From January 16 to February 3, 2006, Zou Xiaoqiao, Deputy Director-General of the International Department of the All-China Women's Federation, participated in the 34th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women of the United Nations. The session was held at the United Nations' headquarters in New York. Zou is one of the committee's members for the 2005- 2008 period. The session's participants reviewed how the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women had been implemented by Togo, Mali, Cambodia, Thailand, Australia, Macedonia, Venezuela and Eritrea. There were also friendly, openhearted discussions with the delegations from those eight states parties, especially about in which areas further actions should be taken.

    Commonly referred to as the "charter for women's rights," the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which took effect in September 1981, is the most important international bill that the UN has drafted to maintain women's rights. At present, 181 UN member states have ratified and acceded to the convention.

    The convention's aims are to eliminate discrimination, on the basis of sex, and to ensure all are equal before the law. The convention requires states parties to take all appropriate measures_including legislative, administrative and other actions_to end discrimination against women in politics, education, employment, health, the economy, society and cultural life.

    China signed the convention in July 1980, and implemented the convention in September that year. The convention was ratified by the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress. China was among the first group of nations to join the convention.

    The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women was established in April 1982. The committee has 23 experts as its members. All are elected by the states parties, from among their nationals, and they generally serve a four-year term in their personal capacity. Consideration is often given to equitable geographical distribution, and to the representation of the different forms of civilization, as well as the principal legal systems.

    China has had an expert on the committee since its inception. China's experts, in fact, have played roles in all of the committee's work and activities. In particular, they have been responsible for considering national reports, which have been submitted by the states parties, on the measures adopted and the progress achieved.