Global gender equality has registered enormous progress with impressive outcomes in many fields, but many challenges and difficulties still remain for achieving full gender equality, China said on Wednesday.

The statement came as Meng Xiaosi, head of the Chinese Delegation to the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, was addressing a UN meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York to commemorate the International Women's Day, which falls on March 8 annually. Also present at the gathering was UN Secretary- general Ban Ki-moon.

"Global gender equality has registered enormous progress with impressive outcomes in the areas of legislation, education of girls and cross-sector cooperation for the elimination of violence against women," Meng said.

"However, it is undeniable many challenges and difficulties still remain for achieving full gender equality," she added.

"Today women account for the majority of the over 1 billion people in poverty; each year 536,000 women and girls die of pregnancy or maternity or within 6 weeks after delivery; the global average of women in parliaments stand at 18.7 percent only; women face vulnerable situation in employment; and gender discriminations in its various forms are still widespread and rampant," she said. "It is undeniable that male thinking dominates the core power that moves this world."

"On trade, financial and budgetary issues, women's voices are extremely weak," she said. "Around the decision tables on water, air, energies, which affect our lives, and on war and peace, which determine life or death, women are barely represented ... There are still many obstacles on our way forward, but difficulties only ignite our strength and perseverance, and challenges only firm our wills."

Fifteen years ago, the UN Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing, which adopted the Beijing Platform for Action ( BPFA) to guide the actions of the world on women today.

"It not only enables hundreds of millions of Chinese people and women to look at the world through gender-sensitive lenses, thus greatly pushing forward the gender equality process in China, but also adds indelible glory to the world women's movement," Meng said.

"The Beijing Platform for Action guides our actions," she said. "It identified 12 critical areas of concern, and reaffirmed the concepts of women's empowerment and gender mainstreaming."

"It brought the diversity of women and the concerns of disadvantaged groups onto agenda," she said. "In the process of implementing the BPFA and promoting women's rights, we fully realized that the ways to protect and promote human rights and equality vary and should be independently chosen in line with national situations."

"Fifteen years of practice revealed that gender mainstreaming and gender-specific data and indicators, important tools as they are, may not substitute substantial activities for the promotion of gender equality," she said. "Fifteen years' practice indicates that women's issues cover both gender and development and cannot be addressed in isolation."

"Fifteen years' practice also indicates that women of different groups have different priorities and needs, and that the voices and needs of women from underdeveloped and developing countries and of marginalized groups must be taken into account and equally respected," she added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2010)