Women from China and Africa gathered in Changsha, Hunan Province, at the end of June to attend the China-Africa Women's Forum. Under the theme, "Pooling the Strength of Chinese and African Women and Jointly Promoting the Comprehensive Development," the participants exchanged views and learned good practices from each other.

The two-day forum drew participants closer together by allowing them to share good practices and discuss opportunities and measures to cope with challenges faced by all. The forum enabled the women to deepen friendly cooperation between China and Africa, and to build a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.

Mutually Beneficial Cooperation Fosters Women's Development

On June 29, many of the speakers generated applause from the forum's participants.

Angeline Ndayishimiye, First Lady of the Republic of Burundi, highlighted the great progress China has reached in advancing the protection of women's rights and interests. She especially mentioned the pledge — "We will remain committed to the fundamental national policy of gender equality and protect the lawful rights and interests of women and children" — written in the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Ndayishimiye said Burundi can learn from China's good practices, and she hoped to use the forum as an opportunity to promote joint efforts made by women in Africa and China to establish close cooperation, and help women in both sides achieve self-reliance and self-independence.

Mariam Mwinyi, First Lady of Zanzibar, the United Republic of Tanzania, said the friendship between Africa and China has a long history, and Tanzania is one of China's friendly partners in Africa. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation fostered Tanzania's cooperation with China, especially in terms of gender equality and women's empowerment, which in turn gave women greater opportunities to participate in economic development, Mwinyi noted. She hoped Tanzania and China will have closer communications and strengthen coordination to bring more benefits to women in both countries.

Monica Chakwera, First Lady of the Republic of Malawi, said achieving gender equality, empowering women with the right to make their own decisions and enabling women to have greater participation in economic activities are key for a country to achieve sustainable development and maintain equality in its human rights issues. More importantly, she noted, women's empowerment, women's abilities to participate more in economic activities, and women's education need to be improved, so women can make contributions for their countries to reach poverty-reduction goals.

Ensuring every woman is free from poverty is a common goal shared by women worldwide. China has comprehensively won the critical battle against poverty. Women make up approximately half of the nearly 100 million people in rural China who have been lifted out of poverty. China has reached great achievements in poverty reduction and relief for women.

Lin Dongmei, Deputy Director of China National Engineering Research Center of Juncao Technology, has witnessed and contributed to friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa. During the forum, she shared her story of promoting the adoption of juncao technology in Africa. (Juncao, literally meaning "fungus grass," is a hybrid grass, the leaves, stems and roots of which can be used in ecological management, such as controlling soil erosion and preventing desertification. It can also be used for mushroom farming, or as livestock forage and poultry feed.) Lin said some women, who were single mothers or college graduates who had lost their jobs, managed to become entrepreneurs or scientific and technological researchers during their participation in the development of juncao technology in developing countries.

Joana Tomás, General Secretary of the Organization of Angolan Women, discussed the forum's significance. She said the forum was a grand platform that allowed various African countries to show their progress and share good practices with other countries. Meanwhile, the forum offered hope to thousands of Africans, especially women, children and the elderly, who have been struggling with poverty-related difficulties, Tomás added.

Sharing Practices to Lift Women out of Poverty

On June 30, participants joined panel discussions with the topics "women's education and poverty reduction" and "women and post-epidemic economic recovery."

The discussion "women's education and poverty reduction" focused on policies and practices related to women's education, and on how women's education affects poverty-reduction. Participants highlighted the effects of improving women's education, especially in terms of changing impoverished families' lives. They also discussed measures that could be implemented to enhance women's education and help women shake off poverty.

During the discussion "women and post-epidemic economic recovery," participants discussed international trade, the digital economy, financial support, women's employment, and science and technology in medical care. They explained the difficulties and challenges women have been coping with, in their respective countries/regions, in the post-epidemic era. They also mentioned the support and help women have received from governments and social organizations, and they offered suggestions to enhance women's roles in post-epidemic economic development.

The China-Africa Women's Forum encouraged women from all walks of life to communicate and share wisdom with each other, which will help write a new chapter of friendly exchanges between women in China and Africa.

(Women of China English Monthly August 2023 issue)