site.btaVice President to Attend Global Leaders' Meeting on Women in Beijing

Vice President Iliana Iotova will visit Beijing between October 13 and 15 to attend the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women. The forum, titled "One Shared Future: New and Accelerated Process for Women's All-round Development", is organized by China in cooperation with UN Women and marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted by 189 governments in support of women’s rights.

The Global Leaders' Meeting on Women in Beijing is also part of the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations.

The Fourth World Conference on Women, held by the United Nations in Beijing in 1995, was a significant step in the global progress toward gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at that time, have since become the foundation for numerous international documents concerning women’s rights and gender equality.

During the forum, Vice President Iotova will present Bulgaria’s progress in gender equality policies, as well as the challenges posed by the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

During her visit, Iotova will meet with the Vice President of the People's Republic of China, Han Zheng. She will also be a guest at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, where Bulgarian studies has been taught since 1961. This year, the program has enrolled over 30 students.

The Vice President will meet with the university’s president, Jia Wenjian, and with students from the Bulgarian Studies program. On behalf of President Rumen Radev, Iliana Iotova will present the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius - First Class to Professor Ma Sipu in recognition of his significant contribution to promoting Bulgarian history, language, and culture in China.

Professor Ma Sipu is a graduate of Sofia University. His research focuses on the Balkans, with a special emphasis on Bulgaria. Together with his students, he has published a two-volume Bulgarian-Chinese and Chinese-Bulgarian dictionary.

The Vice President’s program also includes a visit to the China Media Group and its Bulgarian-language department.