Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality

Date: December 10, (Wed), 2025 13:30-17:30
Location: Elizabeth Rose Conference Hall, United Nations University (map)

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the "Beijing Declaration" and "Platform for Action," which provided guidelines for efforts toward gender equality, stating that "women's rights are human rights" at the Fourth World Conference on Women.

During this time, the international community has undertaken various efforts to achieve gender equality. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), set by the United Nations in 2015 as international goals aiming for a sustainable and better world by 2030, also include "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls" as Goal 5.

However, according to this year's World Economic Forum report, based on the current speed of progress, it will take 123 years to reach full gender parity globally, and it is necessary to further accelerate efforts.

On the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, based on the SDGs and the "Pact for the Future" adopted at the Summit of the Future last year, UN Women has identified six priority areas for action by 2030 to accelerate efforts toward gender equality and women's empowerment: (1) A digital revolution, (2) Freedom from poverty, (3) Zero violence, (4) Full and equal decision-making power, (5) Women, Peace and Security (WPS), and (6) Climate justice. It is strongly expected that young people will become the driving force involved across all these areas.

In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started the Next Generation Networking Program for Gender Equality this fiscal year. Its aim is for Japan to promote gender equality (SDG Goal 5) together with the world, especially in Asia, thereby achieving a flexible and resilient future society that is rich in diversity and able to respond to new challenges.

The Program comprises three pillars, one of which is the Next Generation Forum which will be held in December. It aims to provide the youth as future promoters of gender equality with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of international discussions and issues in the gender field, promote research and discussions among them, foster their development, and build networks. The forum emphasizes encouraging young participants to think for themselves and bring their thoughts to future actions, incorporating an interactive format.

This First Gender Next Generation Forum for Gender Equality will welcome the Executive Director of UN Women, Dr. Sima Bahous, to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. She will share international issues and trends surrounding gender equality and convey a message to the youth.

The main body of the forum consists of three sessions. In Session 1, a panel discussion on the theme of women's participation will be held. Among the aforementioned six priority action areas, Japan is particularly committed to "Full and equal decision-making power" and "WPS." Women's participation is fundamental for reflecting women's opinions in decision-making and is also one of the four pillars of WPS. Based on reports from overseas indicating that Japan is particularly lagging in women's participation in the political and economic fields, this session will feature individuals active in various sectors who will share their experiences and discuss why women's participation is important, what is needed to promote it, and what the youth can do now.

During Session 2, young researchers dispatched to overseas research institutions under the Next Generation Networking Program will give their reports. They will mainly talk about trends in international gender studies they observed during their dispatch and the importance of building networks with overseas research institutions.

Finally, in Session 3, we will focus on gender bias (gender roles), which is considered one of the factors hindering the promotion of women's participation. Speakers will share their experiences in schools and workplaces, discuss the impact of gender bias, the need for improvement in promoting women's participation, and what is required to achieve that.

It is expected that the younger generation, who have deepened their understanding of gender equality through this forum, will be active in the private sector, academia, civil society, central and local government, and international organizations and reflect gender perspectives in various policies and contribute to the promotion of the SDGs and a gender-equal society both domestically and internationally.

Online registration for Next Generation forum for Gender Equality is available until December 3 (Wednesday). If there are excessive number of applicants, we may determine audience by lot.

Please make sure to show your registration completion email on your smartphone or bring a printout of the email at the registration desk along with your photo ID.

• Next Generation Forum for Gender Equality General Audience Registration Form

13:00-13:30 Registration

17:30 End