Press Releases
Dispatch of a female Self-Defense Force personnel to NATO headquarters
1. Lieutenant Colonel Chizu KURITA, from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, will be sent to NATO Headquarters as the adviser to NATO Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security in the office of the Secretary General from December 1, 2014 for approximately two years.
2. In the meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Secretary General last May during the visit of Prime Minister to NATO HQs, it was decided that the government of Japan would send a Japanese female government personnel. Based on this decision, the dispatch of Lt. Col. KURITA to NATO HQs was arranged through necessary coordination between the government of Japan and NATO.This dispatch is in line with the Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme (IPCP) between Japan and NATO that was signed by Prime Minister Abe during his visit to NATO HQs. The IPCP upholds the promotion of Japan-NATO cooperation in the area of women, peace and security.
3. Lt. Col. KURITA will give advice on integrating a gender perspective into various policies and activities of NATO and promoting the active role of women based on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, as well as engage in other relevant tasks.
4. Japan and NATO are “reliable natural partners” that share fundamental values and are corroborated by concrete actions. The dispatch of a female Self-Defense Force personnel to NATO HQs is expected to further enhance such cooperative relationship between Japan and NATO.
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
NATO is responsible for three core tasks of collective defense, crisis management, and cooperative security. The principle responsibility is to defend territories and people of its members. NATO has 28 members.
IPCP (Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme)
IPCP is a document serving as guiding principles for Japan-NATO cooperation and was signed and announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during PM’s visit to NATO Headquarters on May 6, 2014. The IPCP will help advance cooperation in a broad range of fields from global commons such as the seas and cyberspace to disaster relief, women, peace and security, and defense exchanges.
Missions of NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security
NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security takes a leadership in raising awareness of NATO’s policies and activities in the area of Women, Peace and Security, and ensuring their coordination, and cooperating with the United Nations and other relevant organisations. Ms. Skåre, a Norwegian diplomat, who had been in the job until the end of September 2014, attended the World Assembly for Women Tokyo 2014 (WAW! Tokyo 2014) held in the middle of September to share NATO’s efforts in the area of women, peace and security. As her successor, Ambassador Schuurman, a Dutch diplomat, has just assumed the post on October 24.