The meeting was organised jointly by the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and the China Agricultural Broadcasting and Television School (CABTS), Ministry of Agriculture Government of China. Within FAO the meeting collaborators were: Women in Development Service and Agricultural Education, Research, and Communication Service. The FAO Regional Office records its appreciation to CABTS and the Government of China for their support of this activity and for making excellent arrangements for the meeting.
3.1. Meeting Dates and Venue
The meeting dates were 23 to 26 October 2001. The venue for the meeting was Beijing, China. The session was organised in two locations. The opening session was held on the premises of Orient Group Satellite Network Technology Co., Ltd. and the remaining technical sessions were organised in the City Hotel Beijing.
3.2. Meeting Programme
The meeting programme included the following sessions:
Opening Session
Opening of the meeting
Presentation of resource papers
Selection of office bearers
General technical
sessions
Presentation of experts’ papers and invited resource
papers
ICT and rural women
Report and recommendation format
Potential
country-specific follow up actions
Potential country-specific institutional
linkages
Presentation and adoption of report
Small group session
Field
visit
A copy of the consultation programme is included as Annex 1.
3.3. Opening Session
Zhang Fengtong, President, China Agricultural Broadcasting and Television School (CABTS) chaired the opening session. His Excellency Zhang Baowen, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of China, delivered the keynote address. Gammal Mohmed Ahmed, FAO Representative for China, delivered the opening message. G.M. Ahmed also presented the opening message from R.B. Singh, Assistant Director General and Regional Representative of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. A presentation was made by Zhu Xiaozheng, All China Women’s Federation. The opening session was telecast to 32 CABTS centres. Various media such as China television and local newspapers covered the opening event. Additionally two resource papers were presented and the resource persons fielded questions from remote listeners. Revathi Balakrishnan, FAO Regional Rural Sociologist and Women in Development Officer, presented the secretariat resource paper and Cristina D. Padolina, Chairperson of the November 2000 Consultation, presented the summary of the previous meeting.
3.4. Participants
The FAO regional office invited participants in two categories, namely country experts and invited resource persons. The experts were invited from the following countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The resource persons were invited from India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Philippines. FAO technical officers represented the Women and Development Service and the Agricultural Education, Research and Communication Service. The participants’ list is included as Annex 2.
3.5. Meeting Officers
A. Chairperson
Harun ur
Rashid
Director
Community Development Library
Bangladesh
B. Vice-Chair Persons
Tong Yuee
Expert on
women’s education
Department of Sci-Tech and Education
Ministry of
Agriculture
China
Mussaret Anwar Sheikh
Director
Institute of Mass
Education
Allama Iqbal Open University
Pakistan
C. Rapporteur
Felix Librero
Chancellor
Open
University of the Philippines
Philippines
D. Facilitators
The following persons served as facilitators for various discussion and small group sessions.
Uma Coomaraswamy
Sri Lanka
Malcolm Hazelman
FAO/RAP
Mohd Razha Rashid
Malaysia
Sneh Wardhwa
India
S.P. Gupta
India
Cristina Padolina
Philippines
E. Consultation Organisation Committee
The meeting notes with thanks the excellent work done by the organisation committee consisting of:
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Director: |
Guo Zhiqi |
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Members: |
Li Fanghong, |
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Zhu Zonghui, |
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Chen Hui, |
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Zhu Wenjun |
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Zhang Wanzhen |
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Xing Xiaoguang |
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Wu Guoqing |
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Shao Mingxu |
3.6. Media Coverage
The following media covered the opening session: China Daily (English); China Women’s Daily (Chinese), and Farmer’s Daily (Chinese). CCTV Channel 7 carried television coverage of the opening session on 23 and 24 October during the Programme of Agricultural News. China Agricultural Information Network carried this news on the first page of the website operated by the Ministry of Agriculture. China rural distance learning network provided additional information for this conference. The opening session was carried live as telecast to 32 CABTS centres. There were questions from the remote station participants to the resource paper presenters.
