Press Releases
Women's Commission enables women to realise their rights and opportunities
The Following is issued on behalf of the Women�s Commission:
The Women�s Commission is committed to enabling women in Hong Kong to fully realise their due status, rights and opportunities in all aspects of life, the Chairperson of the Women�s Commission, Mrs Sophie Leung Lau Yau-fun, said today (January 8).
Mrs Leung was responding to views of a women�s group on the Commission�s work in the past year as reported in the media.
She said the Commission was a central mechanism tasked to develop a long-term vision and strategies for the development and advancement of women.
�We are more than an advisory body. We have a strategic role to play in mapping out the policy direction on women�s issues,� she said.
Mrs Leung pointed out that since the establishment of the Women�s Commission, Members had been visiting and exchanging views with various women�s groups and service agencies.
As a result of these exchanges and after extensive deliberations, three priority areas of action have been identified by the Commission, namely gender mainstreaming, empowerment of women and public education. The overall direction and priority areas were generally supported by the women�s groups and non-governmental organisations which attended the Open Forum organised by the Commission in July 2001.
�The open forum, which was attended by more than 200 representatives from various women�s organisations, service agencies, higher education institutions, community groups and government departments, was a good opportunity for an exchange of view and partnership,� she said.
�The Commission held another forum in October 2001 to hear the views of women�s groups and service agencies on Government�s plan to establish a Community Investment and Inclusion Fund (which was announced in the Chief Executive�s Policy Address in 2001). A total of 85 representatives from 55 women�s group and agencies took part in the discussion. Comments and suggestions have been conveyed to the Administration for consideration and follow-up action,� she added.
Mrs Leung pointed out that the Commission had liaised with women�s groups and non-governmental organisations to develop partnership and share experience. Commission members have already visited nearly 40 women�s groups and service organisations to exchange views on a number of women-related issues. District-based visits will be carried out this year.
�In order to enhance partnership with community groups, a one-and-a-half day Women�s Conference 2002 will be held on May 10 to 11 this year,� she said.
�The conference will also serve to generate public discussion on and raise public awareness of gender related issues. Women�s groups and all interested members of the public are invited to attend,� Mrs Leung said.
On the transparency of the Commission�s work, �I do not agree with the view that the Women�s Commission is not transparent,� she said.
�The Commission regularly meets the media and issues press releases to publicise its work. Discussion papers of the Commission�s bi-monthly meetings, press releases and other useful documents relating to the Commission�s work are uploaded onto the website of the Women�s Commission www.women.gov.hk,� Mrs Leung said.
�More than 25,000 visits have been recorded since the establishment of the website,� she added.
In sum, Mrs Leung reiterated that the Women�s Commission attached importance to partnership with women�s groups and service organisations. Significant progress has been made in the three priority areas of work of the Commission and their developments are summarised below. The Commission would strive to make more progress in those three areas of work in the coming year.
* In the area of gender mainstreaming, a strategy and plan has been mapped out. A �Gender Mainstreaming Checklist�, which is an analytical tool in mainstreaming gender perspectives and evaluating the gender impact of public policy from the stage of design, implementation, monitoring to evaluation, has also been drawn up. It will be put on pilot testing in several policy areas in March. The result is expected to be evaluated in August this year.
* Gender-related training were provided to more than 200 civil servants in 2001 with a view to ensuring that women�s perspectives are taken into account during policy formulation, the legislative process, and the implementation phase. Training would be offered to more civil servants this year.
* The Commission has met officials of various government departments, including the Housing Department, Social Welfare Department, Home Affairs Department and Education Department to discuss how to improve existing services provided for women. Members have emphasised that the need of women should be taken into consideration during the planning and implementation of the services.
* On the collection of women-related figures, the Census and Statistics Department released a report on �Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics� in August last year, which incorporated the advice of the Commission.
* A Thematic Household Survey on time use and factors hindering women�s participation in society is being carried out. Initial findings are expected to be available in March this year.
* A multi-faceted publicity and public education campaign will be launched in March this year to enhance public knowledge of the Commission�s work, address commonly held misconceptions about the roles, values and images of women and raise public awareness on women-related issues.
End/Tuesday, January 8, 2002