Palestine Liberation Organization for the recent Sinai agree ment he signed with Israel, which the U.S. took part in negotiati The projected request far exceeds the $2.2-billion that Israeli a aquisitions, now in negotiations, would cost. ITALY’S CP LEADER MOST TRUSTED POLITICIAN MILAN — Enrico Berlinguer, Italian Communist Party gen secretary, has emerged in a country-wide poll as the nation’s m trusted politician, and the PCI as the party that has done the mos for civil rights. : The poll was taken by Demoskopea Institute among a represé! tative sample of 1,000 Italians of diverse social and educatio backgrounds. U.S. LAUNCHES SPECIAL SPYING PROJECT WASHINGTON — The U.S. department of justice has launchet) a top secret “‘special project” to sort out nearly a decade of illegal : electronic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency and | find means, of continuing foreign spying within the law. Accordiné | to sources, the special team has been given complete access to the q super-secret techniques of the agency. | PROVISIONALS ASK RELEASE OF HERREMA DUBLIN — The head of the political wing of the Irish Republ can Army’s Provisional branch appealed for the release of Dutc! industrialist Tiede Herrema last week. Rory O’Brady’s message was reported in radio bulletins in the hope that the kidnappers, Eddie Gallagher and Marian Coyle, might $ be listening. Police were also making arrangements to relay 5 message verbally to the house in Monasterevin where the two are 4 \ CANADA TO LET PLO IN, UN TOLD UNITED NATIONS — Canada assured Arab delegates to the UN: - on Oct. 24 that it will obey UN resolutions and allow represent@ a tives of the Palestine Liberation Organization into the country | participate in the Habitat conference in Vancouver next year. Canadian delegate Robert Stanbury gave the assurance, replyin8 | in the economic committee to the Libyan delegation, when he sa it was Canada’s “firm intent to host the Habitat conference undef the rules that normally apply to UN conferences and recognize ee L these rules will oblige us to facilitate the entry of delegations | the governments and organizations who are invited by the Se WORK WITHOUT PAY, CIVIL SERVANTS ASKED CANBERRA — Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, fight” q ing an opposition attempt to force a national election appealed 14% | week to federal public servants to work without pay after gover | ment funds dry up late next month. He promised the 277,000 em ployees, whose support could be crucial if the Labor Party Gover ment is to stay in power, that all salaries would eventually be pal MADRID — Francisco Franco, Spain’s fascist dictator for 36 years: | and the last dictator in Europe, lay on the brink of death in a hos pital here last week. Franco is hanging onto the last days of } evil life after suffering numerous heart attacks, hemorrhaging an a liver ailment. His doctors say there is no hope for recovery. ae The dictator is seen here shaking hands with the representative another murderous counterpart, Chile’s Pinochet.