Efforts in women's development hailed

The Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing in 1995, remains an unforgettable memory for Gertrude Mongella, who served as the conference's secretary-general.

Mongella praised China's efforts and achievements in advancing women's development over the past 30 years and said the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, which is being held from Monday to Tuesday in Beijing, will help promote all parties' efforts to fulfill their commitments to women's development and gender equality.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action — landmark global policy documents for gender equality and women's empowerment — were adopted at the 1995 conference.

The 80-year-old Tanzanian politician, who also served as the first president of the Pan-African Parliament, said the 1995 Beijing conference marked a turning point in the global movement for women's advancement and development.

"It's indeed a great pleasure for me to come back to Beijing and participate in the meeting on Monday, as it's a chance to evaluate the steps we've taken since 1995," she said. "Thirty years is a long time. … Though many years have passed, we still have the torch of Beijing burning."

"I hope that the meeting on Monday will be an opportunity for all of us to evaluate what we have achieved, what obstacles remain, what still needs to be done, and how we can move forward faster than before," she said. "It's also an important milestone for our implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action."

Recalling her visits to China since the 1980s, Mongella said she was pleased to see the country's tremendous changes over the past decades. "China is changing and women themselves are changing. Since women are now educated, they are able to take on many different jobs using modern technologies," she said.

She commended China for its strong economic development, which she said has laid a strong foundation for helping women lift themselves out of poverty, gain access to quality education and healthcare, and pursue opportunities in technology and digital industries.

Citing China's progress in achieving peace, development and education, and in other areas, Mongella said that it is important not only to applaud China's achievements but also to cooperate more closely with the country. She said she hopes such cooperation will go beyond governments to include people-to-people and particularly women-to-women exchanges.

"We want to see women doctors working together, women teachers collaborating, and women in agriculture sharing technologies, ideas and information," she said.

Mongella noted that although the results achieved since the 1995 conference took time and effort to materialize, the younger generation today is fortunate to be living in an era in which equality is increasingly prioritized.

At the same time, she said, it is crucial for young people to understand how technology, science and information are transforming their lives so that they can build a better future.