Japan-Finland Relations
Foreign Minister Kamikawa exchanged views with Ms. Inka HOPSU, Chair of the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations (NYTKIS) and Ms. Silla KAKKOLA, Secretary General of NYTKIS
January 9, 2024
On January 9, commencing at 12:20 p.m. local time (same day, 7:20 p.m. JST) for approximately 60 minutes, Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, during her visit to Helsinki, Finland, held an exchange of views with Ms. Inka HOPSU, Chair of the Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations (NYTKIS) and Ms. Silla KAKKOLA, Secretary General of NYTKIS. The overview is as follows.
- At the outset, Ms. Hopsu expressed her sympathy to the victims of the recent Noto Peninsula earthquake, and Minister Kamikawa expressed her gratitude. Minister Kamikawa also welcomed Secretary General Kakkola's upcoming visit to Japan to deliver the keynote speech at the NWEC Global Seminar and, Minister Kamikawa touched on her activities as Japanese ambassador for the WPL, she stated her view that it is important to specifically work on issues surrounding women and WPS with an awareness of the aspect connecting individual countries and organizations. Ms Hopsu and Secretary General Kakkola welcomed Minister Kamikawa's visit to Finland and stated that they were delighted at the opportunity to hold an exchange of views.
- Minister Kamikawa also stated that as Minister for Foreign Affairs, she is vigorously promoting WPS as part of Japan's major foreign policy. In particular as she visited Kiev and Warsaw until yesterday to hear firsthand the stories of Ukrainian women and children, she expressed her hope that the WPS perspective would be incorporated into support for Ukraine specifically. Ms Hopsu praised Minister Kamikawa as a role model and she introduced the role of NYTKIS and the current status of gender equality in Finland. They had a frank exchange of views on topics such as the WPS, women's participation in politics, and especially balancing work and childcare.