Jaushieh Joseph Wu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
October 27, 2021
(As Prepared for Delivery)
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen:
Greetings from Taipei!
Welcome to the Global Cooperation and Training Framework virtual conference entitled “Road to Parity: Women's Participation in Public Life.” I would like to thank the National Human Rights Commission and the Foundation of Women's Rights Promotion and Development for organizing this event. I am also grateful to our international partners: the American Institute in Taiwan, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association and our first-time cohost, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei. Also, I am particularly honored to welcome Australia as a full partner of GCTF.
Since 2015, Taiwan has cooperated with like-minded partners under the GCTF to hold forums on women's empowerment. Today's conference will particularly focus on women's public participation and creating a better and more enabling environment for them.
Women's empowerment is important for human rights and development, which is one reason that the fifth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal is set to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
With this in mind, Taiwan has committed to implementing comprehensive policies and providing sufficient resources for women and girls to pursue their aspirations. In 2011, Taiwan adopted the Enforcement Act of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Since then, we have leveraged a whole-of-government approach to carry out gender mainstreaming and promote gender equality.
After years of hard work, Taiwan now leads Asia in terms of gender equality and women's empowerment. The World Bank's Women, Business and the Law 2021 report, ranked Taiwan a score of 91.3 out of 100, making it the highest-ranked Asian country for the third year in a row. Here is the best example, President Tsai Ing-wen, who is Taiwan's first female president. And in our government, the proportion of female legislators and heads of municipal authorities has reached 40 percent.
In cooperation with like-minded countries, Taiwan also strives to enhance women's socioeconomic status worldwide. For example, under the APEC framework, Taiwan, the United States, and Australia launched the Sub-Fund on Women and the Economy in 2017.
In 2020, Taiwan partnered with the United States International Development Finance Corporation on the 2X Women's Initiative. Through the initiative, Taiwan is helping women in developing countries to build more sustainable livelihoods and empowering them to contribute to economic development and inclusive prosperity.
The GCTF has served as a wonderful platform for collective brainstorming and professional engagement. Together, we will advance our common goal of gender equality, contributing to greater development and more prosperous community.
I wish this event every success.
Thank you!