The global theme for this year's International Women's Day on March 8 is "Be Bold for Change," which calls on the masses to help forge a better world - a more gender inclusive world. With the rapid development of China-Africa cooperation and people-to-people contacts, more African women are coming to China to study and work. Over the years, they have made a positive impact on the continent's development and enhanced the understanding between Chinese and Africans.

What roles do African women play in society? What changes can be made to empower them and bridge the gender gap? How can China-Africa cooperation make a difference in their lives? H.E. Tania Romualdo, Ambassador of Cabo Verde to China, shared her thoughts on these issues with ChinAfrica reporter Liu Jian in Beijing.

ChinAfrica: What roles do women play in society in Cabo Verde? What are the challenges still facing women back home?

Tania Romualdo: In Cabo Verde women play a major role in society, not only as the main educators in the family and society but also as professionals. Women play an important role in the education of children and in the molding of their social behavior. Women are therefore in a particularly good position to exercise their influence on people's mentalities. Of course, this cannot be done quickly and will take place over a number of years.

Our achievements on gender equality are huge. In our previous government, 66 percent of the ministers were woman. For equal jobs we receive equal salaries. We have equal access opportunities to education and jobs. But we still have a long way to go. In Parliament, the number of women is low, not because there are restrictions to women's access, but because the number of women playing leading roles in politics is not high enough. In rural zones women have a hard life and face huge challenges, which are even bigger if they are single moms or wives whose husbands emigrated to look for better conditions for their families.

How can China-Africa cooperation better empower African women, especially in Cabo Verde?

China-Africa cooperation can empower African women by the implementation of the 10 cooperation plans adopted by [the Johannesburg Summit of] the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. In particular, the cooperation plans dealing with agricultural modernization, green development, poverty reduction, public health, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges can play an important role in this field.

There is a governmental institution called the Cabo Verdean Institute for Gender Equality and Equity dealing with the improvement of gender equality. I would like to promote a direct contact between their presidents and the leaders of similar institutions in China in order to establish a partnership between the sister institutions.

In your opinion, what can Chinese women and African women learn from each other?

I believe that the learning is only possible if it goes both ways. Not only can Chinese women learn from African woman but also the African women can learn from the Chinese women. In fact, both will learn much more if they enhance their dialogue and start sharing experiences, which can only start with cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Culture is one of the most powerful weapons in our hands if we use it well and take the most out of it. It will definitely help us to achieve our goals -mutual understanding, mutual respect, exchanging of experiences and mutual learning from each other.

What's your advice for African women living in China?

African women living in China should grab this wonderful opportunity to experience living in such a culturally rich country as China. They should take advantage to learn as much as they can about the history, the culture, the people and the language. Of course they should also give their best in the field of whatever it is they came here for.

If they are students they should dedicate themselves in order to achieve the best results possible; if they are expats they should give the best of themselves at work to prove that they are capable to do the job as well or even better than men; if they are diplomats they should do everything to promote their own country and culture in China, to promote Chinese culture in their own countries and, last but not least, to promote the dialogue and cultural exchanges between both countries and people. By doing so they will facilitate the dialogue on all levels and improve the existing relations to an even better level than the one that already exists between China and African countries.

My advice? Grab this opportunity and make the best out of it. Explore it in every way possible to promote your own country and continent, to promote not only the political dialogue, cooperation and business relations, but also the cultural and people-to-people exchanges, because after all that's what will bring us all closer together and make this world a better place.