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)