SCIO briefing on white paper 'China's Achievements in Women's Well-Rounded Development in the New Era'

China Women's News:

I noticed that the white paper introduced women's equal participation in whole-process people's democracy. What unique role do women play in grassroots social governance? Thank you.

Huang Xiaowei:

That is a very good question. I would like to invite Ms. Feng, who is more familiar with the situation, to answer this question.

Feng Ling:

Thank you for your very good question. The nature of our work means that my colleagues and I often visit the grassroots level, and we have come into contact with many excellent female heads of village committees and neighborhood committees. They are leaders in local industrial development, rural civilization and the improvement of living environments. For example, there is a very young 28-year-old girl who was elected as a village committee head in Shilin town, Shancheng district of Hebi city in Henan province in 2021. In just five years, she has transformed an ordinary village into an internet-famous village. By painting vibrant murals across the village, she boosted rural tourism, and through live-streaming, she successfully promoted local agricultural products like millet and pumpkins. As a result, villagers' incomes have increased significantly. Local residents often say, "She might be young, but she's really amazing!"

In the 10 years from 2012 to 2022, female representation nationwide increased by 4 percentage points in village committees, and by 5.5 percentage points in neighborhood committees. It can be said that from revising and improving the laws and regulations such as the Organic Law of the Villagers Committees, the Organic Law of the Urban Residents Committees, and the election procedures for village committee members, to promoting the revision and improvement of village regulations and folk conventions, as well as a series of institutional arrangements from the national to the local level, women's equal participation in the most authentic, broadest and most effective democratic practices has been provided with a solid guarantee.

Ms. Huang just gave a detailed introduction of relevant aspects.

Women leverage their advantages of being "familiar with the local people, area and situations," and actively participate in grassroots governance as "jacks of all trades," playing an irreplaceable role. They are mediators who resolve neighborhood and family disputes; they are livelihood service providers active on the front lines — promoting policies, assisting the elderly and children, and improving the environment; they are civilization promoters, championing positive family values and wholesome local customs to inspire social change; they are participants in governance, working through women's councils to propose suggestions for community development and livelihood improvement. With female wisdom and power, they bring both warm and strong momentum to grassroots governance. Thank you.