November 10, 2020

Japan's liaison council of the International Women's Year which consists of 34 nationwide women's NGOs on November 8 held its quinquennial convention in Tokyo, calling for Japanese women's rights to reach international standards.

In the convention, they set the following objectives: eliminate gender inequality through amendments to relevant laws; improve education and social systems concerning the promotion of gender equality; and increase their commitments to achieving the goals of "gender equality, development, and peace" in line with international standards.

Representing the liaison council, Okura Tamiko said that the council cerebrates its 45th anniversary of its founding and that 25 years have passed since the UN world conference on women in Beijing. She called on participants to engage in active debate on ways to narrow the gender gap in Japan which lags far behind in the area internationally.

Lawyer Hayashi Yoko, former chairperson of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, noted that Japan, despite being a CEDAW ratifier, ranked 121st among 153 countries in the latest global gender equality index. She talked about global efforts to address the issue while underscoring the need to think about not only gender discrimination but also all forms of discrimination, including that based on race, and to act in a comprehensive manner.

Also, in the convention, a panel discussion took place on such themes as Japan's inadequate sex education, the issue in which the beneficiary of COVID-19 benefits is the head of a household which in most cases is the husband, and Japanese NGOs' activities to eradicate sexual violence.

Past related article:
> Japan drops to record-low of 121st place in global gender equality ranking [December 18, 2019]