The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meeting, Beijing +10, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women officially started in Beijing on Monday with two plenary sessions.

 

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Gu Xiulian, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and president of the All China Women's Federation (ACWF), delivered a speech at the first plenary session, which was convened just after the opening ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

 

The meeting will review the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action passed at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, and the 2000 Millennium Development Goals. About 800 delegates, including women state leaders, representatives of UN agencies, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations around the world, are attending the meeting from August 29 to September 1. Items on the meeting agenda include a discussion of new issues in women's development, and proposing solutions to promote women's development and gender equality

 

The Fourth World Conference on Women held 10 years ago in 1995 in Beijing was the largest international conference in UN history and is regarded as an important milestone in the history of the international women's movement.

 

Gu briefly introduced China's achievements in women's causes in the last decade, and at the same time pointed out that “as a developing country, China still faces a rather arduous task in promoting gender equality and achieving common development.”

 

"China will keep up with vigorous efforts to promote gender mainstreaming," Gu said.

 

As a global strategic slogan put forward at the Fourth World Conference on Women, gender mainstreaming has been incorporated into the UN gender development indicator system and exerts profound impact on the development of national gender equality policies.

 

UN Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Gender Issues Rachel Mayanja, Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Dias Diogo, and Convener of the Beijing '95 NGO Forum Khunying Supatra Masdit also gave speeches at the first plenary session.

 

The second plenary session, held on Monday afternoon at Beijing Hotel, was a platform for delegates to present the state of women's development in their countries over the past ten years, and to analyze the emerging problems concerning women's issues.

 

Deputy Senate Speaker of Poland Jolanta Danielak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Chairman of the Women's Committee Svetlana Inamova, First Lady of Mali Lobbo Traore Toure, Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho of the Kingdom of Tonga, and Princess Basma bint Talal of Jordan spoke during the second plenary session.

 

They all expressed their sincere gratitude toward China for providing this special opportunity for delegates to gather again in Beijing to review women's development over the last ten years and beyond.

 

A total of four plenary sessions and six seminars are planned for the conference. Topics include women and decision making and management, women and economy, human rights of women and violence elimination, women and sustainable development, women and poverty elimination, and women and AIDS.

 

A "Beijing Plus Ten Declaration" will be passed at the fourth plenary session.

 

 

 

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Zhang Tingting, August 30, 2005)