'Huairou Is Not a Place, but a Moment'

As the representative of the Female Professors' Association (part of the Beijing delegation) at the conference, I attended the grand gathering, the NGO Forum on Women in 1995.

Exchanges between Eastern and Western culture could be seen everywhere in Huairou. More than 200 workshops, hundreds of movie, photography and fine arts exhibitions, flash-stage dramas, passionate dances and concerts were held. I tried to attend as many workshops and cultural activities as possible, to see how foreign women make their voices heard through cultural activities.

In my eyes, poems and songs were the sun and air for all participants in Huairou. Many women were good at using poems and songs to call on their fellow sisters to take action. At the female professors and female university students' forum, a French woman said female professors and their male peers should be treated fairly. 'The female population is one wing; if this wing is not strong, mankind can't fly in balance high.' I was impressed by her poem.

When I close my eyes today, I see the events in Huairou, and they are like photos etched in my memory. Gertrude Mongella, Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women, said Nairobi (capital of Kenya, host city of the Third World Conference on Women in 1985) was not a city, but a moment. What I want to say is: 'Huairou is not a place, but a moment. What took place at that moment has far-reaching influence.'

Twenty years later, the theme of the Fourth World Conference on Women — 'Action for Equality, Development and Peace' — is becoming increasingly significant. A mother influences a family, and a family influences society. Women make up half of the world's population and, therefore, their importance to the country and the world goes without saying. Women need a peaceful environment to play a positive role, so peace and development are what we strive for, and the themes of our time.

(Women of China)