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The following is issued on behalf of the Women's Commission:
The Women's Commission (WoC) hosted a cocktail reception today (March 8) to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) 2013 with women's groups and various stakeholders in the community. Four government bureaux and departments also received awards for their efforts in promoting gender mainstreaming.
Speaking at the reception, the Chairperson of the WoC, Mrs Stella Lau, said that the theme of the event, "Gender Mainstreaming", is a global strategy adopted by the United Nations for promoting gender equality.
Mrs Lau said, "Gender mainstreaming makes gender perspectives and needs one of the main considerations in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all legislation, public policies and programmes. It seeks to ensure that women and men have equitable access to, and benefit from, society's resources and opportunities."
In response to suggestions from the community, the WoC has adopted a simplified Chinese translation of "gender mainstreaming" after conducting relevant research and consulting the women's sector, relevant non-governmental organisations and gender academics. The move was supported by many different organisations, Mrs Lau explained.
The formal adoption of the simplified translation can, on the one hand, help the WoC connect with the international community and other regions, while on the other it facilitates the promotion of gender mainstreaming in Hong Kong, she noted.
Officiating at the reception, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, presented Gender Mainstreaming Awards to representatives of the Civil Service Bureau, Buildings Department, Correctional Services Department and Social Welfare Department to recognise their efforts in promoting gender mainstreaming and encourage them to keep up their good work.
A television Announcement in the Public Interest on gender mainstreaming was also launched at the reception to promote the concept to the public.
Also officiating at the reception were the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung; the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Miss Annie Tam; and the Deputy Director-General of the Coordination Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Ms Liao Xun.
Ends/Friday, March 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:31
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