China has founded 21 women/gender research and training centers
to accelerate the establishment of a network of such facilities
nationwide, according to sources from the All-China Women's
Federation at a conference held in Beijing yesterday.
The progress for Chinese women is still in its infancy, said
sociology professor Luo Ping, academic committee director of the
Women and Gender Research Center at Wuhan University.
Although it's recognized that the status of women in Chinese
society has improved greatly in recent times, a lot of work remain
to be done before they could attain the same level as men --
especially in employment and decision-making.
An obvious example is the fact that males have continued to
dominate decision-making with very few women actively participating
in the work of mainstream bodies responsible for making important
decisions. And businesses prefer to hire males rather than females,
although they claim that they provide equal opportunities for all
job candidates.
Gu Xiulian, vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress (NPC), chairperson of the All-China Women's
Federation (ACWF) and also president of Chinese Women's Research
Society, pointed out at the conference that the establishment of
women/gender research and training centers is extremely important
to development in social sciences as well as to the progress of
Chinese women and the construction of a harmonious society.
Gu said women/gender research and training are strongly related
to each other in the way that theory is closely related to
practice. It's expected that society in general will have the
thoughtfulness to pay more attention to women/gender research and
training and assist in improving the status of women.
She said the life of elderly women is an important issue. They
live longer than males and in fact 60 percent of the aged are
female. To help old people enjoy their later years, in an action
called the "Love and Care Project" ACWF and the Senior Peoples'
Committee have jointly put together a fund of 20 million yuan
(US$2.5 million) to provide services for them. Research has been
undertaken at 95 locations throughout the country to ensure older
people who are unwell are properly taken care of by trained medical
staff.?
During the conference plaques for the first 21 centers were
issued by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China (CPC), the Ministry of Education, the
Party School of the CPC Central Committee and ACWF.
The centers will integrate all the existing resources from
different sectors of society and provide a platform for the
exchange of information on women/gender research and training,
according to Professor Tan Lin, president of Women's Studies
Institute of China.
Many universities in China have set up graduate and postgraduate
courses on female studies and lectures are given on gender equality
and female training. Some institutions have established contacts or
cooperative projects with foreign universities and organizations. A
number of books?on female studies have also been
published.
Attendees of the conference also shared their experiences of
women/gender research and training and exchanged ideas for future
development. Aimed to operate as an integrated network throughout
the country, the centers will play their own roles but cooperate
with each other, launching various research projects, undertaking
training programs and holding seminars.
(China.org.cn by Staff Reporter Xu Lin, June 10, 2006)
