On 22 and 23 May, the ‘Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation: 2025 HER Power, HER Stories’ Dialogue and related activities were held in Fenghuang County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan, China. This is the fourth iteration of the annual Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation event series, and was organized co-hosted by a partnership of Chinese and international organizations, including CSAM; the China Internet Information Center (CIIC); the China Offices of FAO, IFAD, UNDP, and WFP; as well as the People’s Government of Fenghuang County, with support from the Ant Foundation and the China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD).

Drawing on insights contained in the 2024 Sci-Tech Empowering Rural Transformation: HER Power, HER Stories report published the previous year by CSAM and some of the other partners (https://www.un-csam.org/publications/sci-tech-empowering-rural-transformation-2024-her-power-her-stories) that delineates various challenges encountered in empowering rural women through science and technology and indicates that China has created an effective institutional environment that facilitates women’s active participation in agricultural development and that this is a primary factor that enables technology to empower Chinese women – the event featured a mix of dialogue sessions, case study reports and storytelling, field visits, and thematic panels designed to highlight the latest practices empowering women and using technology to drive development while fostering knowledge exchange and cooperation for  gender-equitable rural innovation among developing countries.

Around 100 participants – including rural women, scholars, government officials, representatives of international organizations, NGOs, and businesses, and members of the media – engaged either in person or online. Participants also joined field visits to sites benefitting from digital literacy training projects as well as some locations involved with the IFAD Hunan Rural Revitalization Demonstration Project.