BY OUR STAFF REPORTERS

-- An interview with Zhao Shaohua, vice-chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation 

Zhao Shaohua, Vice-Chairwoman of the ACWF and member of the ACWF Secretariat

  Editor's note: Slated for September 2008, the Tenth National Congress of the Chinese Women will review the achievements the country has made over the past five years in promoting women's rights and interests and formulate the targets for the protection endeavor over the next five years. The five years since the Ninth National Congress of the Chinese Women have witnessed a constant improvement in the status of the Chinese women and in their human rights conditions.

   Following is a transcript of an interview given our staff reporters by Zhao Shaohua, vice-chairperson of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and member of the ACWF Secretariat, on how women's rights and interests are protected in China.

  Question: Would you elaborate on the latest measures taken by the Chinese Government for protecting women's rights and interests?

  Answer: As you know, the Chinese Government has always attached sufficient importance to women's development. Equality of men and women, as a matter of fact, has been a basic state policy and realization of such equality is seen in China as a yardstick for measurement of social progress. The Government spares no effort to eliminate discrimination against women, in an effort to improve the social conditions for the development of women's rights.

  First of all, gender equality as a constitutional principle has been made even more explicit in Chinese laws and government regulations. One example is the revision of the People's Republic of China Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in August 2005. The revised law bans sexual harassment and reaffirms the ban on domestic violence of which most victims are women and children. Even more remarkable is that the constitutional principle of equality between men and women is stated in the General Principles of the revised Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests. The People's Republic of China Labor Contract Law and the People's Republic of China Law for Promotion of Employment, which went into effect on January 1, 2008, both have provisions effective enough to guarantee fairness in employment and elimination of gender discrimination with regard to employment. Birth insurance is listed as one of the five social insurance items in the People's Republic of China Social Insurance Law (draft), which was submitted in December 2007 to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's highest legislature, for deliberation.

  Second, women's development has been included into China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2006-2010). That means that the main targets set in the Outline Program for Development of the Chinese Women (2001-2010) have been made national targets. The Eleventh Five-Year Plan calls for "work in real earnest to carry out the basic state policy of equality between men and women, ensure implementation of the Program for Women's Development, and guarantee the right of women to education, employment, social insurance, marriage-related property and involvement in social affairs." The Plan also envisages improvements in health care for women and children, with the maternity mortality rate expected to be reduced to 40 per 100,000.

  Under this state planning, the various ministries and national commissions have incorporated the targets for women's development into their respective planning. Likewise, the governments of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland have incorporated such targets into local plans for economic and social development. 

  Third, the central government has been involved in checking the implementation of the Outline Program for Development of the Chinese Women(2001-2010). In 2006, the State Council Committee for Work of Children and Women organized 15 groups of officials and experts to investigate into how such work had been done in the 31 mainland provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities while overseeing local authorities in performing the relevant duties. 

  Q: Would you speak on involvement of Chinese women in the country's political life? What the ACWF has been doing to promote such involvement?

    A: The Chinese Government has attached sufficient importance to women's role in China's political life. Under the People's Republic of China Constitution, men and women are equal in political status. The Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests has provisions specifically devised to ensure implementation of this Constitutional principle. Moreover, specific targets are set in the Outline Program for Development of the Chinese Women (2001-2010) for women's participation in politics. Relevant state departments have taken measures to improve the selection of officials from among women and training of women already on official posts.

    Increasing numbers of women have become government leaders at various levels. Eight of China's state leaders are women, and 241 women are ranking officials at the ministerial-provincial level. Some 670 women are working as mayors or vice-mayor in 600 Chinese cities. Women with official posts at the next lower level number 104,000 across the country. Six hundred and thirty-seven women are deputies to the current Eleventh NPC, accounting for 21.33 percent of the total number of Chinese parliamentarians, 1.09 percentage points higher than the corresponding figure for the previous NPC. Of the members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's highest consulting body, 395 or 17.7 percent are women, one percentage more than those on the previous CPPCC National Committee. Twenty-nine women are on the Standing Committee of the current NPC and 34, on the Standing Committee of the current CPPCC National Committee. Women account for 16.57 percent of the NPC Standing Committee members, an increase of 3.37 percentage points over the previous NPC Standing Committee; for 11.41 percent of the CPPCC National Committee members, an increase of 0.01 percentage points.

