2026 Hong Kong Summit Focuses on Women's Development and Family Strengthening Initiatives

2026-03-31 20:45 Last Updated At：21:03

2026 Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit held smoothly (with photos/video)

The 2026 Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit, jointly organised by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB), the Women's Commission and the Family Council, was held today (March 31). Marking the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, and building on the spirit of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women held in Beijing in October 2025, this Summit adopted the theme "Shaping Women's Strengths and Harnessing a Shared Future for Families", aiming to take women's development and family building to the next level. The Summit attracted more than 1 200 representatives from local and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area women's groups, the business sector and relevant service organisations to register and participate.

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2026 Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit held smoothly (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

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2026 Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit held smoothly (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

State Councilor, Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council and President of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), Ms Shen Yiqin, officiated at the Summit and delivered an opening address.

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, said in his remarks at the opening ceremony that the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women was successfully convened in Beijing last year, injecting new momentum into promoting global gender equality and the all-round development of women. President Xi Jinping put forward four proposals in the meeting - jointly foster an enabling environment for women's growth and development, jointly cultivate powerful momentum for the high-quality development of women's causes, jointly develop governance frameworks to protect women's rights and interests, and jointly write a new chapter in promoting global co-operation on women. These important proposals provide clear direction for the development of women's causes, inspiring broader consensus-building and taking more pragmatic actions to fully promote the all-round development of women.

Mr Lee said his policy rationale is to build Hong Kong into a caring and inclusive home, with the family at its core. Women's development and family building complement each other. The current-term Government has actively implemented various measures to lay a solid foundation in these two aspects. Looking ahead, the Government will continue to improve support policies for women in areas such as employment and entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, and physical and mental well-being to sustain an environment conducive to women's development. Concurrently, further efforts will be made to promote the importance of family, family education and family values, and to advocate Chinese traditional virtues, thus fostering a caring and inclusive community.

The Summit gathered leaders responsible for family and women's policies from the nation and Hong Kong, representatives of international organisations and prominent figures from related fields as speakers. They included the Secretary-General of the International Organization for Mediation, Professor Teresa Cheng; Head of Office (ad interim) of UN Women China, Mr Chuqiao Wang; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; and the Chairperson of the Women's Commission, Dr Eliza Chan. In their keynote speeches, they shared their experience and insights on women's development in the new era, the promotion of women's rights and interests, and family building.

Miss Mak said in her keynote speech, "This year's Summit adopted the theme 'Shaping Women's Strengths and Harnessing a Shared Future for Families,' encompassing society's collective responsibility and commitment, while echoing the core spirit of the Beijing Meeting. Through this Summit, we hope to carry forward the vision of the Beijing Meeting and implement the important proposals put forward by President Xi, so that women can see opportunities, receive support and participate in development, while families can be filled with warmth, harmony and love, and play an important role in social governance."

Miss Mak said that since taking office in 2022, the current-term Government has entrusted the HYAB with the important responsibility of promoting women's development. Under the leadership of the Chief Executive, the HYAB has implemented a number of measures to promote women's and family development, including continuously promoting awareness of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in the community, encouraging enterprises to adopt family-friendly measures, launching the Family and Women Portal, and supporting women of different backgrounds and ages to better equip themselves through the Women Empowerment Fund (the Fund) and the "She Inspires" Mentorship Programme (the Programme), thereby injecting stronger impetus into women's development in Hong Kong. The annual allocation for the Fund has been increased from $20 million to $30 million, while the quota for the second cohort of the Programme has also been increased to 120. The HYAB and the Family Council have also launched the five-year new Funding Scheme on the Promotion of Family Education to subsidise community family education projects to raise public awareness of the importance of family values. Last year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government launched the first Hong Kong Excellent Family Awards to promote family education and family virtues by sharing families' real-life stories.

Two thematic sessions were held at the Summit. The first session themed "Co-creating 'She Power' in the New Era" was chaired by the Deputy Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs (Home Affairs), Mr Paul Wong. The panelists, including Representative of the United Nations Population Fund to China, Ms Nadia Rasheed; Vice-Chairperson and the Secretary-General of China Women's Development Foundation, Ms Dong Kui; and the Chief Executive Officer of the MTR Corporation, Ms Jeny Yeung, shared their experiences and explored ways to foster an enabling environment for women's development, and empower them to seize the opportunities of the new era.

