The Women's Commission organised a conference entitled "Beyond Limits - Women in the 21st Century" on 26 August 2009. This was the third large-scale conference organised by the Commission since its establishment in 2001. The objectives of this Conference were to review Hong Kong's implementation of the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and to provide a platform for participants to discuss issues related to the development and well-being of women as well as exchange views on the future direction and strategies to further promote gender equality and the status of women in Hong Kong.

The Conference was divided into two parts:

(1) Pre-Conference Activity

The Pre-Conference Activity was held on 25 August 2009 at Theatre 1, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. A number of women's groups, NGOs and social services agencies, etc. took part in it, with an aim to showcase the different aspects of Hong Kong women in the 21st century. The list of participating organisations and their presentations is as follows:

There were 3 prizes voted by members of the audience on that day. The list of prizes, names of winning presentation and names of organisations is as follows:

Download the Pre-Conference Activity Rundown

(2) The Conference

The Conference was held on 26 August 2009 at L2, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Officiating at the opening ceremony of the Conference were the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Mr Donald Tsang; the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Mr Peng Qinghua; the Vice-president of the All-China Women's Federation, Ms Chen Xiurong; the Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Ms Guo Li; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung; the Chairperson of the WoC, Ms Sophia Kao Ching-chi; and the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Paul Tang Kwok-wai.

There were two plenary sessions at the conference. In the first session, Ms Chen Xiurong and Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung introduced the Mainland and local experience in promoting gender mainstreaming and women's participation in decision-making. In the second session, the former Chairperson of the Bureau of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Mr Olivier Belle, and Ms Sophia Kao Ching-chi shared respectively the United Nations' and Hong Kong's experience about mechanisms in promoting the development of women.

Participants took active part in the breakout sessions discussing various topics including women's participation in decision-making, economic participation, protection of women's rights, women's safety, nurturing caring family, education and empowerment, women and health and women in culture, arts and media. Also, a lunch-time talk with the theme "Men's Role in Promotion of Gender Equality" was organised. Guest speakers at the lunch-time talk included Mr Bernard Chan, Mr Ronnie Chan and Mr Anthony Wu.

Download the Conference Rundown

A mini-exhibition was also set up alongside the conference to showcase the achievements and outstanding projects related to empowerment of women by social service agencies and women's groups. The list of participating organisations and their programmes/activities is as follows:

The Women's Commission held a luncheon talk to celebrate the International Women's Day on 8 March 2009 at The Mira Hong Kong. The Commission adopted "Women and Men: An Equal Partnership?" as the theme of the reception and luncheon talk. Ms Teresa Au, Hon Audrey Eu, Mr Frederick Ma and Mr Shih Wing-ching shared with participants their experiences in establishing equal partnership between women and men both at home and in the workplace.

Officiating at the event were Ms Sophia Kao, Chairperson of the Women's Commission; Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Secretary for Labour and Welfare; Ms Sun A-qing, Deputy Director General of Cooperation Department, Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and Mr Paul Tang Kwok-wai, Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare.

Publicity leaflets showing various women-related activities organised by various organisations and community groups around March 2009 were distributed at the reception. International Women's Day supplements placed with three Chinese, one District and one English newspapers were published on 6 March 2009.

The Women's Commission, since its establishment in January 2001, has celebrated International Women's Day (IWD) with official receptions for members of women's groups and various communities in Hong Kong. Opportunity has also been taken on each occasion to involve as many interested parties as possible in the event and related activities with a view to sustaining and expanding the public attention on the well-being and interests of women.

As in previous years, the Women's Commission has compiled an information leaflet on NGO activities to celebrate IWD. The leaflet aims to collect and collate information on activities to be held around the time of IWD (in the month of March 2009 or afterwards) for the community at large or for women.

Please click here to download the leaflet