IV. Public Participation and Communication

The action plan references the UN’s Handbook on National Human Rights Plans of Action in deciding which issues to prioritize, considering factors such as the severity of the issue’s impact on human rights, how limited resources are and the cost needed for a “solution,” how completing a task can affect other targets, and how much the public pays attention to the issue. Additionally, because this action plan is mainly a commitment to ensure the implementation of priority human rights issues before 2024, the selection of priority human rights issues is based on not just the above-mentioned factors, but also background information such as the concluding observations and recommendations of national reports on the Two Covenants, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(hereafter referred to as CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child(hereafter referred to as CRC), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(hereafter referred to as CRPD), as well as parallel (alternative, shadow) reports by NGOs and follow-up assessment plans in response to concluding observations and recommendations. The current state of Taiwan and current human rights practices are also taken into account when it comes to the selection of priority issues. This action pays especially close attention to certain ethnicities or groups, such as indigenous peoples, the LGBTI community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, hereafter referred to as LGBTI), foreign migrant workers, the elderly, prisoners and rehabilitated offenders, women, children, disabled people, refugees, and homeless people, who lack legal or social resources or are marginalized and disadvantaged, selecting issues that have the most social consensus, urgency, importance, and public attention.

Though the priority issues set out in this action plan are concise, they go deep into the core of each issue with a pragmatic attitude. Specific actions taken must be feasible in hopes of achieving the goal of advancing human rights within the planned timetable. Priority issues not included in the action plan are by no means unimportant, and aspects that can be improved upon immediately may be added to the routine work of various competent authorities. Issues that still require more consensus and need to take stock of government resources can be listed as an issue for the next national human rights action plan.

IV. Public Participation and Communication

Initial discussions around the issues selected for this action plan were conducted by the National Human Rights Action Plan Development Consultative Committee (hereafter referred to as the Consultative Committee) organized by