Beijing Women's Federation

The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) recently unveiled a plan for the development of women's federations during the 14^th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period. An official with the ACWF answered questions from China Women's News concerning the formulation and implementation of the plan. The following is the interview in question-and-answer format:

 

Q: Please introduce the background and significance of the plan.

 

A: In an important speech by General Secretary Xi Jinping at a ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1 expounded the Party's fundamental requirement to take history as a mirror and open up a brighter future on a new journey, and declared the Party's firm determination to march towards its second centenary goal.

 

The 14th Five-Year Plan period is not only the first five-year period in which China will start to fully build a modern socialist country and to march towards its second centenary goal, but also a time for women's federations to help foster a new development pattern and realize high-quality development based on new concepts and its political responsibilities.

 

The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 have three special sections, which detail decisions on promoting gender equality and women's all-round development, improving care and service for minors and strengthening the work of family respectively. The document provides important opportunities for women and children's development as well as the women's federations' work during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

 

The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core attaches great importance to women's development and women's federations' work. General Secretary Xi made a series of important proposals on women and women's work, reform of women's federations and families, family education and family tradition. His proposals are the fundamental principles of the development of women's cause in the new era. The CPC Central Committee gave specific requirements for planning of mass organizations, which embody their great attention to and earnest expectations of women's federations' work and reform, and set the course for women's federations to formulate a development plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

 

The plan is the first five-year plan for the development of women's federations at all levels as a system, which is an important measure of implementing Xi Jinping's important proposals, the CPC Central Committee's major decisions and the 14th Five-Year Plan. The plan will better guide women's federations at all levels to seize the opportunity and get off the ground based on the historic achievements of women's federations and women's cause. The women's federations should unite and lead Chinese women to strive to build a great cause, champion good social practices and pursue their dreams, and to contribute to national rejuvenation while embarking on the new journey of fully building a modern socialist country.

 

Q: Please briefly introduce the process of formulating the document. 

 

A: Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, in accordance with the vision of enhancing the Four Consciousnesses, reinforcing the Four-sphere Confidence and ensuring the Two Upholds, the ACWF has regarded the plan's formulation as a major political task. A leading group and work team for formulating the plan was established at the end of 2020. The members conducted in-depth research in Beijing and Tianjin as well as in Sichuan, Fujian and other provinces, and solicited opinions and suggestions from all the provincial and some of the sub-provincial women's federations via online meetings. They have also learned from related departments and asked for opinions of ACWF's part-time vice presidents and standing committee members and former members of the Leading Party Members' Group of the ACWF who now serve the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. A meeting was also held to listen to experts' opinions. By promoting expression and exchange of different ideas, in various ways, consensus has been built and the focuses and main tasks of future work have been clarified.

 

Q: What are the overall considerations for formulating the plan?

 

A: We adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the CPC and the second, third, fourth and fifth plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and thoroughly enforce Xi's proposals on mass organizations' work and reforms, women's development and families, family education and family tradition. We made overall plans and arrangements by highlighting a people-centered development philosophy with the principle of grounding work in the new stage of development, applying the new development philosophy, fostering a new development paradigm and promoting high-quality development. We also worked to plan on major issues related to the development and the overall reform of women's federations during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

 

In terms of the structure and contents, the plan upholds the concepts, strategies, goals, tasks and major measures proposed in the national 14th Five-Year Plan — especially the specific plans of promoting women's and children's development and strengthening family-related work.

 

Centering women's federations' fundamental functions — to lead women to listen to and follow the Party, serve the overall situation, promote family-related work, leverage women's unique role and represent and safeguard women's rights and interests, promote gender equality and women's all-round development, we made clear the direction of women's federations' development along with strategies and measures.

 

Based on women's federations' realities and development of key areas, the focus of efforts is put on the implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee's instructions and requirements to women's federations, the completion of the tasks related to women's federations in the 14th Five-Year Plan and the realization of the goals set in the national programs for women's and children's development (2021-2030).

 

Continued efforts should be made for a series of influential projects such as the "women's action in rural revitalization" and the "family happiness and well-being campaign" as well as newly-established ones such as the "women's action for entrepreneurship and innovation". Women's federations at all levels and their group members are expected to mobilize Chinese women, women-related social organizations and women volunteers to help boost the high-quality development of women's federations, while improving the work mechanism involving the Party committee's leadership, government support, trans-department cooperation and participation of social forces.

 

Q: What are the principles and main goals for the development of women's federations during the 14th Five-Year Plan period?

