以性別主流化觀點檢視我國援外政策

Abstract

隨著冷戰終結及全球化下人類安全議題的興起，當前大部分的民主國家在進行對外援助時，已不再只以傳統的現實外交利益為依歸，而是開始從「以人為本」的角度出發，將基本人權價值之傳佈與分享視為重要考量；做為人類發展不可或缺的一部分，「性別平權」與發展援助議程之整合也已逐漸在國際間形成重要共識，而自1995年《北京行動綱領》提出後，「性別主流化」更成為實現性別平等最重要的全球性策略，為各國政府與發展援助機構所普遍採行。 我國雖非聯合國會員國，但在民間婦運團體之敦促與政府的推動下，性別主流化已陸續在國內各政策部門中獲得具體落實；此外為配合「活路外交」的政策方針，我國政府亦自2009年起展開援外事務之轉型與改革，宣示將跳脫「金錢外交」迷思，積極與國際援外潮流接軌。在既有國際趨勢影響、又有國內政策目標推動的情況下，我國援外政策是否具備足夠的性別平權意識，便成為一個值得檢視的問題；而本研究之宗旨，即在於以性別主流化之觀點檢視我國援外政策，並以國合會的兩項發展援助計畫為例，探究我國政府是否能夠將其所標舉的性別平權價值由內政延伸到外交層次，進而透過援外工作來實踐之。 本研究經實地訪談發現，我國援外政策近年來已在計畫管理層次取得相當程度的推展。惟可惜的是，外交部與國合會對於「發展」的認知，迄今似仍停留在「維持邦交」與「追求總體經濟成長」之思維；而由於政府未能體認到人權價值與永續發展之間的不可分割性，我國現階段的援外政策似乎既不與國際性別平權趨勢連結、亦尚未進入國內的性別主流化議程。做為負責任的國際社會成員，我國在推動援外時若能呼應國際間的多元治理脈動，嘗試透過跨國網絡之串連來實現對受援國人民基本人權的關懷，相信將能使我國援外工作之執行更為有效，且更能發揮包括性別平等在內的人權價值意涵，最終使具體的個人獲得發展。

With the rise of human security concept in the post-Cold War era, the “People-Centered” approach to development has been widely recognized by the international community. For most donor states today, the priority of foreign aid is to promote human rights alongside pursue their own diplomatic and political interests. Meanwhile, there has been an emerging consensus that “gender equality”, as an essential part of human development, must be seriously considered and integrated into any foreign aid agenda. After the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995, “Gender Mainstreaming” has been endorsed by governments and institutions as the most important global strategy for improving gender equality. Although not a member of the United Nations, Taiwan continues to make efforts toward achieving gender equality by adopting mainstreaming strategies. Furthermore, under its “Flexible Diplomacy” policy, Taiwan government has also promised to stop “Checkbook Diplomacy” and has started to adjust its foreign aid initiatives. With clear trends toward gender equality both domestically and internationally, to what extend has Taiwan’s foreign aid policy been engendered is now worth discussing. This research thus aims to examine Taiwan’s foreign aid policy through a gender mainstreaming perspective. Based on case studies of two ICDF projects, this research attempts to distinguish whether or not “gender equality”, which has been strongly emphasized by Taiwan government as an important domestic policy goal, has truly been considered on the foreign aid agenda. This research finds that Taiwan’s foreign aid policy has improved in terms of project management. However, the government remains unaware of the indivisible link between human rights and sustainable development and still holds a rather narrow definition of “development” focusing exclusively on economic growth. As a result, it seems that gender equality in Taiwan’s foreign aid policy is neither in accordance with the international expectations nor integrated into its own domestic agenda. This research suggests that in order to become a responsible stakeholder in the international community, Taiwan must play a more active role in promoting human development by conforming to the global trends in foreign assistance. A multi-level governance model should be applied not only to increase the effectiveness of Taiwan’s foreign aid, but to ensure that people in the recipient countries can fully enjoy his or her fundamental rights to development and equality.