To study and implement the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping to China National Children's Center, the Human Resources Development Department and the Social Liaison, Exchanges and Cooperation Center, both under the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), recently released the list of the top 50 children-service project, organized by women's social organizations, and the list of top 10 children-service cases, of women's federations guiding local women's social organizations in serving children across the country. The following are some projects and cases.

Shanxi: 'Little Guide' Nursery Class Combines Education, Child Care

The Society of Sociology on Family Morals, in Jinzhong, a city in North China's Shanxi Province, offers the "little guide" nursery class each year during the school's summer and winter vacations. As part of the class, free nursery services are provided to children, between 5-12, whose parents work in the urban areas of Jinzhong. Children who attend the class participate in various activities, such as watching patriotic films, attending training sessions on family virtues and the history of the CPC, and volunteering to be guides at museums or exhibition halls. Since the class was launched, four years ago, the "little guides," who have been encouraged and guided by their teachers, have been providing services to more than 150,000 spectators during offline events, and to 500,000-plus viewers during online events.

Heilongjiang: 'Lilac Mom' Cares for Left-Behind Children

"Lilac Mom" is a project operated by the Lilac Child Care and Service Center, in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The purpose of the project is to provide family education, psychological services and poverty-alleviation assistance to left-behind children, whose parents have left their hometowns for work and left their children in the care of others, in rural areas in Heilongjiang.

By providing services via a hotline and the "Lilac Mom" online platform, project organizers encourage parents to communicate more often with their children. People who work for this project visit the children's homes and/or contact the children by telephone or WeChat messages, to learn about their difficulties. Based on the information obtained, they plan services to meet the children's needs, including their psychological and health-care needs, and their growth and development. By the end of 2022, the five teams of social workers operating under the project had provided services that benefited 22,000 people.

Henan: Project Inspires Children to Inherit Traditional Chinese Art, Culture

The Pioneer Institute of Chinese Culture, in Central China's Henan Province, for the past eight years has been providing courses designed to let children experience and pass on outstanding traditional Chinese art and culture. The courses include floral designing, tea ceremony, incense ceremony, guqin (a seven-stringed plucked instrument), calligraphy and painting, archery (with ancient etiquette), martial arts, and writing poetry. Project organizers have developed courses aimed at improving children's reading habits, teaching children to recite poems, based on changes in the seasons, and providing children with guqin-related education. Through the courses, children have learned the significance of participating in farm work, and they have improved both their physical strength and mental health. During the past eight years, more than 10,000 children have participated in more than 600 activities under the project.

Shanghai: Guiding Women's Social Organizations in Helping Foster Children's Healthy Growth, All-Round Development

Shanghai Women NGO Development Center was established, in East China's Shanghai Municipality, in July 2010. The center has since cultivated 19 women's social organizations, at the city level, and has made contact with, provided services to and/or helped develop more than 3,200 women's social organizations within the municipality. With support from Shanghai Women's Federation, the center has purchased good-quality courses and children's service programs, all of which have been provided by social organizations/institutions. The courses are designed to improve the building of leadership and children's development. The center has promoted the courses online — via an app — to women's social organizations across the municipality. By the end of 2022, Shanghai had established 138 children's service projects, and had organized a combined 874,792 events, which benefited more than 1.02 million people.

Chongqing: Leading Women's Social Organizations to Serve Children

Chongqing Women's Federation established Chongqing Women Social Organization Service Center in 2016, to enhance the guidance and services provided to, and the communications with, women's social organizations in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. The center has released a series of documents to standardize the high-quality development of women's social organizations. Women's social organizations in Chongqing have conducted many activities that have helped improve children's psychological health, raised left-behind children's awareness of staying safe, especially during school vacations, and encouraged children to participate in "happy camps." The center has worked closely with approximately 300 women's social organizations, such as helping raise funds to support children's development, conducting research into children's affairs, and improving early childhood development and family education.

Hubei: 'Charitable Mulan' Warms Children's Hearts, Protects Children's All-Round Development

Hubei Women and Children's Social Organization Service Center was established in 2015 by Hubei Women's Federation, in Central China's Hubei Province. The center, similar to an incubation base, serves as a platform that identifies and itemizes services (provided by social organizations) and other support resources within society to help society do a better job in meeting women and children's needs. "Charitable Mulan," the center 's primary project, has implemented 333 good-quality programs, of which 106 have involved services provided to children. To maintain the reputation of "Charitable Mulan," the center has formulated rules and regulations to enhance supervision of programs provided under the project. The center organizes regular training to improve fund raising, program planning and operation and management of social organizations. "Charitable Mulan" is a good example of how a women's federation can harness strength, from all segments of society, to provide diverse services, which meet women and children's needs, and which especially promote children's all-round development. To date, 680,000 children and their parents have benefited from the "Charitable Mulan" project.

(Women of China English Monthly June 2023 issue)