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Statement by SHI Yuefeng of the Chinese delegation on the agenda item "Advancement of Women" during the Third Committee of the 73rd General Assembly

2018-10-09 06:06

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation associates itself with the statement made by Egypt on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

In the past year, acting upon the strategic objectives set out in the Beijing Declaration and Program of Action and with greater political will, the international community has actively carried out international cooperation, making great strides in the advancement of women. In spite of this, uneven development, wars and conflicts, climate change, violence and human trafficking, among others, continue to hamper the overall development of women around the world. The rights of women and girls in economy, education and health have yet to be effectively guaranteed. In this regard, China wishes to make the following observations:

First of all, we must approach this issue from a development perspective and work in earnest to safeguard women's rights and interests. Uneven development is a major obstacle to the development of women. The international community should seize the opportunity presented by the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and take a holistic approach to eliminate poverty, vigorously improve people's livelihood, and promote overall economic and social progress. A gender perspective should be incorporated into national policies and plans to ensure that women and girls fully and equally partake in development results.

Second, we must strengthen international cooperation and promote the common development of women's cause around the world. The international community needs to embrace the concept of a community of shared future for mankind, uphold the principle of win-win cooperation, and remain guided by the Beijing Declaration and Program of Action in effectively fulfilling international obligations and commitments made at the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. Developed countries need to scale up their financial and technical assistance to developing countries, strengthen capacity building, and narrow the development gap. It is necessary to step up the response to the common challenges that impede women's development, such as climate change and the refugee and immigrant crisis.

Third, comprehensive measures should be adopted to eliminate violence against women. All countries must strive to foster a harmonious and inclusive social culture, tear down the anachronistic concepts, rules and customs that hold back women's development, and eliminate discrimination and prejudice against women. We must improve policies and legislation, strengthen supervision, and crack down on trafficking of women and girls, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. Effective response should be given to new problems and new challenges regarding violence against women and girls, such as the misuse of the Internet and social media.

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese government is committed to gender equality as a basic national policy. We’ve formulated and implemented a national planning outline for the promotion of women's development, and established a nationwide mechanism for the work on women and children. Over 100 laws and regulations on the protection of women’s rights, based on the Constitution and with the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests at the mainstay, have been put in place. Statistics show that, in 2016, women accounted for 43.1% of the total workforce in China; females accounted for 52.5% of all undergraduate and college students, and hospitalized deliveries reached 99.8% nationwide.

China attaches great importance to international cooperation on women’s issues. Work is in full swing to deliver on the commitments made by President Xi Jinping at the 2015 Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, with financial contributions and various cooperation projects underway. This year, we hosted the second China-Arab Women’s Forum under the theme of “Consolidating Women’s Consensus and Building the Belt and Road Together” and a workshop for women officials from Eastern European countries with the theme of “Cohesion of Women and Building a Silk Road”, through which our cooperation with women in these countries has been further deepened.

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese government will continue to support the work of UN Women and other agencies, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries, and do our utmost to help developing countries achieve the goals laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, contributing to the early achievement of gender equality and women's empowerment around the globe.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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