The UN Sustainable Development Goals Advisory Council of Parliament was yesterday established under the Legislative Yuan, with lawmakers vowing to push the government toward achieving the goals.
The council selected Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) as chairwoman, and DPP legislators Karen Yu (余宛如) and Kolas Yotaka and New Power Party Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal as vice chairwomen.
The council is devoted to urging and supervising the government toward formulating policies to achieve the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and to improve interactions between the government and non-governmental organizations in Taiwan and abroad, Lin said.
There is already an Association for Sustainable Development in the Legislative Yuan, which primarily focuses on environmental issues, but the council is to focus on broader issues, such as women’s rights, education and social welfare, Lin said.
Taiwan has encountered difficulties in participating in international bodies due to political constraints, but that should not deter the nation from taking up the responsibility of reaching the goals, Lin said.
“The discussion of Taiwan’s international participation has mainly focused on its isolation, but we should take more responsibilities, especially the goal of global partnership,” she said.
“Parliament-to-parliament exchanges with other nations can prevent Taiwan from becoming the missing piece in international relations and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.
Taiwan can exercise its soft power internationally and make a reputation among leading nations by working on the sustainable development issues, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Chih-Chung Wu (吳志中) said.
Environmental Protection Administration Deputy Minister Thomas Shun-Kuei Chan (詹順貴) said that his agency, compared with other government bodies, has more opportunities in breaking the diplomatic deadlock, and sustainable development issues can be a starting point for improved diplomatic relations.
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