     The ACWF has the task of promoting women's involvement in government and helping train women officials. It has been doing the following in this regard:

     First, the ACWF makes best use of the news media to publicize the basic state policy of equality between men and women and women's contribution to society, with a view to creating the kind of social environment conducive to women's development.

    Second, the ACWF works hard to investigate and study conditions of the Chinese women. This makes it possible for the ACWF to make women's voices timely heard by the government. Meanwhile, the ACWF takes an active part in China's political life and plays a due role in overseeing the government.

   Third, the ACWF involves itself in the training of women officials by helping them upgrade their knowledge and improve their leadership qualities. Jointly with relevant government departments, it has launched some training programs designed to help officials at government departments of human resources development enhance their gender awareness, so that they will give due consideration to women in selection of people for official posts.

   The ACWF and local women's organization have been working hard to select potential leaders from among women and recommend them to human resources departments of the government. Data bases have been set up and constantly improved to serve this purpose. 

Publicity campaign against domestic violence

   Q: Would you please elaborate on what you have done to protect women's rights and interests and the progress you have made in such work？

   A: Our policy is one of attaching equal importance to women's development and protection of women's rights and interests.

   First, the ACWF involves itself in the making of state laws and local legislation concerning protection of women's and children's rights, to ensure that such rights can be legally guaranteed. By contributing proposals and investigation reports with a view to making women's voices heard, we have played a due role in the formulation and revision of a range of Chinese laws with a bearing on women's rights and interests, including the Marriage Law, the Rural Land Contract Law, the Law for Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, the Law for Protection of Junior Citizens, and the Social Insurance Law.

   Second, we have spared no effort to publicize the basic state policy of equality between men and women among the general public. Government leaders at various levels, particularly law enforcement officers among them, are also targeted. Women are also recipients of our mass education so that they will know better about their rights and interests and how to protect them.

   Third, our "Families in Peace" program is designed to encourage harmonious human relationships – relationships within families and with neighboring families. Hotlines for protection of women's rights are now operational in virtually all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland, and so are legal assistance centers that specifically serve women's legal needs. We see to it that legal assistance and mediation are available in urban neighborhoods and that in rural areas, complaints from women are promptly and properly handled. The ACWF and local women's organizations also have the task of overseeing the relevant authorities in their handling of cases involving serious violations of women's and children's rights.

   Four, the ACWF has helped the government in setting up various kinds of social mechanisms for protection of women's and children's rights. These include coordination groups and joint meetings under governments at various levels, and people's assessors and collegiate benches in people's courts special for the purpose. At the end of 2006, there were 35,000 groups charged with coordinating efforts by various government organs to protect women's and children's rights, along with 27,000 legal assistance agencies and 3,200 collegiate benches designated to facilitate protection of women's and children's rights and interests. Nearly 8,000 officials of women's organizations had by then been appointed people's assessors special for protection of women's rights, and another 4,600 had received training in overseeing the implementation of women-related labor legislation.

"Women Health Express" at an ethnic Miao village

   Q: What China has done over the past five years to curb domestic violence? What a role does the ACWF play in this regard?

   A: First, I'd like to call your attention to the revision of the Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in 2005 and the revision of the Law on Protection of Junior Citizens in 2006. Thanks to their revisions, both laws have provisions on prohibition of domestic violence. Under rules set by the National Committee for Promoting Socialist Ethics, success in curbing domestic violence shall be taken as a criterion for determining whether a city qualifies for being commended as a national model for development of social morality. In other words, curbing domestic violence is a part of the national campaign to develop socialist ethics.

   Second, the ACWF and local women's organizations have played a role in organizing and coordinating efforts from all sides of society in the fight against domestic violence. They are involved in mass education campaigns aimed at building harmonious human relationships while helping governments at various levels improve the related legislation. They also take part in investigating serious or typical cases of domestic violence. Meanwhile, they have set up hotlines to offer free legal counseling and assistance to victims of domestic violence. Thanks to involvement of the ACWF and local women's organizations, the authorities in 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland have published local regulations on prevention and curbing of domestic violence. In these local regulations, domestic violence is legally defined, and so are the principles and procedures for handling cases of domestic violence. To sum up, a government-led mechanism for prevention and curbing domestic violence is being developed, involving public security, justice, civil affairs and public health departments of the government and women's organizations.

   Police in many provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have set up hotlines for receiving emergency reports related to domestic violence. In accordance with a decision of the Ministry of Public Security, such reports are handled as an independent category of cases under China's 110 police emergency reporting system. Besides, more than 12,000 police stations across the country now have special subdivisions for intervening into cases of domestic violence that occur in areas under their respective jurisdiction.

   There are 400 sanctuaries for female victims of domestic violence and criminal offense. The people's courts in some places have set up collegiate benches for handling cases of domestic violence.

Motherly care for children in a Shandong village who are separated from their parents

   Q: What the Chinese Government has been doing to crackdown on trafficking in women and children? In what ways does the ACWF help in the crackdown?

   A: The Chinese Government has always attached sufficient importance to the crackdown on trafficking in women and children. It is worthwhile to note that in recent years, China has observed a steady decrease in the number of woman and child trafficking cases.

   On January 1, 2008, the Action Plan for Crackdown on Woman and Child Trafficking (2008-2010) went into effect, which is the first of its kind ever published by the Chinese government. The Action Plan calls for concerted efforts of 28 ministries and national commissions, and covers prevention of and crackdown on the crime, rescue, repatriation and rehabilitation of the victims, as well as international cooperation in the crackdown. An inter-ministerial conference has been set up to coordinate the crackdown across the country. The Ministry of Public Security now has a subdivision special for dealing with the crime. Meanwhile, laws have been improved in such a way as to mete out severer punishments to proven criminals. Hand-in-hand are mass education campaigns to alert the general public against the crime.

   The ACWF is involved in the crackdown by overseeing the concerned authorities in their actions and assisting them in investigating and prosecuting typical cases of child and woman trafficking. Work to prevent the crime goes hand-in-hand with poverty alleviation efforts and efforts to promote employment of women. Mass education in self-protection has proved vital for women, especially in those underdeveloped rural regions. In some parts of rural China, women's organizations help in education of school children in self-protection, in the need to guard against vile attempts on them.

Publicity campaign for women's rights in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province

   Q: What the ACWF has been doing to help unemployed women start a business on their own or get reemployed?

   A: The ACWF was directly involved in the formulation and revision of the Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, with a view to providing a legal guarantee for women's equal right to employment. We have the duty of overseeing the authorities of labor in their implementation of the law, while seeing to it that policy privileges are provided to promote employment and reemployment of women. The ACWF has been involved in investigations organized by the NPC and CPPCC into enforcement of labor-related laws, so that irregularities that infringe upon women's right to startup of enterprises and to employment can be addressed timely.

   By basing ourselves on national and local conditions, we have started a range of programs to train women in job skills most needed on the market. To facilitate job training for women and their employment, the ACWF has been working hard to develop a network of employment data bases operating at the provincial, city (prefecture), county (district) and village (urban community) levels. It has also kicked off a program special for assisting women in starting businesses on their own, which covers project development, extension of small loans and follow-up assistance.

   The ACWF attaches special importance to assisting unemployed women in their 40s and 50s – those who are considered too old to be employed, to learn new job skills or to start businesses on their own. While urging them to pluck up courage to start a new life, the AWFC and local women's organizations are working jointly with local governments to provide them with jobs they may readily pick up -- for example, as cleaners and domestic helpers.

   According to incomplete statistics, during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005) 3.1 million unemployed women received job training organized by the ACWF and local women's organizations, and 2.6 million of them found jobs. Just in 2005, 1.33 million jobless women underwent job training, and 814,000 of them found jobs or started their own businesses. Also in 2005, women's organizations, jointly with local authorities of labor, started job creation campaigns in some 100 Chinese cities to provide jobs for unemployed women.

   In 2006, 347 million Chinese women were employed, 24 million more than in 2000. They accounted for 45.4 percent of China's employed labor force for the year.

Meeting marking the tenth anniversary on the United Nations Conference on Women

   Q: What does the ACWF do to help able-bodied rural women shift to non-farming jobs?

   A: In our opinion, job training is the prerequisite for shifting surplus rural labor to non-farming jobs. The ACWF and local women's organizations have launched a variety of job training programs for rural women by making use of the readily available resources such as rural women's schools, women cadres’ schools, and centers for women's activities. Thanks to our persuasion, the ministries of agriculture, finance, labor and social insurance and education have made training of rural women in non-farming jobs a part of their joint "Sunshine Program" – the 2003-2010 Plan for Training of Migrant Workers from the Countryside as the program is officially called. Job skills badly needed on the market are given priority under various training programs, for examples, jobs in electronics and information technology, domestic helper services, catering and garment-making, etc.

   The ACWF and local women's organizations see to it that as far as possible, rural women in excess of the need for farm work get employed in non-farming jobs near their homes. Meanwhile, they are keen to organize cooperation between different regions so that rural women can emigrate to where non-farming jobs are available in an organized, orderly way. In a related development, a variety of websites have been set up to provide information and other services needed by rural women intending to shift to non-farming jobs.

   Q: Would you speak on work of the ACWF to help alleviate the poverty of China's rural women?

   A: As you know, China has won worldwide recognition for its success in alleviation of rural poverty. The number of poverty-stricken people in the countryside was cut from about 80 million in 1994 to 23.65 million at the end of 2005. It is worthwhile to note that women account for at least half of China's rural population and that of every ten rural laborers, seven are women. Naturally, poverty alleviation in the interest of rural women is a major task for the ACWF and local women's organizations.

   In 2006, the ACWF organized a survey of rural women's conditions in Hebei, Jilin and other eight provinces. Results of the survey, while an important reference for decision-making by the government, have been used by the ACWF as the basis for its formulation of its policies and measures to help alleviate poverty suffered by rural women.

   Training of rural women laborers in scientific farming has proved to be of paramount importance. To this end, the ACWF has published the Outline Program for Development of an Education and Training System for Chinese Women 2008-2010 (draft). Jointly with agricultural departments of the government and universities, the ACWF and local women's organizations have organized a range of training programs, to the benefit of 27 million rural women until now. Meanwhile, women successful in their careers have been organized to assist other women in striving to eradicate poverty.

   The ACWF spares no effort to raise funds from non-governmental sources for use in poverty alleviation. In 2000, the China Women's Development Foundation started a campaign to solicit donations for use in building potable water projects in China's arid areas. By 2006, more than 100,000 pools had been built for collecting rainwater along with some 1,200 small-sized water supply projects, to the benefit of 1.4 million women in 23 provinces and autonomous regions.

   Q: Would you elaborate on school education for the Chinese women?

   A: In 2005, schooling for China's adult women averaged 7.3 years. Some 99.14 percent of the school-age girls were in primary school. After graduation from primary schools, 98 percent of the girls were able to continue to study at junior middle schools, and 55.78 percent of the female graduates from junior middle schools were able to enter senior middle schools. Women accounted for 27.3 percent of China's college students, for 46.4 percent of those studying for master decree, and for 33.9 percent of the PhD candidates for the year. Nearly 84 percent of China's adult women were able to read and write. The literacy rate was 94.7 percent for young and middle-aged women.

   Q: Would you elaborate on health care of the Chinese women and the role the ACWF plays in promoting it.

   A: To begin, I must note that women's health care is listed as a key project in China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). At the end of 2006, there were 3,003 health centers for women and children across the country, which together had 99,000 beds. The life expectancy of the Chinese women averaged 75.25 years in 2005. More than one third of the married women at 65 or younger are able to receive gynecologic examinations once every year. The maternity mortality rate has been brought down to 41.1 per 100,000 -- 24.8 per 100,000 for cities and 45.5 per 100,000 for rural areas, to be more exact. These figures suffice to testify to the constant improvements in health care for women, which come along with progress in China's public health work.

   In playing a due role in promoting women's health, in 2003 the ACWF launched the "Mothers’ Health Express" program to provide mobile medical and health services to women in least developed rural areas. Right now, 415 mobile medical teams are active in 15 provinces, traveling from places to place by taking well-equipped buses – those "mother health expresses." Until now, more than 8.1 million women have benefited from the program, including those who have received emergency treatment and those who have been given medical counseling.  

