A Chinese mayor, along with other six female municipal leaders in
Asian developing countries, was awarded with the Certificate of
Outstanding Women at a region-wide conference of women mayors and
councilors Tuesday in Phitsanulok.
Hu
Juping, vice executive mayor of Huangshi, Hubei Province of China,
received the honor from Kim Hak-Su, executive secretary of the
Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) at the opening ceremony of the
first-ever gathering of senior women officials in local governments
in the region.
The meeting, which is held 377 kilometers north of Bangkok, is
scheduled to span from Tuesday to Friday, which assembles some 120
mayors and councilors from 14 Asia-Pacific countries, under the
sponsorship of ESCAP and the Thai government.
"I
feel very fortunate to get the reward, and it is also a
manifestation of high marks for all 463 mayors in China," Hu told
Xinhua News Agency at the meeting.
Kim, the ESCAP chief, said that the objective of issuing the reward
for outstanding women is to raise awareness of the transformative
role that women play in local government and the challenges and
constraints they face while working with and leading local-level
governments, which is also the aim of the meeting.
The awardees, including six mayors and vice mayors, as well as one
municipal councilor, who by their work have not only demonstrated
transformative leadership but have also played important roles in
promoting both the participation and representation of women in
their local governments, according to Thelma S.E. Kay, chief of the
women development section in ESCAP.
An
ESCAP introduction document said that Hu Juping, who had served as
a vice mayor for the past six years, holds various areas of
responsibility encompassing a variety of tasks including daily
routine work, urban planning, construction, management, among
others.
Hu
said she believed that the increasing number of women in
local-level governments in China and other countries in the region
will have a direct effect on the status of women, as it would help
to eliminate discrimination and force people to value other people
based on merits rather than gender.
"This, will in turn dismantle obstacles and deterrents to women's
comprehensive participation in all aspects of society," she
noted.
During the following days of the meeting, the Chinese delegates
will join their colleagues from other countries in the region to
discuss follow-up strategies and actions to promote the
participation and representation of females in local governments.
They will also adopt a declaration on advancement of women in local
governments.
(People’s Daily 06/20/2001)