 

A: The plan summarizes the achievements of women's federations since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, analyzes the situation, tasks and requirements in the new stage of development, and clarifies six basic principles, namely, adhering to the Party's overall leadership, putting women first and upholding the new development philosophy, deepening reforms, sticking to systematic concepts and well-coordinated work.

 

The major targets for women's federations' development during 2021-2025 include: by grounding work in the new development stage, applying a new development philosophy, fostering a new development diagram and advancing high-quality development, for securing and improving people's livelihoods, to implement the strategic decisions and specific goals and tasks set in the 14th Five-Year Plan; to implement, based on women's federations' functions and advantages, the basic national policy of gender equality and the child-first principle for the all-round development of women, children and families; to promote the implementation of the strategies and measures set in the two national programs for women's and children's development (2021-2030) and achieving more than half of the programs' targets, so as to ensure women and children's rights and interests are better-protected and their lives are more colorful and happier.

 

Specifically, Chinese women should rally more closely around the Party; their role of "holding up half of the sky" should be leveraged; families, family education and family tradition should play a more important part in grassroots social governance; breakthroughs should be made in protecting the rights of and offering services to women and children; progress should be achieved with work of women in Taiwan and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and work of international exchanges; and women's federations should strengthen their political consciousness, become more advanced, and better represent the people.

 

Q: What are the priorities and characteristics of women's federations' work during the 14th Five-Year Plan period?

 

A: The plan puts forward 21 targets and 51 specific measures, highlighting the following six key points.

 

The first is to strengthen ideological and political guidance to rally women around the Party. We should persist in educating women with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. By using innovative methods, both offline and online, to guide women in ideology, values and through stories of role models, we would help women strengthen their belief in Marxism, socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the realization of national rejuvenation, and to unswervingly follow the Party's leadership.

 

The second is to leverage women's role of "holding up half of the sky" while leading them to contribute to high-quality economic and social development. Through the projects "women's action for entrepreneurship and innovation" and "women's action in rural revitalization," and the work on improving women's employment, carrying out the activity that encourages women to make achievements at their posts and promoting women's participation in social affairs and democratic management, women are mobilized to demonstrate their strengths and strive to build a great cause, champion good social practices and pursue their dreams.

 

The third is to further implement the Family Happiness and Well-Being Campaign to make the socialist core values take root in families. Guided by the socialist core values, we will deepen the development of civilized family, provide more support to family education, foster diversified family services, and strengthen related research to help create a new socialist family civilization that champions patriotism, love and pursues excellence, virtue and shared growth.

 

The fourth is to strengthen rights-protection services and make women and children feel satisfied, happy and secure. Efforts include improving mechanisms for promoting gender equality and women's all-round development, launching the rule-of-law publicity and rights-protection services, removing barriers for women's development in accordance with laws and regulations, and intensifying care services for women and children. In this way, major problems can be solved so that women and children can fully feel the warmth of the Party as well as the fairness and justice of society.

 

The fifth is to deepen the liaison with women from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and advance cooperation in the global women's cause. Efforts should be made to enhance the sense of national identity of women from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and to consolidate a women's patriotic united front. Furthermore, exchanges with women and women's organizations across the world would be enhanced and support would be given to prepare for the 2025 global leaders' meeting on gender equality and women's empowerment, for the purpose of contributing to the development of global women's cause during the building of a global community of shared future.

 

The sixth is to uphold the Party's overall leadership in women's federations, and make women's federations strengthen their political consciousness, become more advanced, and better represent the people. Led by the work of reinforcing the Party's political foundations, women's federations would strengthen Party building and establish a well-contacted women's work system and a strong organizational system, in order to provide a solid guarantee for the high-quality development of women's work in the new era.  

 

Q: How to implement the plan?

 

A: General Secretary Xi Jinping has said "It is often said that the worth of any plan lies in its implementation." The key is to carry out the plan step by step, with the following aspects to be the focus of efforts.

 

First, women's federations at all levels are required to, under the leadership of the Party committees and governments, closely follow national and regional development strategies and incorporate the key objectives and tasks set in the plan in regular work arrangements.

 

Second, women's federations at all levels should further raise their political awareness and establish a mechanism for each federation to fulfill its responsibility in finishing the tasks arranged in the plan.

 

The third is to evaluate the plan's implementation in due course and to strengthen supervision and inspection of its implementation by listening to the feedback from women, and to make improvements to ensure the completion of the objectives and tasks.