CWU Wraps Up Seminar on Gender and Development for Female Officials from Developing Countries

China Women's University (CWU) held a closing ceremony in November for the recent seminar on gender and development for female officials from developing countries.

The event was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM) and CWU. He Ding, vice-president of the International Business Officials' Training Institute (IBOTI) and CWU Vice-President Wang Jingxia participated in the ceremony and delivered speeches. 

Some 55 female officials from 19 developing countries attended the session, including representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Ghana, Belarus, Lesotho, Kenya, Costa Rica, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Sudan and the Philippines. 

He expressed warm congratulations on the success of the training session on behalf of the IBOTI, praised the significance of the seminar and fully affirmed CWU's efforts of thoughtful arrangement, standardized management and hard work. 

As the largest developing country in the world, China has put consolidating and strengthening friendly cooperation with developing countries as an important cornerstone of its diplomacy. China is willing to provide assistance to the best of its ability to other developing countries within the framework of South-South cooperation too, He said. China will unswervingly pursue the

road of peaceful development, combine its own development with the prosperity of all countries in the world and boost common development, He added.

The event is one of the practices to fulfill President Xi's commitment at the 2015 UN Summit on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. It aims to strengthen women's communication between China and other developing countries. Women can share their achievements and experiences in promoting gender equality, women's participation in social management and women's empowerment in the economy and politics, said officials.

On behalf of CWU, Wang extended her heartfelt thanks for the help and support of the MOFCOM and the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF). She congratulated the trainees on their outstanding completion of the courses and pointed out that the seminar is not only a platform for communication, but also a bridge that connects people from different countries. 

Wang said that the seminar aims to implement the achievements of the Global Summit of Women (GSW) and promote women's exchange and cooperation in developing countries. It is also the shared aspiration of these countries to achieve women's sustainable development. Wang hoped that all trainees could improve their management abilities and join efforts to promote social development and gender equality.

Wang also expressed her hope that female officials could take the knowledge gained back to their own countries and share each others' cultural knowledge, management experiences and information on the real China with their colleagues, friends and families for a better understanding.

Faith Tushabe, an official from Uganda, gave a lecture on behalf of all the trainees. She thanked the Chinese government for holding the seminar, thanked ACWF for their efforts in promoting gender equality and improving women's status and CWU's contribution to the training. 

After 21 days of training, she had felt the power of Chinese women and China's traditional culture, and recognized the government's emphasis on women's careers, gender equality and economic development. She promised to cherish the opportunity, to take China's experiences back home and jointly contribute to gender equality in developing countries. 

(Source: China Women's University/Translated and edited by Gender Study Network)