Actress Hai Qing appointed UN Women National Ambassador for China
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During a four-day mission to Beijing and Hangzhou, China, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri appointed Chinese actress Hai Qing to be the country’s first UN Women National Ambassador at a HeForShe banquet on 22 October.
Ms. Qing is widely known for her acting, but in her new role she will be focusing her attention on the Step It Up For Gender Equality campaign in China, advocating for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 5 and the realization of Planet 50/50 by 2030. UN Women designated her as a Gender Advocate in 2013, and she was involved in the Orange Day event to end violence against women and girls later that year, as well as the China Gender Fund’s press conference in 2014.
“As a mother, a daughter and an actress, I often think about gender roles and [the] status of women defined by society. In traditional Chinese culture, women should only focus on their family, and shoulder the responsibility of doing housework and parenting. Because of this idea, many people do not recognize and respect women as equal individuals [to] men,” Ms. Qing said when receiving her appointment from Ms. Puri .
“Despite the inequality in society, I still believe that women and men should equally contribute and strike a balance between family and work, instead of making one partner shoulder most of the family responsibilities,” said Ms. Qing. “Women should have equal rights and career opportunities, instead of facing gender-based inequality.”
After appointing Ms. Qing National Ambassador, Ms. Puri met with President Shen Yueyue of the All-China Women’s Federation, as well as representatives of the National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Peacekeeping Center, Ministry of National Defence, to discuss UN Women’s efforts to empower women in China and around the world.