New York yellow cabs to highlight Taiwan's gender equality push

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) Taiwan is enlisting New York's iconic yellow taxis to help promote an event advocating gender equality that will coincide with a United Nations session in the city on women's empowerment, a diplomat overseeing the campaign said Tuesday.

Kang Chia-chi (康嘉棋), deputy chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of NGO International Affairs, said a "Taiwan Gender Equality Week" (TGEW) will be held to coincide with the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) being held at U.N. Headquarters from March 9 to 19.

To promote the event, which has been held annually since 2020 to back Taiwan's efforts to advance gender equality, Taiwan's representative office in New York is running an ad campaign featuring an animation display atop yellow taxis from March 6 to 19, Kang said.

The animation reads "Her rights, Our pride" and "Taiwan, Empowering Women," he said.

Bus shelters and subway stations near Midtown Manhattan as well as major tourist attractions will also feature billboards with the same wording from March 6 to 22 and March 6 to 19, respectively, he said.

As for Taiwan Gender Equality Week, a highlight of the program will be "Taiwan Cultural Night" on March 13, featuring remarks by invited guests and a performance by a Taiwanese jazz singer, he said.

More than 30 non-governmental forums will also be held during the series of activities, bringing together representatives from over 30 NGOs and government agencies to share Taiwan's gender equality initiatives with the international community, Kang said.

The theme of the CSW70 is "Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers."

Taiwan has sponsored TGEW because it is not a member of the U.N. and cannot participate in CSW70.