The First Graduation Ceremony of the Capacity Building Mileage Programme was held on May 12 2005 at Hong Kong Baptist University Academy Hall. Certificates were awarded to a total of 127 graduates. Among the 127 graduates, 107 graduates who have accumulated 25 mileage points were awarded Level 1 Certificate, 16 (with 50 mileage points) awarded Level 2 Certificate, and 4 students (with 75 mileage points) awarded Level 3 Certificate.

At the ceremony, certificates were also presented to learners and collaborating community organizations with outstanding performance. Opportunity was also taken to present souvenirs to representative of the Lotteries Fund Advisory Committee as a token of gratitude for Lotteries Fund's funding support of the Programme, and to the bursary donors/their representatives.

Officiating at the ceremony were the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow; Women's Commission Chairperson, Mrs. Sophie Leung; President of The Open University of Hong Kong, Mr. John Leong; General Manager of Commercial Radio, Ms. Rita Chan; Deputy Secretary of Education and Manpower Bureau, Mr. Edward Yau; Director, LiPACE, The Open University of Hong Kong, Professor Lui Yu-hon; and Ms. Sophia Kao, convenor of the Capacity Building Mileage Programme Steering Committee.

Over 200 family members and friends of the graduates, as well as guests from various sectors of the community also attended the ceremony to share the joy of the graduates.

	2005 Graduation Ceremony
2005 Graduation Ceremony		2005 Graduation Ceremony
		2005 Graduation Ceremony

With an aim to promote gender awareness among local tertiary students, the Women's Commission (WoC) has jointly organised an Orientation Game Design Contest (the Contest) with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in July 2005. The Contest was supported by the student affairs offices of the local tertiary institutes.

Response from students was enthusiastic. Five teams were chosen as the finalists and invited to demonstrate their games at the Gymnasium of the Lady Trench Training Centre, Wanchai on 21 July 2005 (Thursday).

Mrs. Sophie Leung, the Chairperson of Women's Commission (WoC) officiated the event, while an adjudicating panel was formed by Ms. Ophelia Cheung and Mrs. Peggy Lam, members of the WoC; Mr. Raymond Tang, Chairperson of the EOC; and Dr. Lo Wing-lok, member of the EOC and Mr. Zac Koo, a young radio show host and TV actor.

The Champion finally went to the group formed by students from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, while the first runner-up and the second runner-up went to the Department of Chinese of the Lingnan University and the group formed by students from Hong Kong Baptist University and City University of Hong Kong respectively.

In September 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women of the United Nations was held in Beijing, during which the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action were adopted. The Beijing Platform for Action, which sets out the strategic objectives under twelve critical areas of concern, aims to empower women to participate in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making. The Conference had contributed significantly to the advancement of the status of women worldwide.

This year marks the 10 th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. To commemorate this special occasion, the Women's Commission, the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau of the HKSAR Government and the All-China Women's Federation had co-organized a two-and-a-half-day commemorative activities and seminar in Beijing from 25 to 27 April 2005. The programmes included a conference, visits to women-related projects and a local tour. Over 200 women from different sectors in the Mainland and Hong Kong had participated in the events. which was conducive to the closer exchange and liaison between the two places in women issues.

At the conference, Mainland and Hong Kong participants exchanged views and experiences in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. There was a plenary session on the Overview of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action at the International Level. Participants also had vivid exchanges on “Women and the Economy and Sustainable Development”, “Women in Power and Decision-Making”, “Women and Capacity Building”, Protection of Well-being and Interests of Women”, “ Women and Health” and “ Gender Awareness and Public Education” at the breakout sessions.

In addition, the Hong Kong participants also visited two women-related projects in Beijing, including women enterprises and community services for women.

Speeches of officiating guests and powerpoint presentations of speakers (in Chinese Only)

	Beijing + 10
Beijing + 10
	Beijing + 10
Beijing + 10
	Beijing + 10

The Women's Commission held a reception to celebrate the International Women's Day on 8 March 2005 at the Government House Ballroom. On the same occasion, prizes were presented to winners of the "Women in Hong Kong: Harmony and Balance" Creative Competition. The competition, targeted at primary and secondary school students, was held in December 2004 to encourage and stimulate the younger generation to think more about women-related issues and express ideas on how they see the roles, challenges and barriers of women nowadays.

Officiating at the reception and ceremony were Professor Fanny Cheung, who delivered a welcoming speech on behalf of the WoC Chairperson; Dr York Chow, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food; Mrs Carrie YAU, Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food; Mr. Andy Ho, Convenor of the Working Group on International Women's Day 2005; Ms. Jacqueline Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Education City; Mr. Chan Yiu wah, Head of Radio 2, Radio Television Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Education City and Radio 2, Radio Television Hong Kong were co-organisers of the "Women in Hong Kong: Harmony and Balance" Creative Competition.

Ms Elsie LEUNG, Secretary for Justice; Ms GUO Li, Deputy Director (Vice-Minister) of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR; Secretary Zhang Shi-ping from All-China Women's Federation; Mr. Frederick Ma, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury; and Mr. Paul Tang, Director of Social Welfare also attended the celebration.

The Commission also took the opportunity to distribute International Women's Day supplements placed with four Chinese newspapers and publicity leaflets showing various women-related activities organised by various organisations and community groups around March 2005. This year, the Commission has aimed to promote celebration of the International Women's Day and expand the public's attention to women-related issues by encouraging individuals, groups and organisations in the community to organize activities, preferably with a theme on "harmony and balance for women". The information collected was compiled into the leaflet.

The Women's Commission has begun an IWD-related effort this year to promote and expand the public's attention to women-related issues by celebrating women here with a wide variety of activities in Hong Kong. To do this, the Commission has encouraged individuals, groups and organisations in the community to undertake some sort of recognition/ celebration of women and issues, preferably with a theme this year of 'harmony and balance for women'. Some organisations are planning and organising something of this nature around the time of IWD.

List of Activities (269KB, PDF, 16-02-2005)

The Women's Commission has held a reception annually to celebrate the International Women's Day (IWD) in the past four years since its establishment in January 2001. To mark the upcoming IWD in 2005, the Commission is planning, among other activities, a major event to involve the younger generations - a competition targeted at primary and secondary school students, including students of international schools in Hong Kong. As the Commission sees the benefits of facilitating and encouraging students to interact and collaborate with as many interested parties as possible in the process, interested parties have been invited to give support and involvement which will certainly add great value and success to the competition.

	Appeal to Interested Parties to act as Resource Persons (71KB, PDF, 11-10-2004)
	Response Form (32KB, DOC, 11-10-2004)