Japan and the United Nations

On June 1, commencing at 11:45 a.m. for around 30 minutes, Mr. Masaji Matsuyama, Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, received a courtesy call from Ms. Lakshmi Puri, Acting Head of UN Women, who is visiting Japan to attend the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V). The overview of the meeting is as follows.

 

1. At the start of the meeting, Vice-Minister Matsuyama praised the activities of UN Women as an international organization leading international initiatives on gender issues. He stated that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is emphasizing the active participation of young people and women as one part of his Growth Strategy, and explained that the topic was touched upon in the foreign policy speech of Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida as well. He said that Japan intends to actively undertake initiatives on diplomatic issues related to women, and that as a member country of the UN Women Executive Board, Japan would continue to make active contributions to the organization’s activities. 

 

2. In response, Acting Head of UN Women Puri expressed gratitude for the support given by Japan to UN Women since its creation. She stated that taking the opportunity of the inauguration of the Abe Cabinet, which is emphasizing the active participation of women, UN Women wanted to cooperate for the initiatives of the Japanese Government and to work to protect and promote women’s rights across the world. She also requested further support from Japan for UN Women, noting that the organization has only just started its activities. 

 

3. Vice-Minister Matsuyama and Acting Head of UN Women Puri shared the view that they would continue to further strengthen cooperation in such fields as the protection and promotion of women’s rights, women’s empowerment and the elimination of violence against women.