The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is an independent body dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights. It was established pursuant to the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission announced on January 8, 2020 and was launched on August 1 of the same year.
The NHRC’s legislative mandates include providing independent opinions on national reports on human rights conventions to ensure that domestic laws and administrative measures are in accordance with international human rights instruments. On November 19, 2021, the Executive Yuan submitted the Second Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) pursuant to the Implementation Act of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to collect opinions from children and civil society organizations as an important basis for preparing independent opinions, NHRC dispatched 3 members with practical experience in the field of children and youths to hold 4 regional children's forums in northern, central, southern, and eastern Taiwan between September and November 2021, which were attended by a total of 92 children and youths. The Commission also held 5 focus group discussions, each of which focused on a different topic (including labor, disabilities, students, minorities, and children's digital rights), with 72 representatives in total in attendance.
In addition, the NHRC requested 14 government agencies, including the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the Executive Yuan's Environmental Protection Administration, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the MOE, the Ministry of Interior, the MOJ, the MOL, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the NCC, the National Council of Indigenous People, and the Mainland Affairs Council, to provide written explanations and statistical information on the inadequacies and matters that need clarifying in the Second Report on the CRC. After the opinions provided by children representatives and civil society organizations during the regional forums and focus group discussions were compiled and compared to actual implementation of the Government, these agencies were invited to attend 4 separate meetings in January 2022 to discuss and exchange opinions on each of the important issues.
The realization of children's right to be heard is the driving force of national human rights reform. The NHRC will continue to listen to children's voices and work with the Government, civil society, and businesses to implement the CRC and related international conventions to ensure the fundamental rights of every child.