The COVID-19 epidemic has dealt a severe blow to the global economy. Vulnerable groups and women especially are encountering the challenges of post-epidemic livelihoods. To assist our Latin American and Caribbean allied countries in post-pandemic economic recovery and to enhance women’s economic empowerment, the TaiwanICDF, in eight Latin American and Caribbean countries, promotes the project “Assisting the Economic Empowerment of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Post-Pandemic of COVID-19”. On May 17, 2022, in the three allied countries of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, the TaiwanICDF convened an online regional forum  "Current Status and Challenges of Women's Economic Empowerment in Central America and Prospects," simultaneously broadcasting live in Spanish (English) through social media and audio-visual platforms to discuss the current situation of post-pandemic economic development in Central America and the way to solve the problems related to post-pandemic economic recovery. It also integrates the phased results from the project-participating countries and shares Taiwan's experience and practices.

The forum invited important officials in related fields from the three countries of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, as well as representatives of UN Women and other agencies to deliver speeches. In his opening speech, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu, who is also the chairman of the TaiwanICDF, expressed that Taiwan hopes to help women and disadvantaged groups in Latin America and the Caribbean through different means such as capacity building and financial services, and enhance their competitiveness in the post-pandemic economy. 

The TaiwanICDF Secretary-General Timothy T.Y. Hsiang indicated in his speech that the project integrates the three elements of technical assistance, education and finance, and provides vocational skill training for women's employment, entrepreneurship consulting, institutional function enhancement and credit guarantee assistance, to improve livelihoods of women’s families and thereby enhance the level of economic empowerment. In addition, the project also promotes the International Women's Empowerment Initiative with like-minded countries to increase society's attention towards women's equal rights and socioeconomic status. Through the provision of these resources and opportunities, we help to improve the lives of women in Central America and to open up the doors to a better future.

In addition, Ambassador to Guatemala Cheng Li-cheng, Ambassador to Honduras Diego Wen, Ambassador to Belize Kuan-Chou Chien, Guatemala's Deputy Minister of Economy Fernando Escalante, the Honduras Presidential Delegate for the Women's City program Tatiana Lara Pineda, Belize’s Governor-General H.E. Froyla Tzalam, and Representative of UN Women in Guatemala Aura Leticia Teleguari, were all invited to give speeches, and UN Women specialist Eugenia Close was invited to give a keynote speech, and we continued to exchange opinions on issues of women's empowerment in Central America with Nohelia Núñez, consultant of the Women's City program, Ms. Elvia Vega-Samos, Minister of Human Resources Development, Family and Indigenous Affairs of Belize, Ms Maya Ch´oc, CEO of Sarstoon Temash Aboriginal Research Institute in Belize, and Antonio Wei, consultant for the Investment and Trade Service Mission in Central America of the TaiwanICDF.

All the participants at this meeting affirmed the achievements of TaiwanICDF efforts in promoting women’s economic empowerment in Latin America and the Caribbean. The women who benefited from the programs in the three countries of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize also shared their training experience through videos in the forum and thanked Taiwan for the assistance. The TaiwanICDF will continue to invest in Latin America and the Caribbean to assist post-pandemic economic recovery and the promotion of women's rights, actively strengthening the resilience of women-dominated small and medium-sized enterprises and helping them continue to grow.

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• Update: 2022/06/14
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