The United Nations held a press conference to celebrate International Women¡¯s Day and launch an advocacy campaign to raise awareness in China of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Organised by the UN Theme Group on Gender and chaired by Mr. Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, the event invited advocates to speak on the importance of establishing gender equality and share their experiences in CEDAW implementation. Over 100 people attended the event, representing governmental agencies, civil society institutions, academia and the international community, including more than 35 journalists from national and international media organisations
Mr. Malik, in his opening remarks, emphasised the centrality of gender equality to human development and human security, noting that women¡¯s human rights, as upheld by CEDAW, are on every major national, regional and international agenda.
The panellists at the event included Ms. Constance Thomas, ILO Director/ Representative and Chair of the UN Theme Group on Gender, who outlined the principles contained in the Convention and the importance of using it when promoting gender equality to focus on the areas of vital importance.
Ms. Zou Xiaoqiao, Director General of the All China Women¡¯s Federation and member of the UN CEDAW Committee, introduced China¡¯s combined 5th and 6th country reports to the CEDAW committee and called for the Chinese Government, NGOs and the whole of society to implement the CEDAW Committee¡¯s concluding comments and thereby work together for women¡¯s rights.
Mr. Li Mingshi, Professor of Law and Vice President of the China Women¡¯s University, looked at CEDAW from a legal perspective. He stressed the need for a definition of discrimination in Chinese law and that all laws should be in line with the principle of gender equality, with the recently amended Law on the Rights and Interests of Women superseding laws of a gender discriminatory nature.
Peter Jensen, Counsellor of the Embassy of Australia, spoke about Australia¡¯s experiences in implementing CEDAW and the centrality of gender equality in its international aid programme.
Wang Xuebing, actor and anti domestic violence activist, acted in the first TV series in China to feature domestic violence. He spoke about his work advocating against domestic violence, his experiences of gender discrimination and called for men and women, especially men, to work towards CEDAW implementation.
Cai Yiping, Coordinator of Women¡¯s Media Watch and Researcher from the Women¡¯s Studies Centre, gave many different examples of discrimination, included the unbalanced sex ratio at birth, differential treatment of girls and boys in the home and the under-representation of women in politics and media reports.
The event was concluded by an active question and answer session.
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