The past several years have seen multiple efforts undertaken by the Gansu Women's Federation to further promote the protection of rural "left-behind" children (those children whose parents have left them at home to go and work in the cities) both in their academic studies and personal life.

A total of 21.8 million yuan (U.S. $ 3.51 million), amongst which 1.79 million (U.S. $ 288,727) were jointly contributed by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF), has been collected to finance the construction of 1,248 activity centers for "left-behind" children across the entire region since 2009. In addition, each of the activity centers has been equipped with computers, TVs, stationary and books for target children.

Meanwhile, the Gansu Women's Federation has worked with other relevant governmental bodies to promulgate the "Outline on the Implementation of Work on Rural Left-behind Children in Gansu", the "Outline on the Care of Rural Left-behind Children in Poverty-stricken Regions in Gansu", the "Opinion on the Further Improvement of Work on Rural Left-behind Children in Gansu", and other similar regulations over the last few years to strengthen the competence of staff members from local women's federations in their daily work, raise the public's awareness of rural "left-behind" children's special needs, organize more charity-minded individuals to maintain close contact with target children both in their academic studies and psychological health, and help rural migrants find employment in nearby factories without leaving their hometowns.

Moreover, various themed celebrations have been held by women's federations, along with charity-minded individuals and social volunteers across the entire region to help underprivileged children enrich their extracurricular life, in addition to extending to them gifts and other items.

(Provided by the Gansu Women's Federation/Cui Juan)