International Women's Forum conference opens in Miami

Amid global financial crisis, the influential International Women's Forum (IWF) on Wednesday kicked off its world leadership conference in Miami, Florida, to explore ways to build "Better World, Better Business, Better Days."


Chen Zhili (L), president of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's 11th National People's Congress, talks with Esther Silver-Parker, president of the IWF, during the world leadership conference of International Women's Forum (IWF) in Miami, the United States, Oct. 7, 2009.(Xinhua Photo)
Gathering in the sunshine coastal city, hundreds of women from some 50 countries are expected to share their insights and understanding on "Becoming Better", the theme of the three-day IWF world leadership conference.

Chen Zhili, President of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), who is also Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress, told the IWF's board meeting Wednesday morning that in China, women's status, rights and interests have been improved remarkably over the past 60 years.

"In the spirit of self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-improvement, Chinese women played an irreplaceable role in the national and state affairs, production, science, education, culture, health and other sectors, reputed as "half of the sky" for economic growth and social progress," she said.

According to Chen, with ACWF's unremitting efforts, the Chinese government has released the financial discount policies for guaranteed micro-financial loans to help remove the bottlenecks limiting women's ventures.

"This is a groundbreaking policy expected to offer a total credit of 100 billion RMB (about 15 billion U.S. dollars) that is to cover millions of women," she said.

The government has also allocated special funds for pilot check of the cervical cancer and the breast cancer among rural women. By the end of 2011, 10 million women in rural areas will be provided with free cervical cancer screening, while 1.2 million rural women will enjoy free breast cancer screening.

"We will strive to develop of an institutionalized, standardized and long-term working mechanism of checking the two cancers on a regular basis, so that rural women can really benefit from it universally and constantly," Chen added.

As to women's political rights, Chen said that ACWF has been actively advocating women's active participation in management in rural governments. Laws and measures are being made in order to secure women's political positions in the governments.


Chen Zhili (C), president of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's 11th National People's Congress, speaks during the world leadership conference of International Women's Forum (IWF) in Miami, the United States, Oct. 7, 2009.(Xinhua Photo)
The organization has put forward proposals that a special election process should be established for the posts for members of women committees, and the number of women candidates for villagers' committee should be guaranteed.

China has 604,000 administrative villages, and the village affairs are in the charge of village committees directly elected by the villagers. At present, the proportion of women members in village committees is less then 18 percent, while the proportion of women directors of village committee is merely 2.7 percent.

Moreover, ACWF has called on the government to adopt new policies to pave way for the development of leading female scientists with favorable environment provided by systems, policies and resources.

Serving 650 million Chinese women, ACWF is the largest organization in China with a network covering both urban and rural areas and over 60,000 grassroots women's organizations. Its major mission is to safeguard the rights and interests of women and to promote women's development.

Source: Xinhua

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-10/09/content_356883.htm