The Control Yuan (CY) was invited by the Ombudsman's Office of Paraguay, a member of the Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsperson (FIO), to attend the annual meeting of the Network of National Human Rights Institutions in the Americas (RINDHCA) held on August 3, 2026 in Paraguay. During the meeting, the CY delivered a keynote presentation, engaging in cross-border exchanges with ombudsperson institutions and human rights organisations from Latin America, climate experts from NGOs, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, indigenous community support organizations, as well as the representatives of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and the United Nations (UN). Discussions focused on environmental disasters, climate emergencies, and human rights risks facing the Americas.
RINDHCA is a significant regional network that unites ombudspersons, human rights commissioners, and human rights institutions across the Americas, serving as a key platform for dialogue among human rights organizations in the region. The 2026 annual meeting focused on the impacts and challenges of climate change on human rights protection, with member institutions invited to share their domestic experiences and good practices. Approximately 203 participants from 18 countries attended the meeting. During the opening ceremony, the Chair of GANHRI, a representative from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and Taiwan's ambassador to Paraguay, Ivan Lee (李岳融), all emphasized the urgency of addressing climate change and its human rights implication. As the host of this year’s meeting, the Ombudsman's Office of Paraguay, which has long maintained friendly relations with Taiwan, proactively invited the CY to deliver a keynote presentation. This not only recognized Taiwan's extensive experiences in human rights protection and disaster governance, but also marked a tangible outcome of the CY's active efforts to expand international exchanges on human rights.
Climate change is no longer merely an environmental issue. The increasingly frequent and complex disasters associated with climate change pose direct threats to people's lives, property, and the right to adequate housing and safety. Therefore, it is crucial to encourage governments to strengthen disaster prevention measures while safeguarding disaster-affected communities.
Representing the CY at the meeting, Director General Doris Lin-ling Uang (汪林玲), Executive Secretary of the International Affairs Committee, shared Taiwan's experience through the CY's supervisory work. Given Taiwan's exposure to multiple natural hazards, including typhoons, earthquakes, and torrential rainfall, the country has developed extensive experiences in disaster prevention and response. Drawing on two representative investigations — “Government Response to Devastating Heavy Rain” and “Prevention and Improvement Measures for Forest Fires”— the CY demonstrated how it exercises its oversight powers to urge government agencies to actively address deficiencies and improve relevant mechanisms. Additionally, the CY called on governments worldwide to shift from a “post-disaster relief” approach towards one focused on “prevention and resilience building”. To this end, it proposed five key recommendations: establishing independent oversight and accountability mechanisms; strengthening risk information and technological early warning systems; enhancing cross-sectoral and inter-agency coordination; promoting social participation and public-private partnerships; and investing in talent development and financial resources to build a people-centered disaster risk response system.
The CY's participation in the RINDHCA Annual Meeting represents an important step in strengthening Taiwan's ties with ombudsperson and human rights institutions across Latin America. The CY looks forward to continuing to exchange knowledge and experiences through international platforms such as RINDHCA on issues including climate change, good governance, and human rights, and to working together to advance the global protection of environmental human rights.