The international workshop on education for sustainable rural development, and the coinciding 30th anniversary celebration of the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED) was held, in early December, in Beijing. Huang Xiaowei, Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), attended and delivered a speech during the opening ceremony.

Huang noted the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has given strategic priority to developing education, stressed education is the foundation of building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation, and promoted and guaranteed equal rights to education for girls and women in rural areas.

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) special envoy for the advancement of girls' and women's education, has made outstanding contributions to the promotion of girls' and women's education, Huang continued.

While referring to detailed statistics and vivid cases, Huang outlined China's progress in girls' and women's education, and she detailed the ACWF's work in promoting education for women and girls in rural areas. Huang noted China is ready to work with all parties to advance more equitable, inclusive and higher-quality education for girls and women, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations, and to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Yu Jihong, President of Beijing Normal University, Liu Limin, President of China Education Association for International Exchange, and former Vice-Minister of Education, Ge Siying, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, and Shahbaz Khan, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, also attended.

UNESCO INRULED is an international agency, established by UNESCO and the Chinese Government, to foster developing countries' work — including research, training, information publicity, and network exchanges — in the field of education for rural development. It focuses on various topics, including gender equality, women in leadership, and girls' education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

(Source: Women Voice)

Editor: Cui Rui