【Press Release: 2018 Asia NGOs Seminar】
Towards a More Equal and Friendly Future: Cross-disciplinary Collaboration as the New Trend
Vice President Graces the Event with Encouragement
October 8, 2018
The Taiwan Alliance in International Development (Taiwan AID) held the "2018 Asian NGOs Int'l Development Conference" on October 8-9 in the GIS NTU Convention Center. Vice President Chen Chien-jen and Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Li Kuang-chang, attended to show their support. The seminar hosted 200 participants from 17 countries. This year, Taiwan was honored to invite Cyril Ritchie, First Vice President of CoNGO with consultative status at the United Nations, to give an in-depth presentation on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During his speech, Ritchie shared his admiration for Vice President Chen's understanding of Taiwan's NGOs, government, and businesses' roles in achieving the SDGs. He also emphasized that the 23 million people of Taiwan should not be excluded from the global community of the UN, despite current challenges. Nevertheless, Taiwan participates in global initiatives through other means, such as hosting this seminar. Ritchie provided valuable insights on translating the SDGs from concept to action, emphasizing that budget and time constraints should not hinder their implementation, as it would breach the commitment to citizens.
Vice President Chen expressed his gratitude to Taiwan AID for organizing the conference, highlighting the vibrant energy of Taiwan's NGOs and their capacity and willingness to fulfill global citizenship duties. He reaffirmed his continuous participation in Taiwan AID's events and stressed the alignment of Taiwan’s policies with the SDGs. Chen proudly announced that Taiwan has completed its National Voluntary Review Report on the SDGs, committing to integrating these goals into daily life, especially in environmental protection, healthcare, green energy, and education.
Chen also mentioned Taiwan's New Southbound Policy, through which the government will collaborate with other countries to achieve the SDGs and establish long-term partnerships. He thanked Taiwan’s NGOs for their joint efforts in achieving the SDGs and for setting examples in international aid and the national healthcare system. The Vice President assured that SDGs would not remain mere slogans and committed to being a steadfast partner to NGOs.
Another distinguished speaker was Ohashi Masaaki from JANIC, a Japanese expert in international development. He shared his extensive professional experience on youth empowerment and innovation in sustainable development and risk reduction, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.
Chairperson Wang Chin-ying of Taiwan AID stated that the seminar adopted a cross-disciplinary approach to deeply explore how civil society organizations can diversely implement the SDGs. Discussions covered three main aspects: South-South cooperation, youth empowerment, and corporate participation, encompassing topics such as environment, women's rights, youth empowerment, volunteerism, food security, human rights, democracy, and corporate social responsibility. Wang emphasized the importance of collaboration between the government and civil society organizations, particularly in Official Development Assistance (ODA) programs. The seminar’s highlight was providing both corporate and civil society members with practical actions to contribute to global sustainable development.