Taiwan Foundation for Democracy held the 18th Asian Democratic Human Rights Award ceremony at the Taipei Guest House on Thursday. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) personally presented the award to the winner and delivered a speech.
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The 18th Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award ceremony featured a performance by Sangpuy, a Golden Melody Award winner, who sang "The Road" and "Follow Your Steps." His music reflects the theme of the event, to inspire democratic partners to persevere through challenges, holding onto their beliefs in democracy and human rights. The performance also expressed gratitude to past democratic martyrs, providing solace for the land of Taiwan.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) personally presented the award to this year’s winner Amihan Abueva, a child rights advocate from the Philippines. President Tsai praised Abueva's decades-long dedication and contributions to defending children's rights and her tireless work to create a safer world for children. Tsai also emphasized Taiwan's commitment to safeguarding human rights, democracy, and freedom.
The President further explained Taiwan's efforts and achievements in child protection and promoting children's rights. She said the key to this is ensuring robust legislation, such as the "United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child," which Taiwan passed into law in 2014.
In her acceptance speech, Abueva not only explained the current work and goals of the Asian Children's Rights Alliance but also emphasized the need for children to have the ability to navigate the information overload and fake news prevalent in today's world. She added that a good government should also provide children with real and age-appropriate information. Abueva expressed her hope for more human rights defenders to engage in related work and thanked the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy for its contributions to the development of democratic human rights in Asia.