BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday underscored the international community’s shared responsibility and called for more practical actions to promote women’s advancement.
Xi hailed women for “playing an important role in creating, promoting and carrying forward human civilization” while addressing the opening of a high-profile meeting on women affairs held in Beijing.
The Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women was convened to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in the Chinese capital.
Seen as a landmark event for global women’s cause, the 1995 conference adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which served as guiding documents for global women development and gender equality.
Guided by the spirit of the conference, equality between men and women has become a universal consensus of the international community and has been incorporated into UN development agenda and priority development targets.
A total of 189 countries have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and nearly 1,600 laws on women’s rights and interests have been enacted by more than 190 countries. More and more countries have made national action plans to improve women’s well-being.
COMPLEX CHALLENGES
Yet Xi highlighted the “complex challenges” still hampering women’s all-round development today.
Over 600 million women and girls around the world are still mired in war and conflict, and around 10 percent of women and girls are trapped in extreme poverty, he said, adding that deep-rooted problems such as violence and discrimination still persist, and the gender digital divide is widening.
“Equality between men and women remains a lofty yet arduous task,” said the Chinese president.
The two-day meeting is expected to urge all parties to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and inject new momentum into the promotion of global gender equality and the all-round development of women.
The 2025 Beijing meeting is “not only a commemoration of the past, but also a strategic opportunity to shape the future,” said Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank.
“My expectation is that this summit will not be a ceremonial event, but a catalytic moment — one that reaffirms past commitments and sets new, concrete priorities for the next generation,” Rousseff told Xinhua.
As the world faces economic uncertainty, climate crises, conflicts and deepening inequality, recommitting to gender equality is critical for building a just and sustainable future, said Irina Bokova, former UNESCO director-general.
ACCELERATING ALL-ROUND DEVELOPMENT
In his address, Xi put forward four proposals to accelerate the process of women’s all-round development, in a bid to build a wider consensus, open up broader pathways and take more practical actions for this cause.
The Chinese president called for joint efforts to foster an enabling environment for women’s growth and development, and cultivate powerful momentum for the high-quality development of women’s cause.
He also proposed jointly developing governance frameworks to protect women’s rights and interests, and writing a new chapter in promoting global cooperation on women.
Efforts should be made to enhance the protection of women and girls in regions struck by war, conflict, poverty or natural disaster, and support the vital role of women in preventing conflict and rebuilding their homes, Xi said, calling for improving mechanisms against violence and resolutely cracking down on all forms of violence against women.
He urged countries to empower women’s high-quality development through sci-tech innovation, and support them in playing an even bigger role in green development.
Further tangible and accessible policy measures should be introduced to channel more quality health and educational resources to all women, said the Chinese president, calling for broadening the channels for women to participate in and deliberate on political affairs, and supporting their extensive engagement in state and social governance.
“We must support women in assuming their historic responsibilities, enabling them to play a substantive role in global governance and share in its benefits,” Xi said.
“We should support the central role of the UN, urging it to pay more attention to the needs of women in developing countries and create broad cooperation platforms for women from all countries,” he added.
Xi also announced fresh measures to further support the global cause of women. In the next five years, China will donate another 10 million U.S. dollars to UN Women, and earmark a quota of 100 million dollars in China’s Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund for implementing development cooperation projects for women and girls in collaboration with international organizations.
The country will support 1,000 “small and beautiful” livelihood programs that take women and girls as priority beneficiaries, invite 50,000 women to China for exchange and training programs, and establish a Global Center for Women’s Capacity Building, according to the Chinese president.
Leaders from Iceland, Dominica, Ghana, Mozambique, and Sri Lanka, as well as senior UN officials, spoke at the opening ceremony.
The international community should take this meeting as a new starting point to advance the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote new progress in the global advancement of women, they said.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan also hosted a welcome banquet for international guests at Monday noon.
Senior Chinese officials including Cai Qi, Wang Yi and Yin Li attended the events.
