Hong Kong should adopt measures that better meet the needs of women and family development in its first five-year plan and take pragmatic steps to create a fair and inclusive society, the country’s top official on women’s affairs has said.
State Councillor Shen Yiqin on Tuesday laid out three goals for Hong Kong in advancing women and family development, with the first focused on enhancing their welfare through the city’s five-year plan.
“I hope Hong Kong can grasp the new trends and new requirements under the 15th five-year period and better incorporate the needs of women and family development as it drafts its first five-year plan,” Shen said in her speech at the Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit.
Shen is president of the All-China Women’s Federation and head of the State Council’s National Working Committee on Children and Women.
“In areas of safeguarding the rights and interests of women, supporting their employment and [enhancing] caretaking services and family education … [the government should] introduce more pragmatic measures to better foster a fair, inclusive and family-friendly society,” she said.
She also urged Hong Kong women to better serve national development by supporting the “one country, two systems” governing principle, as well as the work of the chief executive and the government.
