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The Women's Commission was set up on January 15, 2001 as a central mechanism
to promote the well-being and interests of women in Hong Kong. It is tasked
to identify al1 women's needs and address matters of concern to women
in a holistic and systematic manner. It has developed a long-term vision
and strategy for the development and advancement of women in Hong Kong.
The Women's Commission takes a strategic overview of women's issues, advises
the Government on policies and initiatives that are of concern to women
and seeks to ensure that women's perspectives are factored in (or mainstreamed)
during policy formulation.
Chaired by a non-official member of the Legislative
Council, and comprising another 21 members, the commission's mission is
'To enable women in Hong Kong to fully realise their due status, rights
and opportunities in all aspects of life.' The commission performs three
strategic functions in championing women's causes; inspiring and catalysing
changes; and mobilising community resources. It has identified three priority
areas of action: gender mainstreaming, empowerment of women and public
education. Special task forces have been set up to take forward work in
these areas. During the year, the commission continued to focus efforts
on an overarching theme of capacity building.
In respect of gender mainstreaming, the aim is to
integrate women's needs and perspectives in formulation and implementation
of public policies, programmes and legislation. The commission has secured
the Administration's agreement to introduce gender mainstreaming in different
policy areas incrementally. It has developed a checklist as an analytical
tool to facilitate gender sensitive analysis. Most government bureaux
and departments have already designated a directorate officer as the 'Gender
Focal Point' within their establishments to promote gender awareness.
To facilitate the taking into account of women's perspectives in the policy-making
process, training is provided for civil servants to enhance their sensitivity
towards gender issues and women's concerns. Workshops have been organised
for staff of the Social Welfare Department, Education Department and the
Police Force, as well as for newly recruited Administrative Officers.
About 100 civil servants attended such training in 2003.
In the empowerment of women, the Women's Commission
aims to better equip women for life's challenges and to create a more
enabling environment for women to develop themselves. The commission has
reviewed and suggested improvements to a number of services for women
to ensure their appropriateness, adequacy and quality. It promotes development
of new service models (such as setting up a mutual child care service
using a membership model and organising women cooperatives) and good empowerment
practices. The commission has published a booklet to publicise and promote
good practices and organised a session for beneficiaries to share their
experience with other women. To enhance women's participation in advisory
and statutory bodies, the commission has obtained the Administration's
agreement to take gender composition into account in making appointments
to these bodies. Government bureaux and departments are urged to reach
out, identify and cultivate women candidates for appointment. A major
effort in the capacity building of women is the development of an innovative
and flexible learning mode, namely the Capacity Building Mileage Programme,
that seeks to enhance women's all-round abilities, and also promotes positive
life skills. The programme is being implemented on a three-year pilot
basis in partnership with a local tertiary institution and a radio station
with funding support from the Lotteries Fund and supplementary learning
activities organised by NGOs.
A public education and publicity campaign (including
TV and radio announcements of public interest, a TV drama series and radio
programmes) has been launched to enhance public knowledge of the commission's
work and to reduce gender prejudices and stereotyping as well as to raise
public awareness of women-related issues. Results have been positive.
To achieve a better understanding of the situation
of women in Hong Kong, the Women's Commission initiated — in liaison with
the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau and the Census and Statistics Department
— the first ever large-scale household survey on the use of time by women
and men in Hong Kong. The survey looked into the average amount of time
spent daily by different people on different activities, and their pattern
of participation in various aspects of life such as housework, voluntary
work, and cultural, recreational/sports and social activities. The different
time use patterns of the two genders were quantified and analysed and
the results were released in August.
Another survey completed during the year found that
the publicity and public education campaign undertaken by the Women's
Commission had significantly increased public awareness of its work.
In order to achieve the maximum impact on society,
the commission has developed a 'Framework of Collaboration' with substantive
input from women's groups and interested parties. The commission will
step up collaboration with the non-governmental sector in promoting the
realisation of women's full potential and elimination of gender prejudices,
and striving for a more prosperous and better future for all.
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