The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization was adopted July 18, 2024, during the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. The resolution states that the roles of people's organizations, such as trade unions, Chinese Communist Youth League organizations, and women's federations, will be brought into play in connecting with and serving the people. 

The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) has thoroughly studied the guiding principles of the plenary session, and it has undertaken practical work to ensure concrete outcomes will be achieved during reforms of women's federations. 

The ACWF has also made concrete efforts to pool women's strength, to contribute to the advancement of Chinese modernization. The federation has strengthened support for and connections and services with women's social organizations in recent years. It has guided the organizations in their work, based on the main responsibilities of women's federations, and it has encouraged the organizations to provide sensible and accessible services to women, children, and their families. 

With caring love and professional approaches, women's social organizations have provided heartwarming services, and they have participated in grassroots social governance. They have raised donations to support students and disease-stricken people coping with difficulties, they have helped protect women's rights and interests, and they have empowered women in entrepreneurship. They have also organized activities, including those promoting good family traditions and parenting knowledge, and those helping create a beautiful living environment. Such services have brought warmth and happiness to women, children, and their families.

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, also Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech during his talk with the new leadership of the ACWF, in October 2023. To study and implement the guiding principles of that speech, and to implement the guiding principles of the 13th National Women's Congress of China, the Human Resources Development Department and the Social Liaison, Exchanges and Cooperation Center, both under the ACWF, recently released the list of 50 projects, with characteristic features, organized by women's social organizations across the country, and the list of 10 cases, with characteristic features, of women's federations connecting with and guiding social organizations. Here are some of the projects and cases.

Projects

'Blooming Love' Xinwu Women College Students' Happiness Project 

Under the guidance of women's federations in Wuxi (a city in East China's Jiangsu Province), and the city's Xinwu District, Wuxi Xinwu Wanjiahui Family Development Service Center launched the project in 2021. The project is intended to help women college students develop positive values about marriage, and to improve their interpersonal communication skills, and their ability to protect themselves. The project's organizers have conducted surveys regarding students' demands for marriage-related services, and they have established consultation service stations and micro women's home service centers on college campuses. Organizers have also cultivated teams of women student volunteers. The project has facilitated the development of one-stop, psychological-health-service systems on college campuses. 

'Supporting Education, Safeguarding Dreams' Project 

Miluo Aixingtianxia Volunteers Association is the project's organizer. The association recruits volunteers to make three visits per year to students from in-need families in Miluo, a city in Central China's Hunan Province. The association collects and keeps the students' information in its information-management system. Based on the information, it provides funding, once a year, to in-need students, to help them complete their education. Volunteers and students, who receive the funding, participate in various activities during holidays. The project has provided more than 3 million yuan (US $422,535) in funding to more than 1,300 students in Miluo. 

China REACH 'Home Visits in Villages' Early Education (Xizang) Project 

Xizang Maternal and Child Health Association organizes the project, which is intended to promote all-around development of children in pastoral areas and relocation sites in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. The organizer has employed local women, including unemployed women, women's federations' cadres and women from in-need families, to be parttime interviewers and supervisors. Interviewers visit children in their homes, and they organize group activities to help children improve their health and cognitive and language abilities. The project also provides guidance and training in family education and infants' healthcare to women in relocation sites. To date, the project's 73 women interviewers in four towns, in Nyemo County, have provided services to 3,268 children, while the 25 interviewers at the Senburi relocation site, in Shannan, have served 469 children.

Cases

Hebei: Guiding High-Quality Development of Women's Social Organizations

To guide and accelerate the high-quality development of women's social organizations in North China's Hebei Province, Hebei Women's Federation has made overall plans for the organizations' development, and it has boosted the organizations' vitality by enforcing high standards of management. It has also organized training to help improve the organizations' ability to provide professional services, and it has selected outstanding organizations and promoted the organizations' stories on new-media outlets. The federation has cultivated and connected with 4,712 women's social organizations, and county-level women's federations in the province have cultivated 1,133 social organizations. 

Fujian: Supporting Social Organizations' Services to Promote Women's Psychological Health 

Longyan (a city in Southeast China's Fujian Province) Women's Federation has strengthened its support for women's social organizations that are providing services to safeguard women and children's rights and interests, and to improve women and children's psychological health. The federation has allocated funds and arranged venues for social organizations to provide services to women and children. It has also established a professional-service team, composed of social workers, lawyers, psychological advisors and volunteers, and the team provides various services, including training, consultations, psychological care and marriage guidance. The services have benefited nearly 50,000 women and children. 

Shandong: Building Service Platforms for Social Organizations 

Zibo (a city in East China's Shandong Province) Women's Federation has made the cultivation and guidance of women's social organizations' development an important part of its reform in recent years. It has promoted establishing service platforms for social organizations in the districts/counties of Zibo, so the organizations can receive training and participate in exchanges. Zibo now has one Home for Women's Social Organizations and eight service centers for social organizations. The centers provide services to 360 organizations. The platforms have helped promote implementation of more than 400 projects, and they have benefited approximately 210,000 people.

Photos from VCG and interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly September 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha