A meeting to commemorate the tenth anniversary of
the 4th World Conference on Women opened in Beijing on Monday, with
more than 800 delegates around the world in attendance.
Beijing Plus Ten is themed "Action for Equality,
Development and Peace" and aims to review implementation of the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action passed at the 1995
conference as well as the 2000 Millennium Development Goals.
The delegates will also discuss new issues in
women’s development and propose solutions to promote gender
equality.
President Hu
Jintao, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Estonian
President Arnold Ruutel and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Louise Arbour delivered speeches at the opening ceremony chaired by
Vice Premier Wu
Yi.
Hu said the last conference was an important
milestone in the history of the global women's movement and went a
long way towards promoting social justice and social undertakings
in countries all over the world.
"Women are a great source of strength in creating
human civilization," said Hu. "The promotion of gender equality and
protection of women's rights impact on the immediate interests of
women and decide whether human beings can fully develop their
potential and pursue a better life."
"Gender equality is a precondition to overcoming
starvation, poverty and epidemics," said Khalid Malik, the resident
UN coordinator in China.
It is estimated that worldwide, 60 percent of
children who drop out of schools are girls, and two thirds of
illiterate adults are women, Malik said. Women also have low
political positions with a world average representation of 16
percent, he added.
Ann M. Veneman, executive director of the UN
Children's Fund, said educating girls provides both short-term and
long-term benefits, "including reduced child mortality, increased
productivity and income, better-educated children and gains for
women's and girls' social status and empowerment."
"Gender-based violence in any of its forms denies
girls and women their basic rights and dignity and harms the
development of entire countries," said Veneman. These issues still
plague China, despite achievements made.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily
August 30, 2005)
