Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality
Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Kishida by the Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) (Submission of the Final Report)
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
On December 12, 2023, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio received a courtesy call by representatives of the Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC), chaired by Dr. SHIRAHASE Sawako, the University of Tokyo, for approximately 15 minutes commencing at 16:15 p.m., and received the final report of the GEAC.
- Eight GEAC members including Dr. SHIRAHASE paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister KISHIDA to submit the final report "Gender Mainstreaming for an Inclusive, Peaceful, and Just Society" and expressed their strong expectation that Japan and other G7 members will further promote gender equality and women's empowerment through gender mainstreaming, utilizing the four pillars of recommendations in the final report.
- Prime Minister KISHIDA welcomed the submission of the final report following the summary of recommendations which was submitted in May 2023 and reiterated his appreciation for the GEAC's contribution to the G7 discussions for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. He further expressed his wish to continue to lead global efforts to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in all their diversity, and to further advance gender mainstreaming.
The GEAC is an external advisory body that makes recommendations on gender equality for G7 leaders. Launched in 2018 by Canada during their G7 Presidency, and has since been convened by the respective G7 Presidency each year. The GEAC has submitted recommendations to the leaders of the G7 to achieve gender equality and promote the empowerment of women.
This year, 14 members actively involved in the gender field from the G7 and other countries as well as international organizations were appointed and submitted a summary of recommendations of the GEAC to Prime Minister Kishida on May 8, prior to the G7 Hiroshima Summit.
GEAC members who participated in the courtesy call are (in alphabetical order after the Chair, title omitted):
- Sawako Shirahase, Chair of GEACsor of University of Tokyo;
- Caroline Farberger, Chair / Board Executive / Investor;
- Maxime Houinato, Regional Director, UN Women East and Southern Africa Regional Office;
- Reiko Kuroda, Designated Professor at Chubu University / Professor Emeritus at The University of Tokyo;
- Hedwige Nuyens, the Chair of European Women on Boards;
- Sarah Sands, Deputy Chair of the British Council;
- Anda Sapardan, Co-Founder of Sehati TeleCTG; and
- Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Georgetown University Institute for Women, Peace & Security / former US Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues.
This report is the final deliverable by GEAC 2023 members, convened by Prime Minister Kishida as leader of the G7 Presidency.
In the report, concrete measures to promote gender mainstreaming were recommended to G7 leaders in the four pillars of "economic empowerment", "education", "peacebuilding", and "data", based on case studies and best practices in each pillar.
