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Submission

Submission from Women's Commission for Chief Executive's 2007-08 Policy Address

The Women's Commission proposes for Chief Executive's consideration that the following paragraph for inclusion in his upcoming Policy Address to be delivered in October 2007 –

Gender Equality is the Cornerstone for Social Harmony

Gender equality is the cornerstone for social harmony and sustainable development. The Government is committed to promoting the formation of a gender-equal society and will continue to work closely with the Women's Commission in enabling all women and men in Hong Kong to enjoy equal rights and opportunities to realize their potentials and contribute to the society. The Government seeks to provide an enabling environment by ensuring that the needs and perspectives of both genders are taken into account when formulating legislations, policies and programmes. A key aspect of an enabling environment is a family friendly work culture which fosters work-life balance and family solidarity. The Government has now successfully completed the implementation of the "5-day work week" and will continue to work with different stakeholders to promote family-friendly employment policies and practices. On empowerment of women, the Government will promote capacity building and continuous development with a view to enhancing social and economic participation of both women and men. Through collaborating with different sectors and launching public education and publicity campaigns, we arouse gender awareness and seek to remove gender stereotyping, and mobilize community resources to foster a stronger support network and nurture a culture of mutual care and respect.

Submission from the Women's Commission for Chief Executive's 2007-08 Policy Address

  1. Women's safety
    • We welcome the Government's introduction of the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill and various enhancement measures in combating domestic violence. The Commission calls upon the Government to continue to accord priority to this effort.
    • We are encouraged that the Police Force, Social Welfare Department, Hospital Authority, Legal Aid Department, and Housing Department have positively responded to the recommendations in the Commission's report entitled "Women's Safety in Hong Kong: Eliminating Domestic Violence" released last year and made good progress in enhancing their case handling and preventive measures since then. The Commission will continue to provide advice and support to the Government in implementing the multi-disciplinary strategy in tackling domestic violence, and work with NGOs and community partners in strengthening the coordinated community intervention approach in combating domestic violence.
    • To create a safer environment for women, the Commission urges the Government to expedite its consideration on the legislation for protecting privacy and against stalking.
  2. Gender Mainstreaming
    • We welcome the Government's commitment to progressively introduce the use of the Gender Mainstreaming Checklist in various policy areas. We urge the Government to keep up the momentum and to apply the checklist to more policy and programme areas. The Commission will continue to work closely with the Government in this regard, with the ultimate goal of institutionalizing the checklist in the policy decisionmaking process in the Government and promoting its application outside the Government in order to mainstream gender equality in the society.
    • We have made good progress in implementing gender mainstreaming in the Government's policy decision-making process and plan to share our experience with the UN Commission on the Status of Women at a future meeting in UN.
  3. Women Participation in Advisory and Statutory Boards and Communitylevel Participation
    • We are encouraged to note that the initial working target of a 25% gender benchmark for appointment of women to Advisory and Statutory Boards (ASBs) set by the Government upon the advice of the Women's Commission was achieved in December 2005 and the ratio of women's appointment to ASBs has been well sustained since then.
    • We urge the Government to take pro-active steps to pursue a higher benchmark at 30%, a minimum standard widely recognized at the international level, and appoint more female members to ASBs which have yet to achieve the 25% benchmark.
    • We also urge the Government to continue to make efforts to reach out, identify and cultivate potential female candidates, and to take measures to encourage and build up the capacity of more females to participate in public affairs at the community level.
  4. Empowerment of women
    • We are glad that the Government has acknowledged the effectiveness of the Capacity Building Mileage Programme (CBMP) in empowering women, and allocated about 10 million in the last Budget to expand and sustain the operation of CBMP for another three years.
    • Initiated by the Commission, the CBMP has successfully encouraged women of different strata to pursue continuous learning and personal development. Since its launch in 2004, the CBMP has become very popular and overall enrolment exceeded 16,000 as at March 2007. It has been proven to be cost-effective and capable of penetrating into different strata of the target participants, particularly women most in need including those on CSSA, living in poverty and newly arrived, and helping them to integrate into the society.
    • Using CBMP as a platform, the Commission will continue to engage the many participating women's groups as community partners to reach out to more women and to empower them and their families in coping with life challenges.
    • Apart from CBMP, the Commission will work with the Government on other effective ways to further empower the less privileged women, such as unpaid home-makers and women of low-income or with disabilities, so that they can develop their capability and participate in the society.
  5. Building harmonious community
    • Building a caring and harmonious community is an undertaking of the whole community and requires the concerted efforts of all. The many women organisations in Hong Kong have made notable contribution in community building by providing support networks to individuals and families in need.
    • Gender equality is the cornerstone for social harmony. To achieve a gender-equal society, it is important that all sectors of the community can work in partnership to remove gender stereotyping and arouse gender awareness, as well as to mobilize community resources to foster a stronger support network and nurture a culture of mutual care and respect. The efforts and contributions made by local women's groups in this regard have been tremendous and should be further encouraged.
    • We also encourage the Government to make Hong Kong a multicultural society where people from different ethnic and cultural background can live harmoniously.
  6. Building harmonious families
    • The Commission will continue to work closely with the Government to complement its commitment to promoting family and social harmony, and support the Government's efforts in strengthening families and rebuilding family values and resilience. We aim to achieve a genderequal society in which women and men respect each other's rights and share responsibilities equitably.
    • We also call on the Government to continue its effort in cultivating a family friendly environment to foster work-family balance and family solidarity. We hope that all businesses in Hong Kong will operate in a way which is family friendly, demonstrating some flexibility to accommodate family needs while retaining efficiency and effectiveness. The Commission encourages the wider adoption of family-friendly employment policies and practices (FEPP) in Hong Kong and has worked in partnership with the Labour Department and other stakeholders to promote FEPP. A promotional leaflet on FEPP has been produced for distribution to all sectors and we have co-organised a seminar on FEPP with the Labour Department and other stakeholders in June 2007. The Commission will continue to work with the Government and all sectors in this regard.
    • The Chief Executive recognised the importance of quality parenting in the last Policy Address. The Commission has dedicated a lot of efforts in the promotion of nurturing caring families over the past few years, with an emphasis on quality parenting. We are taking forward a pilot project in Kwun Tong and North District to promote quality parenting education and core life values for instilling in the younger generation. The response has been encouraging. We will continue our efforts on this front, and appeal for the support of all Government departments to spearhead the above initiatives in other districts.
  7. Showcasing women's development and contribution
    • The Commission organised a series of activities this year to give recognition to the contribution of all sectors, in particular women's groups, in empowering women. This series of activities was also dedicated for the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR. Among these initiatives was a special TV series entitled "Colorful Lives of Women" that highlight the achievements and contributions of local women's groups and NGOs in helping women to explore and develop their inner strength and confidence to live a colourful life.
    • To showcase and recognise the development of women and their contribution to the Hong Kong society, the Commission is collecting exhibition materials on the "Development and Contribution of Hong Kong Women" for contribution to the China Women and Children's Museum, which is scheduled to be opened in Beijing before the 2008 Olympics. It is the first national museum dedicated to women and children in China. We will also organise a local exhibition on the exhibition materials collected from 30 November to 3 December 2007 as one of the key public education and empowerment initiatives of the Commission.
    • The Commission will also contribute a Hong Kong Chapter on women's development in the 20th century for a publication of the All- China Women's Federation issued in 2008.

Women's Commission
August 2007