Activity No.49: First High-level Women Forum held in China to mark the 70th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations

First High-level Pakistan China Women Forum was held in Kunming City of the Yunnan Province to mark the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China on 25 May 2021. The Embassy of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Beijing, in collaboration with All China Women Fedration (ACWF), All Pakistan Women Association (APWA) and Yunnan Provincial Women’s Federation co-organized the event. The theme of the forum was acknowledging women of Pakistan and China, particularly their role in poverty alleviation, post-Covid recovery and evidence-based intervention for socio-economic uplift of vulnerable populations.

The event was attended by Ministers, Presidents of the two women associations, senior officials, female entrepreneurs and students from both countries. The Vice Governor of the Yunnan province also attended the forum as a Special Guest.

In her keynote video message, Dr Shireen Mazari, Minister for Human Rights, highlighted the government’s policies and her personal involvement in upholding the rights and dignity of women in Pakistan. She emphasized that women in Pakistan were getting increasing opportunities under CPEC and underscored the need for increased technical and vocational training for women. She also highlighted government’s response to ease the social impact of pandemic, particularly on women and children. She invited Chinese women organizations to coordinate with their Pakistani counterparts to enhance experience sharing.

Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety in her video message congratulated the two countries on the 70th anniversary and appreciated holding of the forum to positively influence engagement between the women of the two countries. She shared the socio-economic outcomes of implementation of Ehssas program that has immensely benefitted the underprivileged women.

In her remarks, Ambassador Naghmana Hashmi shared her views and highly appreciated marking 70th anniversary with holding of a women forum which immensely contributed to the strengthening of bilateral ties. She proposed establishing a Pakistan-China Women Corridor under CPEC to achieve the gender empowerment aims of the two governments. Ms. Charmaine Hidayatullah, President, All Pakistan Women Association addressed the need and significance of forging deeper cooperation between the women organizations of the two countries.

From Chinese side, Ms. Xia Jie, Vice President of ACWF said that under the guidance of leadership of two countries, women of Pakistan and China were even closer than ever before. She saluted the frontline workers, particularly female health respondents during Covid-19. Mr. Gao Feng, Vice-Chaiman of Yunnan Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference hoped that by holding the forum in Kunming, the women of Pakistan would develop linkages with women organizations of Yunnan province. Dr. Zhao Beige, Chairperson of R&D think tank stated that women’s development contributes to the social, economic and ecological development of the entire nation. She suggested enhancing women participation in every sector to achieve SDGs. 

Other prominent women of Pakistan and China welcomed holding of the high-level forum as a momentous occasion that immensely increased the mutual understanding and advanced people-to-people contacts. Female entrepreneurs and students of the two countries also shared their experiences.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Moin ul Haque commended the leadership role of women organizations of the two countries. He thanked China and ACWF for their generous donation to help Pakistan during the pandemic. He valued their devotion in promoting the rights and interests of women. He also called upon the two organizations to create a permanent mechanism that would serve as the bilateral experience and expertise sharing platform for young professionals and women entrepreneurs.

As a major outcome of the forum, the panelists agreed to establish institutional mechanisms by signing MoUs that would create substantial impact on women’s participation in socio-economic post-Covid recovery and essentially shape the international narrative on women’s role in both countries. Such mechanisms would also provide a basis for practical cooperation between the women of Pakistan and China in future.

2021-05-26