A two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) women’s forum that kicked off in Beijing today has brought together more than 200 delegates from SCO member nationals, observers states and dialogue partners.
Chairperson of the Committee for Family and Women’s Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, Ms. Idiqul Qosimzoda, who also heads the Society of Friendship between the Peoples of Tajikistan and China, is representing Tajikistan at this event, according to the Tajik Embassy in Beijing.
Speaking at the event, Idiqul Qosimzoda reportedly noted that “the Beijing platform has played an important role in improvement of national mechanisms of providing equal rights and opportunities for women and men.”
This is the first time that a forum on women is being held within the framework of SCO. Under the theme of "Harnessing the Power of Women for Common Development", the Forum has three topics: Women and Innovative Development; Women and a Beautiful World; and Women and Mutually Beneficial Cooperation.
The forum is reportedly designed to enhance women's communication and cooperation, promote gender equality and women's development in relevant countries, inject vigor and vitality into the SCO's development, and make due contributions to fulfill the goals of the organization.
According to Xinhua, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward five proposals on the development of the SCO at the SCO summit held in Astana, Kazakhstan in June 2017, namely strengthening solidarity and coordination, joining hands to tackle challenges, deepening practical cooperation, enhancing people-to-people bonds, and upholding openness and inclusiveness. Chinese leader also proposed a series of important initiatives and measures, including hosting the SCO Forum on Women.
Founded in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization now has eight full members — China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. ACEAN, CIS and Turkmenistan are guest attendances.
The SCO accounts for over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass, nearly half of the world's population and over 20 percent of global GDP.
