Ma reiterates commitment to women’s rights

2015-03-10

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said March 8 that tremendous progress has been achieved in promoting gender equality in Taiwan, with the government continuing to enhance women’s rights on all fronts.

“Taiwan is a leader in Asia when it comes to ensuring equality for females,” Ma said, citing the country’s fifth-place global ranking based on the criteria of the 2013 Gender Inequality Index by U.N. Development Programme.

“Despite Taiwan’s lack of U.N. representation, the country enacted Jan. 1, 2012, legislation implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,” he said. “And by the end of last month, 89 percent of existing laws not conforming to the convention have been revised, with the remainder set for fast-tracked review.”

The president made the remarks during an award presentation in Taipei City honoring 10 of Taiwan’s outstanding young women. Launched in 1966, the biennial event is part of local activities marking annual International Women’s Day.

This year’s winners include Hung Wan-ting, the first ROC female officer to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy; Laha Mebo, the first female indigenous director; and Lin Tzu-chi, who claimed gold with record-breaking weightlifting performances at the 2014 Asia Games in Incheon, South Korea.

In a related function organized by Taipei-based ROC National Women’s League two days before, Ma highlighted the significant contributions of females in driving national development and detailed government measures in safeguarding the rights of women since he took office in May 2008.

The president said based upon official statistics, 41 percent of women in Taiwan received advanced education in 2013 compared with 39 percent for men. The percentages of female in various political engagements ranged between 33 percent and 50 percent, second to none in the world, he added.

In terms of entrepreneurship, a Ministry of Economic Affairs-implemented project benefitted more than 4,300 female business owners in Taiwan last year. In addition, between 2008 and 2014, around 4,500 female entrepreneurs received financial assistance through other government-sponsored programs and created 32,000-plus jobs in the process, according to Ma.

“Although females still earn less than their male counterparts at 82.55 percent, the gap is lower than those recorded in Japan, South Korea and the U.S.”

The president added that a parental leave subsidy program implemented since 2009 assisted more 293,000 individuals in the country, with related payments to date topping NT$26.2 billion (US$841 million). The initiative was credited by Ma for 210,383 newborns in Taiwan last year, the second-highest number in the past decade.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=228035&CtNode=413)