Beijing Women's Federation

The Beijing Women's Federation holds a meeting to promote beautiful courtyards and garbage sorting on September 15 in Fangshan District of Beijing.

Attendees visit beautiful courtyards and garbage sorting projects in Wangjiamo and Xinzhuang villages in Daishiwo Town, Fangshan District.

Zhang Yajun, President of the Beijing Women's Federation, makes a speech at the meeting on September 15 in Fangshan District, Beijing.

The Beijing Women's Federation (BWF) held a meeting in Fangshan District, Beijing, on September 15 to share Fangshan Women's Federation's practical experience of building beautiful courtyards and implementing garbage sorting, through on-site learning and exchange of ideas.

Leaders of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau (Capital Greening Office) and other relevant departments, as well as women's federations of 13 districts with jurisdiction over rural areas, attended the meeting.

The government of Fangshan District has attached great importance to the building beautiful courtyards initiative, which intends to improve the living environment in rural areas. Centering on the instructions of the district committee and government, Fangshan Women's Federation exploits the potential of family units, and takes beautiful courtyard promotion as a breakthrough in the mutual promotion of Party building and women's federations' development.

With a standard of "clean, tidy, environment-friendly and civilized" courtyards, the Fangshan Women's Federation has put the focus on improving moral traits of family members, shaping good family traditions, improving taste, enhancing the living environment and forming a long-term mechanism for improvement. The federation has led families to improve sanitation in their houses and encourage family members to form good living habits and civilized lifestyle, creating a harmonious family atmosphere with a better living environment.

Wangjiamo, which was once a low-income village, began to promote the building of beautiful courtyards in 2018. Fifteen executive committee members of the district women's federation have played leading role in the work by acting as inspectors, supervisors, tutors, information collectors and judges. Training and contests have been held and some mechanisms have been established to promote the work.

There are 170 households with courtyards in the village, 150 of which participated in the beautiful courtyard initiative, accounting for 88 percent of the residents. Since the campaign, local women's enthusiasm for improving their lives has been greatly aroused.

Xinzhuang, a pilot village for social etiquette and civility across the district, conducted an in-depth study of Wangjiamo's practices and integrated family tradition and garbage sorting into the beautiful courtyard initiative. The village has promoted civilized families through a credits exchange system and formulated concrete management measures and a sophisticated evaluation system to promote good family traditions which would help improve etiquette and civility. Executive committee members of the village women's federation and women volunteers have played their part in strengthening the appraisal of family traditions.

At the meeting, representatives of women's federations and relevant departments at all levels shared their experiences of how to play their role and organize women to play a unique role in family and to participate in building beautiful courtyards. The representatives include Wang Hongying, president of Fangshan Women's Federation, Zhao Yan, director of the organization department of the government of Dashiwo Town and president of the town's women's federation, Yao Yuanwei, president of Xiangfumazhuang Women's Federation of Shilou Town, and Gu Jiancheng, director of the Party branch of Dongfen Village in Chengguan Sub-district.

BWF President Zhang Yajun made an important speech to conclude the meeting. She spoke highly of the achievements of Fangshan Women's Federation in promoting beautiful courtyards and garbage sorting, and urged women's federations at all levels to raise awareness of the importance of creating beautiful courtyards. The federations should fulfill their functions, make the beautiful courtyard initiative become a major way of helping rural women take part in social governance based on collaboration, participation, and common interests and give full play to the important role of family-related work in grassroots governance.

Zhang made requirements from two aspects.

First, she said that women's federations at all levels should give full play to the unique role of women in family and mobilize rural women to take an active part in building beautiful courtyards. It is necessary to guide women to help them combine courtyard landscaping with village planning, improving the neighborhood environment and cultural inheritance according to local conditions, and making efforts to highlight the features of the village and courtyard.

Noting the importance of setting good examples, Zhang urged women's federations at all levels to study Fangshan's experience, in a bid to create demonstration courtyards that can be followed by other families. She also indicated that women's federations should guide women to make each family member aware of the importance of building beautiful courtyards and to take measures to stoke people's interest.

Second, Zhang said that women's federations at all levels should follow the principle that Party building guides grassroots social governance and inspire women and families to take an active part in garbage sorting.

Women's federations at all levels should implement BWF's work program about women's federations' role in social governance, further define their functions in the grassroots governance system and bring the role of family and women into full play in precise social governance based on collaboration and laws in Beijing.

Under the unified control of the municipal headquarters for solid waste sorting, they should take the initiative to undertake the tasks, especially at community level, and distribute work according to the family-based garbage sorting action initiated by BWF. They are supposed to focus on publicity, guidance, incentive measures and setting up models on the basis of family, as part of efforts to step up citywide garbage sorting.

Women's federations are required to lead a trend of garbage sorting, and give full play to the exemplary role of the "most beautiful families". They should take the lead in shouldering the responsibility of garbage sorting, publicizing the importance of garbage sorting, participating in community affairs, and contributing to a good social effect, with all families getting involved. The proportion of model families for garbage sorting should be increased to inject positive energy into the garbage sorting campaign.

Zhang hoped women's federations at all levels will make good use of their political, organizational and working advantages. They should highlight the ideological and moral connotations of the activity of creating beautiful courtyards, stimulate the strength of women, and use their advantages of serving community-based governance and getting close to women.

With a view to providing more powerful guidance, more targeted services and more extensive connections, women's federations should organize women to carry forward core socialist values and the traditional virtues, cultivate fine lifestyles in rural areas, and build a civilized countryside by promoting family tradition and boosting women's contributions to rural revitalization.