A meeting to commemorate both the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the 5th anniversary of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment is held in Beijing on September 16, 2020. [China Women's News/Yang Rui]

A meeting to commemorate both the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the 5th anniversary of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment was held in Beijing on September 16.

Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping, delivered a video message to the meeting. Peng said that China has stayed active in advocating and advancing the global cause of women's development and poverty reduction.

Peng said the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment marked important milestones in the cause of women's development, which had a profound impact on the protection of women's rights and the advancement and empowerment of women, and provided an action guidelines for countries to promote gender equality.

"Over the past 25 years, the cause of women globally has made progress, with enhanced consensus on gender equality, more effective action to promote women's development, and improved environment for the well-being and development of women," she said.

Peng said China would achieve rural poverty alleviation goals this year under the current standards and meet poverty reduction goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule, adding that it was a major contribution to the cause of human progress.

"China is actively committed to poverty alleviation and empowerment of impoverished women, and has adopted a series of policies on economic development, employment and entrepreneurship, culture and education, social security, health, charity and public welfare, and achieved remarkable results," Peng said, adding that women accounted for about half of the 700 million people brought out of poverty in China, and many women in the country actively responded to the national call for poverty alleviation.

She said hard work and struggle of women have contributed to global poverty reduction. "We must also see that men and women are still unequal in rights, opportunities, and resource allocation. Among the global poor, there are far more women than men."

Noting that the COVID-19 epidemic brought new challenges to women's poverty alleviation, education, health, and employment rights protection, Peng said gender equality and elimination of poverty had a long way to go.

She called on the world to carry forward the spirit of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, work together and take steps to provide women with equal and quality education as well as non-discriminatory employment opportunities, ensure basic health and medical services for them, build a harmonious and inclusive social culture, and eliminate discrimination and prejudice against women.

Shen Yueyue, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and President of the All-China Women's Federation, delivers a speech at the meeting to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the 5th anniversary of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment on September 16, 2020. [China Women's News/Yang Rui]

Shen Yueyue, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and President of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), spoke at the gathering. Shen indicated that the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing are important milestones in women's development. China and UN Women co-hosted the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at the UN Headquarters in 2015. Chinese President Xi Jinping made a four-point proposal on promoting the spirit of the Fourth World Conference on Women, promoting women's all-round development, and building a better world for women and for all.

Shen noted that over the past 40 years of China's reform and opening-up, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has written a brilliant chapter in the history of mankind's anti-poverty efforts. The country has attached great importance to poverty alleviation for women, focusing on eradicating poverty through improving education, industry, ecology and health, to ensure that no impoverished woman is left behind while building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Shen proposed working together to optimize policies, formulate more complete laws and policies and more scientific and rational development strategies to promote women's all-round development; promoting international cooperation in fighting against COVID-19 and protecting people's lives and health to build a community of health for all; taking effective measures to accelerate the process of women's poverty reduction by improving women and girls' education, training and lifelong learning, thus stopping poverty from being passed on to the next generation; cooperating to build a world free from poverty with common prosperity and gender equality; and speeding up the actions to realize the blueprint of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment and the building of a community with a shared future for women and for all.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Director of UN Women, delivers a video message to the gathering to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the 5th anniversary of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. [Women of China/Fan Wenjun]

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, lauded China's major achievement in lifting women out of poverty, creating jobs and opportunities for income generation, education parity and access to sexual and reproductive health.

She commended the Chinese government for its commitment to achieving poverty alleviation and improving social conditions through policy measures after the COVID-19 outbreak. The UN Women and UN system is China's partner in poverty alleviation, and she encouraged the country to continue leading in the area of poverty alleviation.

U: H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn from the Kingdom of Thailand delivers a video message. C: Antoinette Sassou N'Guesso, First Lady of the Republic of the Congo and President of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development, delivers a video message. B: Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, delivers a video message. [Women of China/Fan Wenjun]

U: Sarah Serem, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to China, delivers a speech. C: Babatunde Ahonsi, Interim UN Resident Coordinator in China, delivers a speech. B: Hong Tianyun, Deputy Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, China, delivers a speech. [Women of China/ Fan Wenjun]

U: Cheng Ju, Secretary of the Party branch of Dashi Village, Baini Town, Chongyang County, Xianning City, Central China's Hubei Province, delivers a speech. [Women of China/ Fan Wenjun] C: Zhang Yiqiong, Founder and Manager of Guizhou Genlanmutu Miao Batik Development Co., a company engaging in Miao wax printing, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, delivers a speech. [China Women's News/Yang Rui] B: Esha Iqbal, a youth representative, Pakistani student from China Women's University, delivers a speech. [Women of China/Fan Wenjun]

H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn from the Kingdom of Thailand, Antoinette Sassou N'Guesso, First Lady of the Republic of the Congo and President of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development, and Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, delivered video messages to the gathering.

Sarah Serem, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to China, Babatunde Ahonsi, Interim UN Resident Coordinator in China, Hong Tianyun, Deputy Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, and representatives of Chinese women at grassroots level and foreign students in China spoke at the meeting and shared their experience and views focusing on the topics of poverty alleviation and women's all-round development.

Huang Xiaowei, Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation and Vice Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, presides over the meeting. [Women of China/ Fan Wenjun]

Huang Xiaowei, Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF and Vice Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council presided over the meeting.

The attendees of the gathering also included officials from China's relevant departments and organizations, foreign envoys and representatives of international organizations to China.

Representatives of Chinese women role models of poverty alleviation, representatives of Chinese women entrepreneurs, medical workers and scientific and technical workers and foreign students from the China Women's University also attended the meeting.

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)