Taipei, March 6 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian trumpeted his work to promote women in politics Thursday, citing a 2000 United Nations survey that ranked Taiwan the first country in Asia and the 20th in the world in terms of women's political power.
In a ceremony organized by the Council of Labor Affairs to honor companies which provide good care for their female employees and pre-school children, the president said gender equality is a measurement of social advancement.
Chen said the 2000 presidential election that swept him to power ushered in a new era in the country's history by electing its first ever female vice president, Annette Lu.
Female members also account for a bigger share in his administration than in any previous one, the president said.
He said with pride that women have played a greater role in shaping the country's policy since he took the reins of the country.
The Gender Equality in Employment Law, which took effect March 8 last year "would have been unimaginable" when the country was ruled by the government that preceded his administration, according to Chen.
He said his administration has done what the previous government failed to do by revising the Labor Insurance Statute to give female workers whose careers are interrupted by pregnancy or nursing babies the right to continue their previous enrollment on the labor insurance program when they resume their work.
However, Chen admitted that there is still a lot to do to create a society where men and women are on a totally equal footing and he urged his countrymen to work together for this goal.