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The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, said at the Legislative Council meeting today (April 28) that the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) had already issued internal guidelines to bureaux and departments that the gender benchmark target for participation in advisory and statutory bodies (ASBs) be raised from 25% to 30% with effect from June 2010.
According to information, as at March 31, 2010, among some 400 ASBs, 384 have government-appointed non-official members. Among them, 171 ASBs record a women's participation rate of more than 30% and women take up half of the seats in 51 ASBs out of these 171 ASBs. However, 213 ASBs have a women's participation rate of less than 30%.
Mr Tsang noted that there were reasons arising from the culture and practices of society that were formed over a long period of time to account for the relatively low women's participation rate. Through efforts in recent years, the women's participation rate in government-appointed positions in ASBs had gradually increased from 25.2% in December 2005 to 28.1% in March 2010.
Mr Tsang said that the HAB often reminded the appointing authorities of the importance of further enhancing women's participation in ASBs. The Government would continue to monitor the situation and make every effort to enhance women's participation in ASBs, he added.
Ends/Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:33
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