Review Meetings of the ROC’s Initial Report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) will convene at Howard Civil Service International House, Taipei today (November 20) and ends on November 24. 5 international experts on international child’s right protection have been invited as the reviewers to have constructive dialogues with representatives from the government, NGOs as well as child representatives to gain an insight as regard to the ROC’s current implementation of CRC, determine areas that need to be improved and provide their concrete suggestions.

President Tsai, during today’s open ceremony, stated that CRC is the most recognizable convention worldwide. Its implementation concerns every child on this island. With a low birth rate, children are important assets to our nation. Every effort that we make today for children will be the key to Republic of China’s sustainable development. Therefore, despite the fact that ROC is not an UN member, we still are committed to incorporating the convention in our law.

President Tsai also mentioned that since the implementation of Implementation Act of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 2014, our nation has been voluntarily complying with the requirements of the convention. In addition to conducting a full review of our law based on the convention, we have also established the national report system, with units from all five administrative branches (Yuan) and NGOs jointly monitoring the implementation of the convention in our nation. After 33 meetings, the initial report was proposed on November 17, 2016. Even though the ROC cannot participate in national reviews of UN member nations, we still have voluntarily followed the UN’s review process and convened this review meeting to showcase our commitment to human rights. The review board’s concluding observations and recommendations will be taken into account as we review the current implementation of the convention in the country and formulate future policies accordingly to better protect children’s rights.

The international review committee will have dialogues with legislators, NGO representatives during the pre-review meeting on the first day. Child representatives from all over the island will be invited to share their minds. The second and third day are review meetings for government departments, where they will review the civil right, family environment and alternative care, basic health and welfare, education, entertainment, cultural activities, special protective measures and other aspects related to children’s rights. The concluding observations will be made on the last day of the meetings and announced at the press conference on November 24. The review meetings will be streamed live on the dedicated website (with simultaneous and sign language interpretation). If interested in the implementation of CRC in Taiwan, please visit http://www.crcreview.org.tw/.

Attachment: Meeting agenda

【Review Meetings of the ROC’s Initial Report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)】Agenda

Date：November 20 to 24, 2017

Venue：1F, Conference Room, Howard’s Civil Service International House

(No. 30, Section 3, Xinsheng South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan)

Agenda

• Live streaming is provided during the complete review meeting (public sessions), for more information please visit the website below: http://www.crcreview.org.tw/

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