The other session with the theme "Uniting Our Families, Co-building a Harmonious Society" was co-chaired by the Chairperson of the Family Council, Ms Melissa Pang, and the emcee of the Summit, Ms Astrid Chan. Renowned artistes Mr and Mrs Moses Chan; Olympic diving champion and member of the World Aquatics Diving Technical Committee, Ms Guo Jingjing; and two recipients of the Hong Kong Excellent Family Awards, Lai Yan-hon's family and Lee Yuk-yee's family, shared their experiences in fulfilling family responsibilities and wisdom in managing their households. They also discussed how family cohesion provides steadfast support in times of adversity, and how this strength can spread warmth to the wider community and help build a harmonious society.

Exhibition booths were also set up at the venue to showcase the achievements of women's groups and family service organisations in promoting women's development and family education.

For details and highlights of the Summit, please visit the webpage of the Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit (www.familyandwomensummit.hk/hyab2026/home).

Hong Kong's Health Department Launches New Drug Registration Process for Faster Access to Innovative Treatments

"Primary evaluation" begins phased implementation and applications of new drugs for registration accepted under initial phase

The Department of Health (DH) today (March 31) began the phased implementation of "primary evaluation" for new drug registration. The initial phase covers applications for the registration of drug products containing locally registered chemical entities with extended applications (e.g. new indications, new strengths, new posology, new dosage forms, etc). Applications are accepted from today. The DH has sent letters to notify pharmaceutical associations and stakeholders (including holders and applicants of certificates of drug registration), and will organise online briefing seminars next month to explain the relevant details.

As mentioned in "The Chief Executive's 2025 Policy Address" that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government would establish the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation (CMPR) in 2026 and begin the phased implementation of the "primary evaluation" mechanism for new drug registration in the same year. The HKSAR Government aims to achieve full coverage of all pharmaceutical products by 2030, which will enable Hong Kong to independently assess and approve the safety and efficacy of new drugs based on clinical data, with a view to expediting the introduction of innovative medical products, thereby achieving the goal of making good drugs and medical devices available for use in Hong Kong for the benefit of patients.

To pave the way for "primary evaluation", the Government first implemented the "1+" drug approval mechanism on November 1, 2023, to facilitate the registration of new drugs in Hong Kong for treating life-threatening or severely debilitating diseases. The mechanism was extended on November 1 the following year to cover all new drugs, including all new chemical or biological entities, new indications, vaccines and advanced therapy products. New drugs that are supported by local clinical data and recognised by local experts can be applied for registration in Hong Kong if the applicant submits evidence of approval from the drug regulatory authority of one non-local reference place (instead of two in the past). Since the launch of the "1+" mechanism, 19 new drugs have been approved under this mechanism. Seven of them have been listed in the Hospital Authority Drug Formulary. This brings new treatment options for patients and attracts more drug research and development (R&D) as well as clinical trials to be conducted in Hong Kong.

"Primary evaluation" is a new and comprehensive regulatory process to approve applications for registration of new drugs which involves the independent assessment of primary data of all pre-clinical trials (i.e. animal testing), clinical studies, pharmacovigilance, manufacturing and quality control, etc in order to fully ensure their safety, efficacy and quality before and after the drugs are placed in the market (i.e. throughout the product life cycle). Registering new drugs under the "primary evaluation" mechanism facilitates immediate approval without relying and waiting for approval from non-local drug regulatory authorities, which further speeds up the introduction of new drugs and clinical applications. This will not only help speed up patients' access to breakthrough treatments but also boost medical R&D, testing and related industries in Hong Kong. The Office for Introducing Innovative Drugs and Medical Devices under the Hospital Authority will, after ascertaining the needs and benefits of innovative drug treatments for local patients, proactively liaise with manufacturers of innovative drugs and medical devices, and utilise the "1+" mechanism for registration to bring in innovative drugs and medical devices that are beneficial and cost-effective for patients.

For details of applications for the registration and the briefing seminars, please visit the DH's dedicated website.

2026 Hong Kong Summit Focuses on Women's Development and Family Strengthening Initiatives