Empower Women to Help Children－UNICEF reports at China launch of the "State of the World's Children Report, 2007"
Eliminating gender discrimination and empowering women will have a profound and positive impact on the survival and well-being of children, according to a new UNICEF report issued on UNICEF's 60th anniversary. The State of the World's Children 2007 demonstrates that gender equality produces the "double dividend" of benefiting both women and children and is pivotal to the health and development of families, communities and nations. The launch of the Chinese edition of the Report was hosted today by the UN Theme Group on Gender at the main UN Compound, thereby recognizing the commitment of the UN System and its counterparts to achieving Millennium Goal three—"to promote gender equality and empower women". UN Resident Coordinator Mr Khalid Malik opened the event by emphasizing the importance of the eight Millennium Development Goals and their strong linkage with the Government's "xiaokan" vision of balanced development. "Gender equality - Goal number three - needs to be a commitment of all society at all levels to ensure that development is truly balanced", he said. UNICEF Representative Dr Yin Yin Nwe emphasized that this was the first time in China that the State of the World's Children Report, which UNICEF produced annually, had been jointly launched with UN family members and counterparts. "For me", she said, "this is an expression of the close cooperation and collaboration at country level among the UN family".
In her presentation on the gender equality situation in China, Professor Liu Bohong of the Women's Studies Institute of the All China Women's Federation outlined the target associated with the goal which was "to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015", and for which four indicators had been established. Despite the progress made, there was still progress needed in the schools, the workplace and in political representation for MDG-3 to be achieved in China.
This analysis fitted well with the seven key milestones on the road to gender equality as set out in the State of the World's Children Report: • Education: Key actions include abolishing school fees and encouraging parents and communities to invest in girls' education. The report concludes that the benefits of gender equality go beyond their direct impact on children. The State of the World's Children shows how promoting gender equality and empowering women – Millennium Development Goal number 3 – will propel all of the other goals, from reducing poverty and hunger to saving children's lives, improving maternal health, ensuring universal education, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability.
Dr Yin Yin Nwe, UNICEF Representative for China
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