CALD Officials Meet WFD in Taiwan

After the successful conclusion of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats’ (CALD) election mission in Taiwan, CALD Secretary General Francis Abaya and CALD Women’s Caucus Chairperson Jaslyn Go met with officials of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) in Taipei on 16 January 2024.

WFD is a UK public body which has been working for the past 30 years to strengthen democracy around the world. It is operating directly in more than 30 countries and territories across the world to make political systems fairer, more inclusive and more accountable. Taiwan is one of the most recent additions in the list of places where WFD operate.

The CALD officials were received by Naomi Barnard, WFD senior program manager in East Asia and the Pacific, and Nai-chia Chen, WFD program coordinator.  Apart from discussing the results of the recently concluded Taiwan elections, they also tackled the work of the WFD in the region and in Taiwan, in particular.

Abaya and Go expressed CALD’s interest to collaborate more with the WFD, especially after the WFD workshop on the sidelines of the Bali Civil Society and Media Forum 2023 which Go had the opportunity of attending. Go reiterated that she found the workshop very insightful, and that she intends to incorporate her learnings on both the process and content of the workshop in future CALD Women’s Caucus events.  She mentioned, specifically, her plans of having a special session on sexual harassment, promoting awareness of the code of conduct amongst participants, and designating personnel to ensure that all CALD events remain to be a safe space.

“As Liberals and Democrats, we put premium on creating an environment where all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or inclination can exercise their freedoms and realize their full potential”, said Go. “In the CALD Women Caucus, we want to realize this first by ensuring that the content and process of our events do not make anyone feel uncomfortable or unsafe. We hope that the WFD can partner with us in taking this initial step, so that we can be of greater assistance in making the region safer and more inclusive.”