China's active promotion of women's empowerment and gender equality in international cooperation is setting an example for other nations, according to Christine Arab, regional director of UN Women Asia and the Pacific.
Arab made the remarks in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Beijing ahead of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, which took place in the Chinese capital from October 13 to 14.
By sharing its experience in women's empowerment, China has leveraged its position as a leading global partner in international cooperation to promote gender equality, she said.
"Increasingly in the last decade, we have seen an increase in the investment in South-South by China around knowledge and innovation, grassroots support to fold in focus on gender equality and women's empowerment. The government of China's emphasis on South-South has been extremely strategic. I think that China's emphasis on South-South partnership, its emphasis on sharing what has worked and talking about what isn't working, is important because of the fact that it is one of the leading global partners for most countries," said the director.
The international community still needs to attach greater importance to addressing women's issues, and China is one of the few countries setting an example for the world, she noted.
"Bringing women's issues and gender equality to the table over the last decade, it's been a very important and much-needed gap. We have a number of development partners worldwide. A small number of them make sure that gender equality is central to their investments in their development relationship, with governments, with the UN, with international organizations as a whole, with grassroots organizations. And China is part of that group, and we like to see that grow and enhance because of the network of partners that China has worldwide. There are a lot of lessons to be learned," Arab said.
China sets example in advancing women’s empowerment in international cooperation: UN official
China sets example in advancing women’s empowerment in international cooperation: UN official
China sets example in advancing women’s empowerment in international cooperation: UN official
