Two child welfare groups leave for Macedonia today to represent Taiwan at the three-day 10th World Child Summit. This is the first time Taiwan has been invited to this UN-related NGO conference, officials at the Taiwan Children's Rights Association (台灣兒童?H協會) and World Vision Taiwan (台灣世界展望會) said.
Established in 1989, the World Child Summit has invited member states to join the UN Convention for Children's Rights. Yet, even though it is a non-member of the convention, Taiwan was invited for the first time by the Children's Parliament of Macedonia because of its diplomatic relations with the country, said Lai Ching-lin (賴勁麟), a DPP legislator and the president of the Taiwan Child-ren's Rights Association.
The agenda for this year's World Child Summit is the implementation of the Convention of Children's Rights in all member states. "It's also a chance to evaluate how much effort Taiwan should make in order to join the Convention," said Lai.
Lai and the Taiwan Children's Rights Association will also present a report on children's human rights in Taiwan.
Lai also said he would emphasize Taiwan's willingness to join the Convention for Children's Rights.
According to the association's report, children in Taiwan are very often exposed to danger, especially at home.
There were 4,871 child abuse cases reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs this year, which was a 13.99 percent increase from last year.
The biggest cause of child death is accidents. Over 1,000 children were killed by accidents last year. Forty-one percent occurred at home.
According to Lai, joining the convention would have at least two benefits for Taiwan. First, he said, the convention serves to monitor the condition of child-ren's rights and thus would help in urging the government and social groups to improve child welfare.
"Second, this is an alternative diplomatic breakthrough for Taiwan," he said. "The Convention for Children's Rights is one of the few UN organizations that doesn't require UN membership.
"And because it [the convention] is a non-political group for the advancement of human rights, participation can be a positive way to make Taiwan more visible to the international community."
However, the Department of Child Welfare Affairs is less enthusiastic. The last response given by the Ministry of Interior to Lai's questions in July was that there was insufficient budget and staff to meet the requirements set out in the convention.
But interior minister Huang Chu-wen (黃主?? said he fully supported the efforts of social groups attempting to join the convention.
"This shows that there is no consensus among welfare officials," Lai said.
Apart from Lai's group, World Vision Taiwan is sending two children representatives to participate in the summit.
Hsu Hao-heng (徐皓?), 16, was chosen by World Vision to join International Care for Children in Thailand, to report on anti-child prostitution plans along with 25 children reporters from other countries.
Ko Yu-feng (
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS