UN takes action to empower Chinese women

Summary of story from UN News Centre, September 14, 2011

The United Nations today joined Chinese groups All-China Women’s Federation and Mary Kay, in launching a new small-business fund that seeks to further empower women in the world’s most populous country.

At the launch in Beijing, the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan said:

“All studies clearly suggest that one of the main accelerators to achieve all the Millennium Development Goals is investing in women and girls and through the political and economic empowering of women.”

Ms Grynspan pointed out that “invisibility and undervalue” of women’s roles and their contribution to society, as well as the blindness of many policies and decisions, have resulted in the persistence of inequality.

“That is why we are convinced that progress will be slow if we leave it to a natural evolution,” she said. “We need to help progress by coming together, [and to] educate and raise awareness of women’s needs and valuable contributions to society and to progress.”