One project, operated by China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF), and two projects, conducted by China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF), have been selected as among the best poverty-reduction practices in the world. The projects, selected during the fifth Call of Global Solicitation on Best Poverty-Reduction Practices Campaign, were announced on October 31, during the 2024 International Seminar on Global Poverty-Reduction Partnerships. 

Organizers received nominations for 1,012 poverty-reduction cases from 37 countries or regions, and they selected 105 cases as the best poverty-reduction practices. The event is intended to promote poverty reduction and rural development, from a global perspective, and share the successful poverty-reduction models and innovative practices with the world. 

The CCTF launched its project, the Spring Bud Project, in 1989, to help girls from impoverished families, nationwide, stay in school and receive a better education. By the end of 2023, the Spring Bud Project had raised 3.2 billion yuan (US $450.7 million), used to support 4.22 million girls, representing all of China's 56 ethnic groups, and from 31 provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities in their academic studies. Under the project, 527,000 girls received technical training, and 190,000 girls received psychological counseling. 

During the past 35 years, the Spring Bud Project has responded to girls' diverse demands, in terms of adolescent education, mental health and rights protection. The project has provided financial aid to disadvantaged girls, and it has provided various forms of assistance-related services to help girls with their education, safety and health. 

The project has also organized practical-skills training and courses and activities in various subjects. It has promoted girls' all-round development, and it has contributed to the cause of Chinese girls' and women's education. 

The Water Cellar for Mothers Project, one of the two CWDF projects selected, was initiated in 2000, and it has remained committed to meeting women's practical needs. 

It has highlighted women's actions in its operation, and it has always ensured women are its major beneficiaries. The project has focused on improving the rural living environment, ensuring the supply of safe drinking water and the promotion of highly efficient agricultural production. It has guided women in the advancement of ecological progress, through environment-related education and technical training, and it has organized women in conducting environmental-protection campaigns. 

By the end of 2023, some 139,900 water cellars, which collected rainwater, 2,007 centralized water-supply projects, and 4,234 sanitation toilets had been completed, under the Water Cellar for Mothers Project, in 30 provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities. The project helped 3.8 million people gain access to safe drinking water, and it had helped develop eco-friendly agriculture. 

The Genius Mom Project, the second CWDF project selected, helps craftswomen, who are intangible-cultural-heritage inheritors, develop their own businesses. The project, implemented in 2019, has organized training among the women, and it has provided funding, platforms and market resources to craftswomen, so they can display and sell their products. 

So far, the project has funded 38 workshops, three intangible-cultural-heritage exhibition centers and one embroidery business center in 16 provinces or municipalities. The project has helped craftswomen receive orders worth 10 million yuan (US $140.9 million), and it has enabled more than 80,000 craftswomen to work at home.

Photos from CCTF and CWDF

(Women of China English Monthly December 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha