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The Women's Foundation held a well-attended International Women's Day lunch on March 5, 2010

THE WOMEN’S FOUNDATION’S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATIONS
OVER 300 INFLUENTIAL EXECUTIVES, ACADEMICS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ATTEND TODAY’S GALA LUNCH

FOR PRESS RELEASE

[March 5, 2010, Hong Kong] The Women’s Foundation, one of the leading NGOs focused on women and girls in Hong Kong, held a Gala Lunch today in celebration of International Women’s Day at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel. The event featured a keynote speech on “The Achievement of Gender Equality is Non-Negotiable" by Christine Loh, Chief Executive of Hong Kong’s Civic Exchange. 350 participants attended the lunch including senior banking and corporate executives, leaders of corporate women’s networks and diversity champions, academics, government officials and representatives from local grassroots organisations. Other VIP guests included Christine Fang, Head of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Jeremy Young, Political Assistant to the Secretary for Education, Shana Wong, Head of the Corporate Communications and Training Unit of the Equal Opportunities Commission, and Fernando Cheung, former Legislative Councillor. The event also raised over HK$700,000 for The Women Foundation’s community and research programmes supporting marginalised women in poverty in Hong Kong.

According to Su-Mei Thompson, The Women’s Foundation’s Executive Director, “We conceived of this lunch as a rallying point for women in Hong Kong and we were delighted by the strong show of support from the leading women’s groups here. International Women's Day is clearly an occasion to celebrate how far women have come in our quest for parity, peace and progress but at The Women’s Foundation, we believe it is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilise for further meaningful change. While advances have been made in recent times - women are more educated, earn more, and have more legal protections - our research shows that much more remains to be done. Women remain under-valued and under-utilised across many parts of Hong Kong society and there is a critical need for women in Hong Kong to continue to canvass for change while celebrating how far we have come.”

The lunch was sponsored by Thomson Reuters, alongside Cle de Peau Beaute as official skincare sponsor, and I Scream and the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel as F&B partners. Corporate table sponsors included BNY Mellon, Barclays Capital, CLSA, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, KPMG, Linklaters, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered and UBS. Prestique is the official PR agency and Cosmopolitan, the Financial Times and Time Out were the media partners for the lunch. Partner community organisations included AmCham and 85 Broads.

In addition, The Women’s Foundation is partnering with local and global brands in a citywide retail campaign to celebrate International Women’s Day. Participating brands including Altruistic Wines, Cle de Peau Beaute, Caran d'Ache, Epoch Coffee Bar, I Scream, Mauboussin, Schoeni Art Gallery and Sense of Touch, all of which will donate a portion of their sales in March to The Women's Foundation and the causes it supports.

About International Women’s Day
International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, starting in the United States and rapidly influencing other parts of the world. Since its birth, IWD is now celebrated on March 8 every year by developed and developing nations alike. Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events to local women's craft markets, theatrical performances, fashion parades and more. Men honour their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues and friends with flowers and small gifts, while companies organize events to recognise their female employees and promote internal equality. International and local women’s organisations use this day as a time to remind the world of how far women have come, and how much work there is still left to do.

Transcript of Christine Loh's speech on "The Achievement of Gender Equality is Non-Negotiable":

Selected images from the lunch:

Selected media coverage for the lunch:

Hong Kong Tatler

April 2010, Pg.107

【婦女節慈善慶祝午宴】

Cosmopolitan

April 2010, Pg.227