The Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee needs to include women’s perspectives and promote women's participation, the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation said today, listing six recommendations to improve gender equality and create a truly resilient defense system.
President William Lai’s (賴清德) whole-of-society resilience plans need to be more inclusive so that no member of society is overlooked, the group said in a news release.
At his Double Ten National Day address on Friday last week, Lai spoke of the committee’s progress in the past year in strengthening forces across government and civil society at the central and local levels.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
During times of war and natural disaster, women are usually at greater risk, but they can take on important responsibilities, including ensuring social stability, caring for families and collecting vital information, it said.
Moreover, after wartime, women are essential to recovery efforts, it added.
Gender equality is an internationally recognized indicator of a nation’s peace and security, with high levels of gender equality believed to lower the likelihood or severity of armed conflict and war-related violence, it said.
The foundation suggested six improvements.
First, the committee’s guidelines should require that half of its members are women and that female members attend important meetings to decide on policy, it said.
Second, civil defense teams, air-raid shelters, and evacuation and relief centers should ensure gender-awareness training for those in leadership positions, with women making up a minimum of 40 percent of management roles, it added.
Third, women's groups and organizations should be invited to participate in all committee meetings related to national and civil defense policy, it said.
Next, evacuation shelters should include mechanisms to prevent gender-based violence and establish systems for women to seek help if needed, it added.
The Ministry of Defense’s new civil defense handbook In Case of Crisis: Taiwan’s National Public Safety Guide should also include gender-specific items to cater to women’s needs in a variety of situations, it said.
Last, the foundation called for amendments to the National Defense Act (國防法), the Civil Defense Act (民防法), the General Mobilization Act (全民防衛動員準備法) and the All-Out Defense Education Act (全民國防教育法) to include provisions from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, including gender ratio principles.
The amendments should undergo gender impact assessments to institutionalize the principles of gender equality, it added.
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