Premier Jiang Yi-huah today extended his regards to Taiwan's female citizens and urged government agencies to carry on their efforts in promoting gender mainstreaming with the ultimate goal of making Taiwan a society free of all forms of sexual discrimination.
"Taiwan's government made several breakthroughs on gender equality last year, including the ratification of the Enforcement Act of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the establishment of the Department of Gender Equality under the Executive Yuan and the promulgation of national gender equality policy guidelines," noted the premier. "For these we owe thanks to the joint efforts of domestic experts, scholars, civil groups and various government agencies."
The premier made these remarks on the eve of International Women's Day while attending the Executive Yuan's 11th Golden Carnation Awards honoring institutions and individuals on their efforts and achievements in promoting gender mainstreaming.
Jiang stressed the proportion of female senior government officers climbed from 16 percent to 22 percent last year, while that of female senior non-officers rose from 20 percent to 26 percent, indicating that it is more and more common for female public servants to win their supervisors' trust and be granted high-ranking posts.
"Female citizens account for half of the nation's population. In the past, however, social structure and values hampered women's career development. Their ascension was halted by a glass ceiling," remarked Premier Jiang. "Relatively speaking, it is easier to promote gender equality in the public sector. The public sector should therefore take the initiative in this campaign and gently push the private sector to follow suit."
Jiang said he is delighted to see 93 percent of the Cabinet's committees now meet the requirement of having at least one third of their members be of each gender, a significant improvement from the previous total of 56 percent. He acknowledged meeting this standard might pose difficulties in certain fields, such as construction and firefighting, where traditionally there are fewer female workers and managerial-level personnel, yet he still wanted all committees to come into compliance.
"Such difficulties can be overcome if we are willing to challenge workplace stereotypes," said the premier. Taking firefighting as an example, Jiang noted aside from charging into burning buildings, the field also has many other duties in which women can perform extremely well, such as logistical support, facility planning and security checks.
Jiang said that as vice premier, he commented on official documents that it was unacceptable for government committees to fail to meet the minimum gender ratios. He hoped that agencies that received such feedback would make the requirement a high priority when committees name new members as a result of resignations or retirements.
A total of 21 government agencies and local governments received Golden Carnation awards in honor of their gender mainstreaming efforts. They include the former National Youth Commission, the Department of Health, the former Sports Affairs Council, Taichung City, Taitung County, Keelung City, the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training and the Maritime Patrol Directorate General under the Coast Guard Administration. The Ministry of the Interior, the Industrial Development Bureau and Taipei City received Golden Carnation special awards.