The Executive Yuan released its fourth national report on the implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) June 15 in Taipei City, highlighting efforts by the government to ensure women’s rights on all fronts.
During a press conference staged by the Cabinet-level Gender Equality Committee, Lo Ping-cheng, minister without portfolio and the committee’s executive secretary, said Taiwan’s progress in promoting gender equality and protecting human rights from 2017 to 2020 is as impressive as the country’s economic accomplishments.
According to Lo, despite its nonmembership in the U.N., Taiwan continues to bring its human rights practices in line with global standards via review mechanisms and enforcement acts on six of nine major international conventions.
Related achievements during the four-year period include the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019 and the 41.6 percent female representation rate in the country’s Legislature, the highest among all Asian countries in 2020, he added.
The GEC said it will invite international women’s rights advocates to Taiwan for a meeting set to take place Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 to review and offer opinions on the report.
Local experts and representatives from nongovernmental organizations will also take part in an international dialogue spotlighting related achievements by the country’s public and private sectors, it added.
Adopted by the U.N. in 1979, CEDAW has become one of the most important international codes for protecting women’s rights. Although Taiwan is not a signatory to the convention, the promulgation of an enforcement act in 2012 makes its regulations effective as domestic law, according to the GEC. (SFC-E)
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