PR-2155
November 4, 2021
The United States, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, and Israel
Cohost Virtual Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) Workshop on
Implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
On November 4-5, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Taiwan National Human Rights Commission, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA), the Australian Office Taipei, and Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei co-hosted a virtual GCTF workshop on “Implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
This is the first GCTF workshop to focus on human rights and fundamental freedoms. More than 80 officials and civil society experts from 16 countries across the Indo-Pacific region shared best practices to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy equal access to opportunity, protection from discrimination, and full inclusion in society.
AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk joined Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Ho-jen Tseng, JTEA Chief Representative Hiroyasu Izumi, Australian Office Representative Jenny Bloomfield, and IECO Representative Omer Caspi in delivering opening remarks. Control Yuan President Chen Chu, Dr. Joan Lo, President of the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities members Mi-Yeon Kim and Odelia Fitoussi, and U.S. Access Board Executive Director Dr. Sachin Dev Pavithran also addressed the workshop.
“Taiwan’s exceptional commitment…on upholding the rights of persons with disabilities…underscores the respect for human rights that Taiwan shares in common with the United States and other like-minded democracies,” AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk highlighted in her opening remarks.
Taiwan incorporated the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into its domestic laws in 2016. The United States recently marked the thirty-first anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, on which the Convention was based.
AIT, Taiwan’s MOFA, and the JTEA jointly administer the GCTF, which serves as a platform for Taiwan to share its expertise with partners around the world.