DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- A leading Tanzanian advocate for women's rights has urged the international community to share ideas and continue promoting global cooperation to advance women's rights.

In order to eradicate gender inequality, there is an urgent need to change prevailing culture and traditions that marginalize women, as well as a need to promote international cooperation, said Gertrude Mongella, secretary-general of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Chinese capital Beijing in 1995.

The conference, which adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, spelled out the actions that should be done to change positions of women in society, Mongella told Xinhua in a recent interview.

For the past 25 years, many nations have changed their legal, political and economic systems to appreciate women as equal participants in their development, said Mongella.

"We are seeing more and more women taking their rightful places in decision-making and leadership, as talents of women have been clearly identified and utilized," she said.

"So looking at what we have achieved, we can say the conference held in Beijing in 1995 was a milestone in the revolution of human relationship between men and women," said Mongella.

Mongella said her first visit to China was in 1984, and when she visited Beijing again in 1995 she was very surprised to see development in China over the years.

Many women in China had moved from doing household chores to participation in different industries, said Mongella, adding that the most important thing is that as China moves on, great efforts have been made not to leave women behind.

The changes which have taken place in the position of women in China is something for other parts of the world to emulate, she said.

Chinese women say themselves holding up "half the sky" and I hoped women in China will continue to hold up "half the sky" in the nation's economic development, she added.

Globally, women's rights have been recognized but so many obstacles still remain for the realization of gender equality in all societies, she said.

Noting some obstacles are deeply rooted in culture, traditions, and political and economic systems, she said it is not easy to remove all of them in a short time.

"It is difficult sometimes due to ignorance, a lack of political will and economic requirements", said Mongella. Enditem

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