Numerous government initiatives to promote gender equality were discussed at today's meeting of the Executive Yuan's Gender Equality Commission (GEC).
Today's meeting coincides with the United Nations' International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, which has been designated by the ROC government as Taiwan Girls Day.
The day will also mark the first anniversary of the Executive Yuan's Action Plan for Enhancement of Girls' Rights. Under various ministries' active promotion, the plan has garnered concrete results.
For instance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has set up a mechanism to monitor and record sex ratio at birth in order to address the gender imbalance of the nation's newborns (an unnaturally high proportion are males). The ministry has incorporated monitoring-and-recording results into a review item of the Regulations for Artificial Reproduction Institution Permit.
The sex ratio at birth from January to August 2014 was 1.069 (in other words, 1.069 males born for every female), a drop of 0.8 percent as compared with 2013 (year-end) and a step closer to parity with the natural sex ratio at birth (1.06).
The Ministry of Education enjoined various county and city governments to integrate gender equality issues and gender empowerment into their family education programs in order to prevent the repeating and fostering of past gender stereotypes. In the first half of 2014, there were 151 such courses held, with 22,640 people participating.
In addition, the MOHW collaborated with local governments and private groups in subsidizing various villages' and townships' implementation of parental education courses for parents of infants and toddlers up to age 2. The courses integrate gender equality concepts, balanced roles for both parents in rearing children, and joint responsibility for building up a family. In 2013, these classes had 37,994 participants.
Furthermore, websites on parental and familial education have been set up for the public to learn relevant knowledge. In order to prevent children and juveniles from accessing websites harmful to the development of their physical and mental health, the National Communications Commission has set up an iWIN (Institute of Watch Internet Network) web-content protection agency. The iWIN, which has already reached its first anniversary, has received 16,574 public appeal cases to date. Through fines and penalties and the removal of online pornography, the agency has helped protect girls and boys from online damage.
The Ministry of Culture published a book series this year to rectify discrimination against girls by media and traditional customs. Guidance on conveying gender equality through folk culture is provided in these works.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior has compiled a guidance manual on contemporary weddings of ROC citizens. This publication, based on the concept of gender equality, is expected to be out by the end of this year.