| Merkel Calls for
Gender Equality as Global Women Summit Closes. [World] German Chancellor Angela Merkel
called for gender equality in a prerecorded speech to the close session of 2006 Global
Women Summit here on Monday, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. Merkel, whose
country will host the 2007 Global Women Summit, said in her speech that equality between
men and women was pivotal to achieve the main targets set in the United Nations'
Millennium Goals in 2000, namely: to keep peace, preserve human rights and achieve a
sustainable development. The first woman chancellor in German history stressed that
education was a key element to gender equality, echoing the World Bank that investing in
female education worldwide would profit sustainable development and fight against poverty.
Citing UN statistics, Merkel said that women account for two thirds of the world's working
hours but their share of the world's income was only 10 percent.
Egypt's First Lady Susan
Mubarak was granted the Global Women's Leadership Award in recognition of her work in
promoting women's education and economic self-sufficiency as well as her peace initiative.
This year's International Entrepreneur Award was shared by Artemis Toumazi, president of
the Women's Cooperative Bank of Cyprus,
and
Myrna Yao, chair of the Philippine National
Commission on the Role of Filipino Women. The three-day summit got together some 900
leading women in business, government and professions from 88 countries and regions. |
China Dedicated to
Raising Women's Economic Status: Official. [China] China is committed to raising
women's economic status, Vice-Chairwoman of China's National Working Committee on Children
and Women Hong Tianhui said here on Sunday. China has been dedicated to protection of
women's rights and raising their economic status by cooperation with enterprises, Hong
told Xinhua on the sidelines of the 2006 Global Women Summit, which was opened Saturday in
the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Hong attributed
China's significant achievements in this
field to its constant efforts to realize gender equality. China has done its
utmost to
ensure women's rights to job opportunities and fair sharing economic resources and social
progress since China hosted the fourth UN women's
conference in 1995 in Beijing, she said.
During a pre-summit ministerial roundtable meeting on Saturday, Hong told 43 other
participants that China has taken three measures to raise women's economic status,
including implementation of favorable policies to support women entrepreneurship,
providing financial and technological support for women who wanted to set up their own
business, and developing women's potential to get jobs. According to Hong, more and more
Chinese women have begun to set up their own enterprises and women entrepreneurs now
account for some 20 percent of total Chinese entrepreneurs. She said
that China would
continue to narrow the gap between men and women in possession of development resources
and income distribution as the world's most populous country was building a well-off
society. |
| Women
Leaders Insist on Action to Protect Mothers, Children. [World] Women leaders,
including Jordan's Queen Rania and former US
secretary of state Madeleine Albright,
pledged on Sunday to mobilize for their sisters and children across the world. "We
are no longer supplicants, hoping for a moment of the world's attention," Albright
told the inaugural session of a three-day conference to stem maternal and child mortality
and bolster education for girls. "We are here to serve notice that women and children
have been dying needlessly for too long, that every life matters, and that a global
network is coming together determined to defend children and save women's lives." The
conference aims to launch a "Global Women's Action Network for Children." The
network will be "a new international advocacy group led by prominent women from
around the world dedicated to identifying, funding and supporting programs to help women,
girls, and infants," organizers said. |
Vietnam joins
Global Women’s Summit. [Viet Nam] The Vietnamese delegation
attending the Global Summit
of Women in Cairo, Egypt, stressed women’s participation in global activities was a
measurement of female advancement. The annual summit, scheduled for June 10-12, gathers
many outstanding women, including state and government leaders, ministers and leaders of
major organizations and businesses in the world. The Vietnamese delegation, led by Vice
State President Truong My Hoa, includes leaders of some ministries and services and more
than 40 woman entrepreneurs. Addressing the opening session, Vice President Hoa, who is
also co-honorary president of the summit, said promoting and raising women's role in every
area are the matter of interest not only by women but also by the whole mankind. She
reiterated Vietnamese State's consistent policy and determination to implement gender
equality, increase women's role and carry out the National Strategy for Vietnamese Women's
Advancement through 2010 with a view to ensuring women's fundamental rights and upholding
their role in political, economic, cultural and social aspects. The Vietnamese delegation
also participated in an exhibition for women entrepreneurs to introduce their wares. |