Official: China backs UN efforts to empower women and youths

A Chinese official has expressed support for the United Nations' (UN) efforts to empower women and youths.

"Against the turbulent international situation, it is necessary to further support the empowerment of women and youth, help them better respond to the changing world, and tap their wisdom and potential in furthering peace and development," Huang Xiaowei, minister and deputy head of the National Working Committee on Children and Women of the State Council, said at a recent UN Security Council debate titled "Promoting Conflict Prevention - Empowering All Actors Including Women and Youth."

Huang underscored that supporting the economic empowerment and capacity-building of women and youths, as well as ensuring their education and employment opportunities, will help lay a solid foundation for maintaining stability, promoting development, and achieving lasting peace.

Noting that China has always been a firm advocate for and an active practitioner of the empowerment and development of women and youths, Huang said China is committed to ensuring that women can share the benefits of economic and social development by adopting legislation, policies and measures.

"We have lifted more than 44 million Chinese rural women from absolute poverty. Currently, women account for over 40 percent of the Chinese workforce, about 45.8 percent of the tech workers and about one-third of operators of new business models such as digital trade, e-commerce, and live-streaming," she said.

Huang said China attaches great importance to the advancement of youths and has enacted and implemented national plans dedicated to their all-around growth, with more than 240 pro-youth policies regarding education and employment.

"Over 187 cities nationwide have taken the initiative to explore youth-geared urban development. More and more young people are becoming the leading force for scientific and technological innovation, rural revitalization and international cooperation," said the minister.

Huang is leading a Chinese delegation to the 68th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which will conclude on March 22 at the UN headquarters in New York.

(Cover: A researcher looks at the protein analysis results in the lab of Zhejiang University-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 7, 2024. /CFP)