Moez Doraid, UN Women's regional director for the Arab States, praised Chinese President Xi Jinping's leadership and his proposals to foster an enabling environment for women's development, describing the keynote address as "impressive" and closely aligned with global efforts to advance gender equality.
President Xi introduced four proposals aimed at accelerating women's all-round development at the opening ceremony of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women on Monday in Beijing. He emphasized the need to build broader consensus, open up new pathways, and take practical actions to address persistent challenges facing women worldwide.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Doraid said Xi's emphasis on peace and security as foundational to women's empowerment resonated deeply, especially in conflict-affected regions.
"I think President Xi's speech was impressive in many ways, and for us, from UN women, we heard a clear commitment and support for realizing women's rights and women's empowerment around the world. His excellency mentioned the importance of an enabling environment to advance women's rights and in mentioning that, he started with the reference to peace and security as a cardinal foundations for an enabling environment," he said.
Women and girls remain among the most vulnerable in times of conflict and displacement, Doraid noted.
"And indeed, it's because, like you said, women and girls are disproportionately affected and harmed by conflict. I'm the UN Women Regional Director for Arab States. And over the past two years, we have been painfully seeing and witnessing how women in Gaza have suffered because of the war that has been happening there. And today, we have every hope that it will end soon," he said.
UN official hails Xi's leadership vision in women's advancement
