The unveiling ceremony of the Global Center for Women's Capacity Building was held at China Women's University (CWU, also ACWF Executive Leadership Academy), in Beijing, on October 14. Huang Xiaowei, Vice-Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), Chen Xiaodong, Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), and Sima Sami Bahous, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, delivered addresses at the ceremony.
In his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, held in Beijing on October 13, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China's important measures to further support the global cause of women, continuously injecting impetus into the new and accelerated process for women's all-round development, Huang said at the center's unveiling ceremony. Empowerment for women is an engine for women's all-round development, and lays the foundation for building a sustainable future. Huang added establishment of the Global Center for Women's Capacity Building proves China has a solid commitment to shouldering its responsibilities. She hopes the center will harness wisdom and strength in organizing women's international exchanges and capacity-building initiatives at the bilateral and multilateral levels, and continuously providing training in women's leadership improvement and digital education and skills. Huang said she hopes the center will serve as a platform in establishing a new framework for promoting cooperation in women's cause, providing women's empowerment services, developing a new paradigm of women's all-round progress, and making new and greater contributions in the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
Chen said CIDCA will comprehensively implement measures to support the global cause of women announced by President Xi, and will collaborate with the ACWF to develop the Global Center for Women's Capacity Building. CIDCA will enhance training related to women's cause, harness resources to support programs for women's development, and cooperate with various sectors to promote the progress of women's cause. CIDCA will help build the center into a global women's exchange and cooperation platform that benefit women worldwide, Chen added.
Bahous said the center is an important vehicle to facilitate cooperation and exchange, and to address critical training and capacity development needs for gender equality and women's empowerment. It will make contribution to accelerating progress for the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She noted UN Women has an unwavering commitment to its collaboration with the Chinese Government and all partners on gender equality and women's empowerment.
Zhang Dongmei, Vice-President and Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, presided over the center's unveiling ceremony. Attendees included: Mayra Jiménez, Minister of Women, Dominica; Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister of Women Affairs, Nigeria; Catherine Launa, Minister for Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs, Solomon Islands; Teodora Mullix Geraldino, Governor of Samaná Province, Dominica; Anne Njoki Wang'ombe, Vice-Minister of Gender, Culture and Children Services, Kenya; and, Lin Yi, Vice-President and Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF. More than 300 participants, including representatives of international organizations, UN agencies in China, diplomats from embassies in China, international students, and CWU's teachers and students, attended. Eyrusalem Wondosen Haile, a postgraduate student at CWU, spoke on behalf of the university's international students during the ceremony.
The center was established by the ACWF and CIDCA. Through cooperation with governments of relevant countries and international organizations, the center's objectives are to advance women's cause-related capacity building and development practices, and cultivate outstanding women talents to help support global gender equality and sustainable development.
A roundtable dialogue, "Writing a New Chapter in Global Women's Development," was held after the ceremony. Speakers shared their understanding of the theme, "One Shared Future: New and Accelerated Process for Women's All-Round Development," and the spirit of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women. Panelists also shared their thoughts on and methods for promoting global women's development.
(Source: Women Voice)
Photos by Yang Rui and Zhang Jiamin
Editor: Ye Shan
