Following is a question by the Hon Judy Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, in the Legislative Council today (July 30):

Question:

     Since 2002, the Government has progressively implemented "gender mainstreaming" in its policy and programme areas, taking into account the perspectives and needs of both genders as one of the key considerations in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of legislation, policies and programmes. This ensures that both genders have equitable access to, and benefit from, society's resources and opportunities. However, there are views that a number of existing reference documents and publications relating to gender mainstreaming (e.g. the Gender Mainstreaming Guidebook and related leaflets, as well as the Gender Mainstreaming Checklist for Government staff) have not been updated for more than 10 years, and their contents may no longer keep pace with current developments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the details of the actual examples of gender mainstreaming implemented by various policy bureaux and government departments in the past three years;

(2) whether it knows the details of the future plans of the Women's Commission to promote gender mainstreaming in various trades and industries and among the public; and

(3) whether it has plans to update the reference documents and publications relating to gender mainstreaming; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The reply to the question raised by the Hon Judy Chan is as follows:

     Gender mainstreaming is a global strategy advocated by the United Nations for the promotion of women's advancement and gender equality. It aims to ensure that the needs and perspectives of women and men are considered when conducting day-to-day work and making policies, so as to ensure that women and men have equitable access to, and benefit from, society's resources and opportunities.

     The Government attaches great importance in promoting gender mainstreaming within the Government by establishing a gender-sensitive decision-making process and systematically integrating gender perspectives and needs into the policy formulation process to fully implement gender mainstreaming. To assist government staff to implement gender mainstreaming, the Women's Commission (WoC) developed a Gender Mainstreaming Checklist (the Checklist), which assisted government departments to adopt gender mainstreaming in a more systematic manner by answering a series of questions. Since April 1, 2015, all Government bureaux and departments shall refer to the Checklist and apply gender mainstreaming when formulating major government policies and initiatives. To date, the Government has reviewed over 1 800 policy papers, and relevant policies and initiatives have incorporated gender mainstreaming with reference to the Checklist prior to implementation, striving to ensure that the needs of women are taken into consideration. These initiatives are broad in scope, covering different policy areas and facility designs.

     The Government is also committed to enhancing public servants' understanding of gender-related issues and gender mainstreaming. To this end, the Government provides training for officers of different grades and ranks regularly. Since 2001, over 17 000 officers have received relevant training. The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) also developed related e-learning courses for government officers' reference.

     The Government and the WoC have also been working closely to promote the concept of gender mainstreaming to all sectors of society through various channels. The HYAB and the WoC organise the International Women's Day Reception every year to raise public awareness on various issues of common concern to women. The reception featured exhibition panels that introduced concepts including gender mainstreaming. Additionally, since September 2022, the WoC has been organising school talks for kindergarten and lower primary students to raise their gender awareness by introducing to students the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, promoting gender equality and challenging gender stereotype. Students are also taught on applying these concepts in daily lives. The WoC has organised 150 school talks so far.

     Furthermore, the HYAB and the WoC have officially launched the "She Inspires" Mentorship Programme, which matches local female university students who aspire to pursue a career in the professional or business sectors with women leader mentors, and provides relevant training and activities. We will also take this opportunity to include gender-related training to let more young people understand the concept of gender mainstreaming. The HYAB and the WoC will also make good use of different platforms, including the luncheon with women leaders and the Family and Women Development Summit, to further promote gender mainstreaming to all sectors of society.

     Gender mainstreaming is the United Nations' key strategy to promote women's interest and to achieve gender equality. The Government will review existing reference documents and tools related to gender mainstreaming from time to time and adjust their contents as necessary to ensure their applicability. We will also continue to publish articles or information related to gender mainstreaming and promote gender mainstreaming to the public through various channels, such as uploading articles related to gender mainstreaming to the one-stop family and women information portal launched in October 2024. The Government will continue to work hand in hand with the WoC to promote the well-being and interests of women through a three-pronged strategy, namely the provision of an enabling environment, empowerment of women through capacity building and public education.

Ends/Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Issued at HKT 14:45

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