The opening ceremony of the 2005 World Children's Rights Summit was held yesterday in Taipei, as 87 children from 19 different nations gathered to discuss the main theme this year -- how children can help children.
The event, organized the Children's Rights Association of Taiwan, is being held for the fifth time this year, and focuses on three issues that influence children all over the world -- war, poverty and abuse.
Huang Pi-hsia (
Children's rights are often overlooked by society, especially in cases of child abuse and when parents commit suicide with their children, Huang said. Children have the right to live and the right to be protected, she added.
"When the summit is over, these children will return to their respective countries and will educate other children, and hopefully, when they grow up, they will become parents who understand children's rights," Huang said.
The NGO Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also played a role in the summit, by helping to finance the event.
Oliver Liao (
"We hope that through this summit, human rights and children's rights can be promoted on a global scale," Liao said.
The Taiwanese participants underwent a selection process in which English was a major criterion, while participants from abroad found out about the program through Taiwan's economic and cultural affairs offices while in their own countries.
Henry Verall, a 12-year-old British student from the Taipei European School (TES), said that this was his second year attending the summit.
"Last year the topic was environmental protection, but this year the summit focuses on poverty, war and child abuse," Verall said. "To me, the most important children's right is a sense of security -- that children can feel and be safe wherever they go."
Jamie Whitcombe, who is also a TES student, said that they were asked to write an essay on children's rights before attending the summit.
"I really didn't realize the importance of the issues until I actually attended this summit," Whitcombe said.
"Now I know the real meaning of children helping other children," Whitcome added.
Igor de Oliveire Borges, a 12-year-old student from Brazil, said that he would most like to see the alleviation of child poverty all over the world.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS