By Xinhua,
Hanoi : The close partnership between governments and private companies and non-governmental organizations are of importance to advancing women’s economic opportunities, ministers to the ongoing 18th Global Summit of Women (GSW) said here Friday.
The public-private partnership is essential because governments do not have sufficient resources to deal with challenges faced by women, GSW president Irene Natividad said at the summit’s plenary session in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi.
At the session, some delegates informed others of the outcome of a pre-summit ministerial roundtable on Thursday, giving details about three outstanding projects on childcare centers in Mexico, introduction of entrepreneurship to girl students in South Africa and job training for marginalized young women in Antigua and Barbuda, an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea.
At the session, Mexican Undersecretary of Labor Patricia Espinosa Torres said the government, in coordination with non-governmental organizations and citizens, launched a childcare center program nationwide in January 2007, under which women receive free courses on childcare, nutrition, education and managerial skills so that they can open childcare centers, and some of the centers are located in medium- and large-sized firms to support the women who work there.
The program offers jobs for unemployed women, and helps working mothers ensure job stability, reduce absenteeism and raise productivity and competitiveness, she said, noting that 11.4 million people, or 70.3 percent of Mexican women employees, are mothers.
South African Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Elizabeth Thabete said her country is conducting a program, under which girlgrade students, including those in remote areas, get entrepreneurship lessons and career orientations before their graduation. The girls can express and defense their business plans to receive assistance or awards in the form of computers or mobile phones.
Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, Minister of Labor, Public Administration and Empowerment of Antigua and Barbuda, said the close partnership between the government and non-governmental organizations, banks, finance firms and other private entities has enabled her country to organize many courses on providing working and life skills to such marginalized girls as the illiterate, HIV carriers and those who used to commit crimes.
Young women learn such life skills as ensuring reproductive health and avoiding unwanted pregnancy, as well as working skills in specific fields like hotel and nursing, she said.
The 18th GSW, held in Vietnam for the first time from June 5-7 with the participation of over 900 business women, professional and government leaders from 70 economies, is to center on two major factors: dynamic Asia-Pacific economies led by China and India, and the important role of women.