Zhang Yanhong, secretary-general of the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF), attended the China-Africa Women's Forum in Changsha, capital city of Central China's Hunan province, on June 29.

 

The China-Africa Women's Forum was co-hosted by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and the Hunan Provincial People's Government under the theme "Pooling the Strength of Chinese and Foreign Women and Jointly Promoting Comprehensive Development." It brought together over 200 people from more than 30 countries, international agencies and relevant domestic departments together with representatives of foreign students in China.

 

Zhang highlighted the importance of the role played by the Spring Bud project in promoting education-driven poverty alleviation, girls' development and gender equality in her speech at a side forum on women's education and poverty reduction.

Zhang said that the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country have attached great importance to the Spring Bud project and that the public-interest project has received lots of support from Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan, also a special envoy of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the advancement of girls' and women's education and a leading Chinese charitable brand.

Over the past three decades, the Spring Bud project has closely adhered to its founding mission and provided over 4.09 million girls across the country with financial assistance and other forms of aid in the completion of their studies. In addition, the public-interest program has organized vocational training for teachers, held technical and digital training for disadvantaged girls, offered 133,400 girls psychological consultation and intervention services, strengthened its internal management, pooled the strength of charity-minded enterprises and individuals, and fostered itself into a leading public-interest brand.

Noting that it is a strategic task of global influence to fully guarantee girls' and women's access to equitable, inclusive and high-quality education, Zhang said that the CCTF will thoroughly implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, follow the instructions given by Peng in her video address to the China-Africa Women's Forum, be prepared for multiple challenges in the work on women, gather social strength and do its utmost to ensure girls' and women's education, and promote women's all-round development in the years ahead.