With the aim of mainstreaming gender into plans, policies and programmes in China through promotion of advocacy and social dialogue on gender equality, the China Gender Facility (CGF) was set up by the UN Theme Group on Gender. On 26 May 2005 , the Facility was successfully launched in Beijing.
The China Gender Facility (CGF) is a creative initiative that contributes to the achievement of the MDGs and reduction of gender inequalities in China . It strives to ensure this by meaningfully engaging with government and civil society players to engender the design and implementation of development plans, policies and programmes in China , through informed advocacy that is grounded in gender sensitive data and research.
The launch was facilitated by Ms. Lucita Lazo, Regional Programme Director of UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia , executing agency of the CGF entrusted by UNTGG. Mme. Hong Tianhui, Member of the Secretariat, All China Women's Federation (ACWF), Mr. Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator in Beijing , Mr. Christian Voumard, Chair of UNTGG and Mr. Adrian Davis, Head of DFID China delivered welcome speeches and opening remarks at the launch.
78 women's organizations, donor representatives, guest speakers and press participated at the launch of the China Gender Facility for Research and Advocacy.
The Facility was set up by the UN Theme Group on Gender (UNTGG) under the UN Resident Co-ordinator who heads the UN Country Team, and is chaired by UNICEF and administered by UNIFEM. Composed of UN agencies, multilateral and bilateral development agencies and international NGOs, sharing a common pool of funds, the UNTGG is mandated to provide a platform for inter-agency policy dialogue and co-ordination on gender and development issues, and to share experiences on effective advocacy and gender mainstreaming in the work of the UN system and the wider community. DFID China is the primary donor to the UN Them Group on Gender.
An important component of the China Gender Facility is capacity building. In this regard, a capacity building workshop following the launch was organized by UNIFEM to support the work of the nine grantee organizations. The workshop's main objectives were to build capacity of partner organizations in gender mainstreaming, results based management and rights based approach to gender programmes.
The capacity building training workshop achieved its planned objectives as shown in the course evaluation results. However, more efforts are needed to strengthen capacities of all grantees to ensure that quality projects will be implemented for gender equality advocacy and gender sensitive policy changes.
The 2004 call for proposals was announced in October 2004. Out of 71 proposals, 9 action-oriented research proposals that cover a wide geographical area from Beijing , Yunnan and Jiangxi to Xinjiang Autonomous Region were granted sponsorship for their respective projects. Among the issues addressed by the proposals were domestic violence, employment, gender mainstreaming, capacity building of decision- and policy-makers on gender equality, and concerns of ageing and disabled women. All grantees received awards from the CGF at the launch and all participants congratulated them for their success.
At the event, Mme. Hong Tianhui, Member of Secretariat, ACWF, emphasized the need for the Facility to work closely with the Chinese government and the ACWF in the realization of the Millennium Development Goals relevant to gender equality.
The launch also gave women an opportunity to share their life experiences, and offered advocates an excellent chance to campaign for gender equality in China .
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