Press Releases

1. Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs delivered a video message at the symposium. The following is a summary of the message.
   • (1) Since the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, we have witnessed various achievements in the area of greater participation of women in peace processes and peacebuilding, the creation of various international frameworks for promoting this agenda, and a global trend of gender mainstreaming in security policies. It is clear that support for such efforts is expanding.
   • (2) New ideas are needed to elevate this important initiative to the next level and adding men’s perspectives on this issue is very critical. For example, Japan’s third National Action Plan specifically includes references to the need for men’s engagement and identifies strengthening of advocacy for men as a key action to take. It is also important to incorporate youth perspectives for further diversity. Another unique feature of Japan’s National Action Plan is that it includes a commitment to increase women’s leadership roles in decision-making in the area of disaster risk reduction stemming from natural disasters
   • (3) Japan has extensive experience in fighting natural disasters and we have struggled to promote women’s leadership and gender equality, including the issue of low numbers of female political leaders, while traditional notions of gender divisions of labor still remain. And because of that, I believe Japan can play a more proactive role in addressing specific challenges other countries face, and work on these areas together.
   • (4) With these ideas in mind, I would like to further promote the WPS agenda as Foreign Minister, with the determination to create a more peaceful world together by sharing and learning from each other among all countries, including the Indo-Pacific Region and the Global South, and especially with ASEAN, as this year marks the 50th anniversary year of Friendship with Japan.
2. The symposium was co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Japan and the United States to the UN, which was represented respectively by H.E. Kimihiro Ishikane, Permanent Representative of Japan and T.H. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Representative of the United States of America. Additional participants are listed below.
   • Amb. Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
   • Dr. Robert Nagel, Research Fellow, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
   • Dr. Gary Barker, President and Founder, Equimundo
   • Ms. Samsidar, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Indonesian Justice and Peace Foundation
   • Ms. Maho Nakayama, Director and Senior Program Officer, Peacebuilding Program, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
   Approximately 70 participants, including panelists, from various organizations and Permanent Missions attended the event in person, as well as many viewers participated online. During the panel discussion, participants actively discussed men’s participation and other related topics.

[Reference]
Video message scripts in English (PDF) and Japanese (provisional translation) (PDF)