Introduction of National Council of Women of Taiwan, R. O. C.

The Initiative

As early as in the 1960s, many women’s groups in Taiwan had already been rather active in the world stage but each developed under own agendas without an integrated women’s organization that could represent the Republic of China. Seeing such situation, The president of YMCA of Taiwan Cecilia Y. Koo at that time united several women’s groups in Taiwan to establish the   National Council of Women of Taiwan, R. O. C. (NCW). At present, NCW has ten group members and eighty-nine individual members. Over the years, NCW had actively interacted with other international women’s groups and had sent R.O.C. delegation to attend many international conventions with great success.

In the first meeting of the fifth NCW General Assembly held in December 2004, Betty F.H. Chang was elected new President to follow the Honorary President Cecilia Y. Koo and to succeed the former President Nancy Z. Chiang. She will continue to lead women’s groups in Taiwan for the goals of raising awareness on important women’s issues, promoting women’s social status, improving the lives of disadvantaged women and children, enhancing civilian diplomacy, cultivating women’s leadership , etc.   

Key members

NCW is a non-profit non-government organization. Its main funding comes from membership fee and donation. NCW’s ten key members are all women’s groups with international involvement, namely, National Young Women Christian Association of Taiwan (YWCA), Chinese Women Business Association (CWBA), Zonta International Clubs of R.O.C. (ZONTA), Business Professional Women’s Taipei 1st Chapter (BPW), Welcome to Taipei International Club (Welcome to Taipei), Global Federation of Chinese Business Women (GFCBW), Soroptimist International of Taiwan  (SOROPTIMIST), Pan-Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association, Republic of China (PPSEAWA), National Girl Scouts of the Republic of China (GSAT) and National Union of Nurses Association,R.O.C. (NUNA). These ten groups not only perform well in their respective fields , but also select representatives to join R.O.C. delegation in attending international conventions each year. In various occasions, their voices have received well recognition from international women’s groups and leaders of every country for the excellent jobs done for the well-being of women in Taiwan.   

Organization profile

NCW has set up five committees to perform individual duty as well as teaming up together for the entire operation.

(1)        Training Committee: responsible for providing educational training and nurturing leadership. At present the Committee is under the supervision of first Vice President Marisa Chen. 

(2)        Finance Committee: assisting on fundraising for operation need. At present the Committee is under the supervision of second Vice President Ai-Chu Wu-Yang.

(3)        International Affairs Committee: responsible for communicating with other international women’s groups and selecting representatives to attend international conventions. At present the Committee is under the supervision of executive board member Ping Lee.

(4)        Public Relations Committee: responsible for matters such as publication, advertisement and reception. At present the Committee is under the supervision of executive board member Christine Cheng.

(5)        Membership Committee: responsible for recruiting members and promoting communications among women’s groups with their members. At present the Committee is under the supervision of board member Liao-Yu Lin.

Important achievements

Over the years, NCW has achieved great success in works including international involvement, civilian diplomacy, women leadership cultivation, etc. In international conventions, our delegation would report on issues of women’s concerns, also their excellent skills in soft diplomatic approach has won friendships and respects from other member countries to successfully expand Taiwan’s diplomatic horizon. After long-term’s work, the main effort worth to mention is, NCW has become members of the three most important women’s organizations in the world:

(1)         International Council of Women (ICW): ICW was founded in 1888 with mandates of promoting women’s well-being in various areas. This task is achieved through affiliated National Councils from all parts of the world. ICW holds a General Assembly every three years and executes all kinds of tasks based on resolutions that are drafted and passed through representatives from each member country. Its five standing committees are responsible for promoting the three-year action plan by intensive scheme and cooperation with other international organizations. It frequently holds national, regional and international conventions, forums or workshops. ICW hopes to achieve respects on human rights and improve living quality for families, and further to eliminate all forms of discrimination against young girls and women. About social lives of any level in community or society, ICW promotes equal rights and responsibilities for both genders, encourages and trains women to take on the leadership and recognizes their contributions to the community and society. In addition, ICW provides opportunities for women to have access to education, hygienic benefits, chances for economic and societal development, and confirms their significant roles and contributions in keeping world peace, solving disputes and eliminating violence against women. Since ICW is a non-governmental consulting organization under United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), it has representatives constantly post in the UN to be able to fully express the concerns from women and provide suggestions as important references for each government to make policies. As a member of ICW, NCW has sending delegation to attend ICW General Assembly, Asia Pacific Regional Meetings, the Executive Committee and the President merting, and the UN Commission on the Status of Women. After broad discussions on all the proposals brought up in the meeting, those resolutions that have been made during the sessions will be carried back by each representative to their own country for promotion. Thus, NCW brings back experiences from other countries and a variety of the latest woman-related issues to Taiwan to share with our members, or to provide references for the government to revise or legislate laws.

(2)         Federation of Asia-Pacific Women’s Association (FAWA): FAWA was founded in 1959 and R.O.C. was one of the initiative members. Its mandate is to integrate women’s strength in Asia for promoting women’s works and sharing cultural, societal and economic results within the area. FAWA holds convention every two years. For the last several decades, NCW had been very active in joining its activities. In 1990, our Honorary President Cecilia Y. Koo was elected FAWA’s Honorary President and advisor Nancy Nee was elected honorary advisor. In the 17^th convention held in 2004, our President Betty Chang was elected FAWA’s First Vice President, executive board member Christine Cheng was elected its Public Relations Officer, and also our Vice President Ai-Chu Wu-Yang was elected its Board Member. It is show’s that NCW has been fully recognized of its contributions to FAWA.

(3)         The General Federation of Women’s Club (GFWC): It was founded in 1891, a women’s organization that had the longest history and the largest scale in the US. GFWC united all kind of the women’s club, each women’s club focuses on community services, promotes education and social benefits, cares for women and children, prevents AIDS and breast cancer, also helps reduce drug prevalence. GFWC has Federations in each state in the US. The GFWC international annual convention to unite Federations in every state plus members from other countries. In each meeting, there are constitution revision, business meeting, workshop, lecture, volunteers training, and awarding to praise members with outstanding performances in all different areas. The most interesting part of GFWC’s meeting is that every year it is held in a different place. The organizer will usually arrange local tours, or one-day volunteer service. For those who do not have time to volunteer, donation is accepted. This is really an echo to the saying: those who have money, offer money; those who have labor, offer labor. Every year there are about 900 people attending the meeting. To arrange program activities for so many people, the organizer itself needs to mobilize many volunteers to help out. Since every women’s organization depends on the support of many volunteers to operate, it gives high remarks on volunteers.  

Vision in the future

Every member in NCW is a woman in Taiwan who cares very much about the society. Everyone stands firm in each position to provide excellent services in promoting civilian diplomacy, uniting women together and devoting every effort by donate  money or labor to expand the operation. In order to keep moving the tide and nurturing more women leaders, besides essential supports from the outside, we need more young generations to join in. Therefore, it is the most urgent task to recruit volunteers who has the will to get involved in international activities, in enhancing women’s status and helping them to achieve sustainable development. Please check our website www.ncw.org.tw for more informations.