Since the establishment of the Executive Yuan Women’s Right Committee in 1997 (now reorganized as Department of Gender Equality, Executive Yuan), the government has proposed various policy guidelines and platforms related to the improvement of women’s rights and promotion of gender equality. For instance, the “Policy on Women in Taiwan” proposed in 2000 and the “Women’s Policy Platform” approved in 2004 served as general guidelines for the development of national women’s rights policies. In addition, resolutions were passed by the committee to mandate each governmental department to implement relevant policies. For example, the Gender Mainstreaming Implementation Plan was established in 2005 in each relevant department. On the one hand, departments were urged to gradually complete various tools to promote gender mainstreaming. On the other hand, departments were directed to propose policies regarding gender equality.

In order to build on the existing basis and reinforce the partnership between the government and women rights organizations, the Executive Yuan Women’s Right Committee invited women’s right organizations in drafting the Gender Equality Policy Guidelines. In March 2011, the government convened the first “National Women’s Conference” to discuss the draft of this guideline and to form a consensus. We expect that the introduction of this guideline will continuously open up diverse gender perspectives, propelling Taiwan towards a more diverse, inclusive, and democratic society.