Though she is employed in a plastic factory in Beijing now, 41-year-old Zeng has been worrying about her lack of necessary skills to secure their future livelihood and support her two children's education.

A joint program, the Action of Promotion of Employment and Rights for female migrant workers in Beijing, was launched on Monday by China and the European Union in a bid to help female farmers like Zeng solve their problems.

The program will study and analyze the living conditions, related policies and regulations, employment, medical care, insurance, housing, education and democratic rights of female migrant workers, improve their conditions and provide training and support.

Statistics show that women account for a third of the 4 million migrant workers in Beijing.

Women have become an indispensable part of the migrant workforce, said Cui Yu, head of the development department of the All China Women's Federation.

"China tries to make female migrant workers the participants as well as beneficiaries of building an affluent society," Cui said.

With acceleration of urbanization, the massive surplus laborers in rural areas have moved to cities and work in such industries as construction, housekeeping, processing and service trade.

China has more than 120 million migrant workers. They have made great contribution to the modernization in cities. But many are still faced with overdue wages and too much overtime, said Wang Yue, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chinese Association of Non-Government Organizations(CANGO).

The traditional urban management model, especially the limitations of the residence registration system, has created an unfair welfare environment for migrant workers, he added. Compared with their urban peers, migrant workers also lack vocational training and skills.

Liu Danhua, deputy director of the training and employment bureau with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, said migrant workers serve as an important force in building a new socialist countryside. In recent years, China has abolished restrictions against farmers working in cities and issued a series of policies favoring migrant workers.

Up until now, the problems of overdue wages of migrant workers and their children's education have not been improved, Liu said.

In the past few years, China has provided training programs for women in the countryside, such as housekeeping, babysitting and taking care of the elderly. Many say that they have"learned skills and grown in confidence". Enditem

Editor:

Lin