Speech by SLW at launch ceremony of Gender Focal Point Network in Private Sector (English only)
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The Honourable CK Chow (Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), Mr Chow Chung-kong), Mrs Stella Lau (Chairperson of Women's Commission), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
My warmest welcome to all of you for joining the launch ceremony of the Gender Focal Point (GFP) network among listed companies tonight. Fortuitously, this ceremony takes on a special meaning as today marks the launch of the long-awaited Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect. Indeed, this GFP network equally serves the important role of a "super-connector" to boost communication among the listed companies, the Government and the Women's Commission. I am delighted to see many distinguished guests from different sectors of the business community. I am grateful to the Honourable CK Chow, Chairman of HKEX, for supporting the establishment of the GFP network. The fact that this launch ceremony takes place on the trading floor of HKEX symbolises an important milestone in promoting gender equality and advancing the well-being of women in this vibrant international financial and business hub.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government set up the Women's Commission (WoC) in 2001 as a high-level central mechanism to promote the rights and interests of women in Hong Kong. We are fully committed to working hand in hand with the Commission in promoting gender mainstreaming, which is GM in short. As you know, GM is a global strategy advocated by the United Nations for the promotion of women's advancement and gender equality. It makes women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all legislation, policies and programmes. Through such processes, GM seeks to ensure that women and men have equitable access to, and benefit from, society's resources and opportunities with the aim of achieving women's advancement and gender equality. Many countries have adopted GM in their policy-making processes.
I am most pleased to note that significant progress has been made in promoting GM in Hong Kong. As announced by the Chief Executive in his Policy Address last year, all government bureaux and departments are now required to apply GM in the formulation of major government policies, initiatives and programmes. Government officials are required to assess gender implications in the process of formulating important government decisions and measures. To experiment with a wider application of GM by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Labour and Welfare Bureau launched earlier this year a pilot scheme on the application of GM by NGOs when formulating their policies and programmes funded by the Social Welfare Department.
We believe that many women have the passion and expertise to contribute to public affairs. In 2015, on the advice of the WoC, we have progressively increased the benchmark for appointing women to government advisory and statutory bodies from 30 per cent to 35 per cent. Within the HKSAR Government, more than one-third of senior officers at directorate grade were women in 2015. No doubt women also do well academically. In higher education programmes funded by the University Grants Committee, female students in undergraduate courses (55 per cent) as well as taught postgraduate courses (61 per cent) have outnumbered their male counterparts (45 per cent in undergraduate and 39 per cent in taught postgraduate courses respectively) in the 2015/16 academic year.
To promote GM, it is important that we should set up bridgeheads and gender focal points (GFPs). A network of GFPs has been established in bureaux and departments since 2003. At present, there are 74 GFPs in the network and 61 of them are at directorate level. The GFPs serve as contact and resource persons within their respective bureaux and departments and they are tasked to help raise awareness and understanding of gender-related issues among colleagues.
The Government, working together with the WoC, has also been proactively promoting GFPs in the non-government sector. Since 2008, a GFP network has been set up in the District Councils to promote GM at district level. A separate GFP network is being set up among the NGOs in the welfare sector in 2016. Today, we are proud to launch another GFP network among listed companies. I note that over 150 listed companies have nominated their GFPs. I am pleased to know that the designation of a GFP by each of these participating listed companies could be included in the relevant company's Environmental, Social and Governance Report as part of the policies relating to equal opportunity, diversity and anti-discrimination. The disclosure of such policies is a "comply or explain" provision under Aspect B1 of the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide in the Listing Rules of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (Appendix 27 to the Main Board Listing Rules and Appendix 20 to the Growth Enterprise Market Listing Rules).
I sincerely thank all the participating listed companies in this new GFP network. Many of the GFPs are here today for the launch ceremony. I must thank you and your companies profusely. I am particularly grateful to the Honourable CK and his colleagues at HKEX for their generous support for this important initiative. I look forward to working with you all in extending the new GFP to more listed companies in future.
As Christmas is around the corner, I wish all of you a merry Christmas and prosperous 2017. Thank you.
Ends/Monday, December 5, 2016
Issued at HKT 18:48
Issued at HKT 18:48
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