Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality

From December 7th to 9th, Mr. UTO Takashi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, delivered a video message (English translation (PDF)), at the International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) hosted by the Government of Vietnam, as a member of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, with the support of the UN in Hanoi, Vietnam. This conference was organized to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the first UN Security Council Resolution specifically connected to issues of women and peace and security.

1. In the conference, leaders from approx. 30 countries and representatives from international organizations actively discussed under the themes of "designing and implementing national action plans" on WPS, which all the member countries are recommended to adopt based on the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000 and other relevant resolutions, and "the future of women in peacekeeping".
2. In one of the discussions, State Minister Uto in his video message stated that Japan has formulated a National Action Plan for the implementation of WPS and has been taking concrete actions domestically and internationally in four areas: participation, conflict prevention, protection, and humanitarian reconstruction assistance.
3. State Minister Uto also stated that Japan will continue to work closely with the international community and civil society in implementing the WPS amid the COVID-19 pandemic.