Taiwan’s National Human Rights Commission is calling on the government to set up a department dedicated to protecting children’s rights. That’s one of a number of recommendations from the commission aimed at preventing bullying, self-harm and suicide among children in Taiwan.
The most recent government statistics show that 21 children under the age of 15 killed themselves in Taiwan in 2020. That’s the highest number for at least 15 years.
The government’s top watchdog has found that most of the children who died were not in contact with school counselors. It also found that bullying and being unable to fit in at school were major factors behind the suicides.
On Monday, the National Human Rights Commission called for Taiwan to set up a dedicated agency for children and raise funding for counselors to face up to the problem of bullying.
Commission member Yeh Ta-hua says protecting children’s rights means protecting “the present and future generations” of Taiwan. She says Taiwan has to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to keep on moving towards a future fully rooted in respect for human rights.