Female deputies and political advisors submitted their advice and insights at the local "Two Sessions" meetings held in southwest China's Yunnan Province from January 23-29.

President of Yunnan Women's Federation (YWF) He Hongmei and Vice-president of the federation Nongbu Yangzong were among them.

Along with other female delegates of various professions, they offered constructive suggestions on how to lift people in Yunnan out of poverty and implement gender equality from different perspectives.

He Hongmei, a deputy to the 13th Yunnan Provincial People's Congress, offered two key suggestions.

Firstly, she called for the implementation of a government plan for women and children's health. She said the government should include free breast and cervical cancer screenings for locals as one of the 10 major issues in its work report.

The government plan would be key to decreasing the mortality rate of infants and pregnant women, she said. Meanwhile, the health of women and children affects the happiness of families, and is highly relevant to the government's social development plan for the next decade.

Secondly, in terms of the current education level in Yunnan, He said there are still problems of deficient education infrastructure and lack of public kindergartens. She suggested that the government should take the leading role to enhance pre-school education by establishing more public kindergartens and providing training programs for teachers.

He Hongmei also appealed to the government for greater public supervision to advance the quality of pre-school education.

Nongbu Yangzong, a member of the 12th Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), proposed that the government should support the industry of traditional artisan skills. With the process of urbanization and industrialization, such craftsmanship shows its flexibility and comparative advantages, she said.

Nongbu suggested that more rural women can engage in this industry, including ethnic embroidery and garment-making, to increase family incomes.

She said the government should support the ethnic handicrafts industry by expanding budgets and cutting related taxes. Hopefully, the traditional industry can effectively improve women’s livelihood and stand out as a distinctive feature of the province, Nongbu added.

(Source: Women Voice/Translated and edited by )