Conference on Beyond Limits – Women in the 21st Century

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:

Prize	Name of Presentation	Name of Organisation
Best Team Spirit	Girl Guide Dance Performance: Join In, Reach Out, Change Life	The Hong Kong Girl Guides Association
Most Creative Presentation Format	Drama: Good Sisters	Kowloon Women's Organisations Federation
Most Appreciated by the Audiences	A New World of Dance	Hong Kong Tin Shui Wai Women Association

 

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