   Q: The accelerating process of urbanization has resulted in separation of growing numbers of children from their parents who, for better paid jobs, have emigrated from the countryside to cities. Has the ACWF provided care for those children having to stay behind, without care of their own parents?

   A: There are an estimated 58 million children who are separated from their parents across the Chinese countryside, according to the 2005 one percent population sample census. We think this constitutes a serious problem facing those children in their growth and development. To address the problem, we have taken the following measures:

   We count on cooperation with the government in trying to provide care to children separated from their parents. Jointly with 13 ministries and national commissions, the ACWF set up a special group in 2006 for providing help and care to rural children left behind by their parents who are in cities as migrant workers. Since the following year, the joint group has kicked off a range of campaigns to solicit support and care from all sides of society for those children.

   Going hand-in-hand with such activities are our own investigations into conditions of those rural children left behind by their migrant worker parents, which are designed to provide the government with information and suggestions necessary for its making of policies for helping them. Meanwhile, we have organized volunteers in various activities to provide care and services to those rural children in the countryside. We have also provided training guardians of those children in child care and other relevant subjects.

   Q:  How about ACWF's international cooperation? Would you outline your international cooperation programs?

   A: The ACWF has established relations of cooperation with nearly 700 women's and children's organizations in 169 countries and regions, including those in China's neighboring countries such as Russia and Japan as well as those in the United States and Europe. While exchanging visits with them, the ACWF has invited the wives of several dozen countries’ state or government heads to come for visits. Since 2004, it has organized the Chinese Women's Cultural Week in France, Russia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Britain. Meanwhile, we have provided several hundred batches of aid in kind – production tools, daily necessities, office stationery, etc. -- to women's organizations in developing countries and we have also sent groups of experts to those countries to help women there learn embroidery and other skills as a means of earning.

   As China's first non-governmental organization with consultative status of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the ACWF takes an active part in multilateral activities associated with the world body. In 2005, it played host to a meeting to mark the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Nearly 1,000 delegates from 90 countries and U.N. organizations attended the meeting. Chinese President Hu Jintao was present at the opening ceremony and delivered an important speech.

   Since 1979, the ACWF has launched a host of cooperation projects joint with the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Children's Fund, the International Labor Organization and NGOs including Sunland International. Cooperation projects the ACWF has launched with governmental and non-governmental organizations in Canada, Australia, the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel and the European Union cover human resources development, poverty alleviation, education, public health, employment and women's rights and interests. These are meant to benefit poverty-stricken and ethnic minority areas in all the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland. Many of such projects have won commendation from the relevant U.N. agencies.

   Q: Is there room for improvement in conditions of the Chinese women? What the ACWF plans to do in face of problems in this regard?

   A: Yes, there are problems that must not be taken light of. In so far as the level of development is concerned, gap exists between women in different regions and between women of different social strata and groups. The number of women directly involved in government and the level of their involvement are not satisfactory in light of the progress China is making in developing socialist democracy. There are problems adversely affecting the exercise by women of their equal right to employment. Relative to their male counterparts, rural women laborers in excess of the need for farm work often find it difficult to shift to non-agricultural jobs. Besides, a lot needs to be done in poverty alleviation in the interest of women.

   Facing these and other problems and difficulties, the ACWF will continue promoting the public awareness of gender equality, with a view to creating a social environment in which men and women can develop side by side.

   We will continue pushing for improvements in China's legislation to ensure protection of women's rights and interests. In particular, we are closely following the progress in the revision and deliberation by the NPC of the Social Insurance Law and the Law on Protection of Farmers’ Rights and Interests, as well as the revision by the State Council of the Regulations on Labor Protection of Women Employees. We will continue urging local governments to promulgate local methods and policies for implementation of the Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests and the Law on Protection of Junior Citizens. Meanwhile, we will do a better job of investigation and study to provide information and suggestions for lawmaking by the NPC and decision-making by the government. In our work to help alleviate poverty, we will concentrate on helping women graduates find jobs or start a business, in addition to unemployed women, surplus women laborers in the countryside and families without a bread earner.