NATION PUTS WOMEN'S ISSUES IN FOCUS

In October, Anna Nyarai Kaniwa joined some 60 women from 11 countries across three continents for a two-week virtual workshop on female leadership and capacity building.

Led by Chinese university professors, the participants took part in thought-provoking discussions about topics such as women's participation in grassroots governance, their approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and female entrepreneurship.

Even though the workshop, organized by China Women's University in Beijing, could only be held online due to travel restrictions resulting from the pandemic, Kaniwa, a 32-year-old from Zimbabwe, said the event was an "eye-opener".

She said it provided her with theoretical and practical experience, and she learned a lot about mainstream gender equality.

"The training gave me the basis to know myself better and, above all, the belief that I can contribute something as an individual," said Kaniwa, who was awarded a master's in women's leadership and social work at the university in 2018 and works as a research officer for consulting company Datalyst Africa.

"It also gave me the skills to empower women at grassroots level for individual and national development," she said.

The workshop, one of dozens of women's empowerment programs organized globally by China each year, was part of wide-ranging measures announced in 2015 by President Xi Jinping at a UN summit on gender equality and female empowerment.

In addition to announcing a donation of $10 million to UN Women, the global organization's office working for gender equality, Xi said at the summit that China would host 30,000 women from developing countries for training programs and provide 100,000 skills training opportunities for local communities in other developing countries.

Last year, Xi announced a further donation of $10 million to UN Women for the following five years while addressing a high-level meeting on the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

"We need to place the protection of women's and girls' rights and interests high on the agenda of both public health and economic reopening," Xi said. "In particular, we need to create more job opportunities for women and crack down on violations of women's rights and interests."

Li Ying, dean of the School of International Education at China Women's University, said, "China has a strong political will to promote gender equality and women's empowerment globally", adding that the nation has "translated its commitments into a road map for concrete action".

With its donations, efforts to share experience, and build capacity program to empower women from developing nations, China has taken the championing of women's rights globally as a priority in its diplomatic agenda, Li said.

Smriti Aryal, head of UN Women's China office, said in a speech last month that with the nation's stronger global footprint as an international development partner, China's commitment to prioritizing women's empowerment in its development cooperation and global engagement has been more than encouraging.

"We hope China's recent commitments to prioritize women's empowerment as one of the main areas of international cooperation will serve to garner stronger global solidarity and multilateral support to close the gap in gender financing internationally.

"UN Women stands ready to partner with China to promote the women's rights agenda through South-South Cooperation and normative processes globally, while also offering the collective experience, tools and resources on gender equality from around the world to benefit China," she said.

Challenges met

Analysts have highlighted the need for stronger support for women and girls, especially in developing nations, where they have been hit hard by the fallout from the pandemic and have also experienced intensified violence during lockdowns.

According to the International Labor Organization, women's employment fell by 4.2 percent globally from 2019 to last year, representing a drop of 54 million jobs.

A report by UN Women last year said the pandemic would push 96 million people into extreme poverty this year, including 47 million women and girls. This would increase the number of women and girls living in extreme poverty to 435 million, with estimates showing that this number would not revert to pre-pandemic levels until 2030, the report added.

President Xi's wife, Peng Liyuan, a longtime vocal advocate for women's and girls' rights globally, on a number of occasions has highlighted the challenges posed by the pandemic to women regarding education, health, employment, rights protection and emerging from poverty.

At a conference in Beijing to mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, she urged solidarity and cooperation to provide women with equal and high-quality education, ensure their equal access to jobs and guarantee their right to basic health services.

Peng, a UNESCO special envoy for the advancement of women's and girls' education, has also made strong appeals to advance their education globally.

In an interview last month with the Courier, the main magazine published by UNESCO, Peng said: "While COVID-19 continues to spread across the world, it is our shared wish that no girl is left behind because of the pandemic. The first thing we need, therefore, is collaboration."

Peng has paid special attention to the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education, which has been funded by China since 2016. She has attended its award ceremonies and sent congratulatory messages when she could not be present.

At this year's ceremony, which she attended via video link, Peng called on the international community to offer stronger support to the advancement of girls' and women's education to help achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This agenda seeks to achieve transformative change with respect to people, the planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.

Peng suggested making good use of digital technologies to promote the sharing of quality online education resources in an effort to step up support for women and girls in poverty-stricken areas and those from underprivileged households.

Li Yingtao, a professor of global governance and gender equality at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the prominent role played by Peng as a UNESCO special envoy shows that China has started to play a leading part in promoting gender equality in education.

According to UNESCO, although notable progress has been made over the past 20 years, 129 million girls remain out of school, and two-thirds of primary school-age children who may never attend school are girls.

The UNESCO prize, which honors outstanding and innovative contributions made by individuals, institutions and organizations to advance girls' and women's education, is a strong indicator of China's readiness to make sustained contributions to global education equality, Li Yingtao said.

"It also shows that China strongly supports efforts being made by the UN to achieve gender equality."

She added that China has made remarkable progress in eliminating poverty among women, improving school enrollment among girls, and promoting education equality over the past four decades, with the nation already eliminating the gender gap in its nine-year compulsory education.

The number of Chinese women taking higher education is also nearing a historic high, she said.

"All these achievements show that China's practice in education has become one of the best in promoting gender equality," she said.

Sharing experience

The nation has also shared its development experience and capacity building for women, helping to further empower them, according to experts.

China Women's University has put forward training sessions and seminars to 737 officials from 72 developing countries, with another 120 postgraduate students from 33 nations being offered degrees on women's leadership and social development.

Li Ying, the dean, said a key part of the programs is showcasing the important roles women can play in social and economic growth, along with the ways in which they can protect their rights from being violated.

Participants in the programs hold discussions with Chinese female entrepreneurs, officials, leaders of social organizations and those chairing women's federations. They learn about the nation's favorable policies on women's empowerment, including micro credits, free breast and cervical cancer screenings, and diagnostic services.

"China is not without challenges in women's and children's development," Li Ying said, adding that the way in which the nation strengthens its support for rural women after their husbands become migrant workers in urban areas can also inspire other countries.

Kaniwa, from Zimbabwe, who traveled extensively in China while pursuing her postgraduate degree at China Women's University from 2016 to 2018, said studying in the nation was "a rich academic and cultural experience" that helped her prepare for the next phase of her life.

She said the experience enhanced her critical thinking on ways to promote women's development, adding that she is proud to be a role model for them in the rural community of Mutoko, her hometown.

"I now feel empowered to help disadvantaged women in my community resolve challenges they face, especially those related to gender disparity in obtaining opportunities offered by community projects," she said.