Zou Xiaoqiao

Name

Zou Xiaoqiao

Sex

Female

Education

University graduate

Place of Birth

Jiangsu, China

Working Unit

All-China Women’s Federation

Position

Former Director- General

Studies:  Women’s issue

Major lecture: Women’s Human Rights, CEDAW Convention, Gender Equality

Other positions:

Member, UN Committee on the Elimination Discrimination against Women

Standing Committee Member, China Human Rights Studies Society

Council Member, China United Nations Association

Member, China International Exchanges Association

Educational background:

1986   University of Los Andes, Colombia （methodology, data collection and data analysis）

1985   University of Chicago, United States  (sociology and women studies)

1978-1980  University of Canberra, Australia  (history, politics and literature)

1971-1975  Beijing Foreign Studies University  (language and English literature)

Professional profile:

Having over-30 year experience on international exchanges with women of foreign countries, involved in bilateral and multilateral activities, among others, including panels and seminars on issues of women’s human rights, gender equality, women’s political participation, women and education, women in economy, violence against women, etc. and gained rich experiences on the ground. Being an official member of the Chinese delegation, attended many important regional , international and the United Nations conferences on women, human rights and social development, such as the Third World Conference on Women (Nairobi), the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing), the 23^rd special session of the UN General Assembly, the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo), the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen), UN Commission on the Status of Women.  Actively engaged in preparatory work on the Fourth World Conference on Women and participated in the whole process of consultation on and .

Have extensively advocated women’s human rights and gender equality, with special attention to the trend of development of women’s human rights worldwide. Have been involved in work, over a long period of time, relating to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Convention) and the Committee on the Elimination Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee), and dedicated to getting CEDAW Convention known to more people, building on efforts to realize the rights enjoyed by women as stipulated in the Convention. Worked on the drafting of an Optional Protocol to CEDAW Convention during her participation in the conferences of UN Commission on the Status of Women. Actively involved in the drafting of China’s 3^rd and 4^th, and provided consultancy and advice on China’s 5^th and 6^th combined reports as well as the 7^th and 8^th combined reports on the implementation of CEDAW Convention.

Delivered key-note speeches or lectured on CEDAW Convention and its Optional Protocol, development trend of women’s human rights, gender mainstreaming, China’s implementation of CEDAW—its achievements and challenges, for officials from government departments, judiciaries, law enforcement officials and women leaders in various fields, at training workshops and seminars organized at various provinces of China, such as Guizhou, Qinghai, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Sichuan and Guangxi; invited to be key note speakers on implementation of  CEDAW Convention and the Committee’s Concluding Observation in Vietnam, Samoa and Fiji, and also in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.

Thesis:

Safeguard Women’s Human Rights and Promote Women’s Overall Development

The Advancement of Chinese Women in the Thirty-year Reform and Opening-up

Footsteps of Progress: Human Rights in Another Perspective

Building a Fairly Well-off Society in an All Round Way and Human Rights ( second prize winner, in April 2004, China Human Rights Foundation)

International Women’s Movement and Organizations, Beijing: China Women’s Press, 2001.

Chinese Women at the ’95 NGO Forum on Women, Beijing: Chinese Women's Press, 1996

Interviewed by CCTV Channel 9 (currently Channel 16) on women’s rights (2005)