The gender benchmark target for participation in advisory and statutory bodies will rise from 25% to 30% from June.

Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing told lawmakers today the women's participation rate in Government-appointed positions in advisory and statutory bodies grew from 25.2% in December 2005 to 28.1% last March.

As at March 31, among the 384 advisory and statutory bodies with appointed non-official members, 171 recorded a women's participation rate of more than 30%, while 213 had a women's participation rate of less than 30%.

The reasons for most advisory and statutory bodies not reaching a women's participation rate of 30% include:

* the majority of practitioners in the sectors are male;

* some candidates for non-official members are mainly recommended by professional bodies or institutions; and,

* few female candidates in a sector can meet the appointment requirements.

The bureau held exchange sessions with other government sectors earlier this month. They have agreed to make efforts to enhance the women's participation rate in advisory and statutory bodies under their purview.

From July 2009 to March 2010 the number of female non-official members of advisory and statutory bodies grew by 80, representing a net increase of 5%. The number of curriculum vitaes of women in the Central Personality Index grew by 256 to 6,728.

"The main principle of making appointments by the Government to advisory and statutory bodies is appointment by merit, [taking] into account the candidate's ability, expertise, experience, integrity and commitment to public service, with due regard to the functions and nature of business of the advisory and statutory bodies concerned and statutory requirements. The appointing authorities need to secure the services of the most suitable persons and to ensure their composition can reflect the views of stakeholders in the community.