Madame Hong, Member of Secretariat, ACWF, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. It is my great pleasure to be given the opportunity to speak at this launch of the China Gender Facility for Research and Advocacy. The Department for International Development has been involved in the design of the Gender Facility from the very start, working closely with colleagues in the UN system, other bilateral donors and the Women's Federation. We are also the main contributor to the Facility. We attach high importance to its guiding principles and strategic aims.
Firstly, the Facility is designed to be responsive to demand. It is an instrument for tackling gender inequalities in China . It is able to flexibly respond to the needs of both government and Chinese civil society. Secondly, it is highly strategic in its ambitions. All proposals must demonstrate the links between research and advocacy and the opportunities for policy and legislative change at the national or provincial level. Finally, the Facility is an outstanding example of how donor harmonisation can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of development assistance. As a donor co-ordinated mechanism, it sends a strong message of our collective commitment to assist the Government of China in tackling gender based discrimination and promoting women's empowerment. It is also in the spirit of the declaration of the High Level Forum on harmonisation and aid effectiveness which was held in Paris at the end of March and which China attended.
DFID's sole objective in China is to support the Government in its continued effort to reduce poverty and to meet the Millennium Development Goals. We work directly with Chinese domestic programmes on HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, basic education and water and sanitation. DFID China has also funded a programme of cross-cutting work focused on issues which underpin the equitable and sustainable achievement of the off-target MDGs. This has been largely executed through partners (including the UNDP and the World Bank) and has been focused on fiscal reform, migration and increased participation of the poor in rural development.
Working on these programmes has provided ample evidence of the need to tackle gender inequalities. Gender equality and the empowerment of women are essential for the eradication of poverty and the upholding of human rights. Gender equality and the empowerment of women will strategically and substantially contribute to the achievement of all the MDGs.
Despite a high level commitment to equality between women and men, poor women in China remain disadvantaged in economic development, access to education and health services, and in political representation, particularly in rural areas. Women and men of the same socio-economic status have different development opportunities and outcomes. This inequality is demonstrated in a number of ways. Social and economic transition in China means that opportunities for women and men are changing rapidly. There are significant differences in the ways in which men and women benefit from growth. Gender inequality also tends to slow economic growth and make poverty reduction more difficult. We therefore must pay closer attention to how the benefits of growth may be shared more equally. Although income data is not disaggregated by sex, Chinese researchers argue that women are disproportionately poor. This is related firstly to the greater proportion of women who work in agriculture in poorer areas of the country. Women bear a higher share of low productivity agricultural labor, as a result of a lack of access to inputs and labor saving infrastructure, and unequal property rights.
Secondly, the loss of employment brought about by the restructuring of state owned enterprises has disproportionately affected women and created poverty in old age for women. Although reliable statistics are not currently available, it appears that women comprise over one-half and perhaps 60% of layoffs in urban areas, despite representing only 39% of formal employment. A significant wage gap also exists between men and women in formal |
employment. Women receive an average of 77% of male earnings. This is largely accounted for by the fact that women are concentrated in low-paying sectors of the economy.
Women on average suffer ill health longer and have a lower quality of life than men. Equal access to health care is directly threatened by cutbacks in public health care expenditure and the prevalence of user fees. Poorer families tend to use scarce resources for the health care of men and boys rather than on women and girls. The proportion of women amongst people living with HIV and AIDS and other diseases is steadily increasing. Ever since the early 1980s China 's sex ratio at birth has been gradually deviating from the normal range, leading to a continuously and widespread increase in the sex ratio at birth. Three out of four illiterate people in China are women.
We know that a woman's lack of education and poor health status is often a determinant factor in the health of her child. Across the board, it is clear that educated, healthy women are more able to engage in productive activities, find employment, earn higher incomes and enjoy greater returns to schooling than uneducated women who may suffer from poor health and malnutrition, or are victims of violence. The challenge is to ensure that we tackle the underlying causes of inequality that prevent women from using these services and exercising bargaining power within the household. Strengthening women's political participation should help in empowering women and prioritizing their needs.
Governments across the world need to recognize the contribution of women in the economy and reflect this in providing resources for programmes which have the greatest impact on women's empowerment. Tackling gender inequality requires a clear sense of priorities and work over the long term for systematic change. Societies need to address inequalities between women and men which are deeply rooted in economic, political, social and cultural life.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you all know, 2005 marks the tenth anniversary of the historic Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing which produced the Beijing Platform of Action. It was hugely significant in creating momentum for taking forward the global agenda on gender equality. The international consensus and commitment that this conference generated remains as important and relevant today as it did in 1995. DFID globally supports governments and civil societies to strengthen implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action. Our support to the China Gender Facility is also in this spirit.
For China , these ten years have unfortunately been marked by rising gender inequality. Policies are required to tackle and break down gender-based discrimination and promote the empowerment of women. Those responsible for implementing such policies need sufficient resources. The China Gender Facility represents a unique and innovative means to achieving these ambitious goals. In this important landmark year of Beijing plus 10, we must all commit to a renewed and vigorous process of highlighting gender inequalities and working towards their elimination.
Finally, may I take this opportunity to wish the successful applicants of the first batch of proposals my congratulations on their success in obtaining awards from the Facility. More importantly, I would like to wish them good luck and more success as they implement their projects. |