Press Releases
WPS Focal Points Network 7th Capital-Level Meeting, Tokyo, Japan
On February 4th and 5th, the WPS Focal Points Network 7th Capital-Level Meeting was held at the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan. State Minister for Foreign Affairs FUJII Hisayuki attended the opening session and gave an opening speech.
- In his speech, State Minister Fujii expressed his pleasure that Japan, together with Norway, is assuming the role of co-chair of the WPS Focal Points Network in 2025, the 25th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on WPS. He noted that Japan has been promoting WPS, including the participation of women in disaster risk reduction, and he hoped that the discussions at this meeting would lead to concrete actions to promote WPS agenda. Furthermore, he noted that the Government of Japan will contribute approximately 2 million US dollars to the UN Women to support the formulation of the WPS national and regional action plans in the Asia-Pacific region and its functions as the secretariat of the Focal Points Network. He also expressed his determination to contribute to the promotion of the WPS agenda around the world on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the WPS.
- In the morning of February 4th, the opening session was followed by a plenary session. In the breakout sessions held in the afternoon of the same day, participants discussed the importance of women's participation in peace mediation and peacebuilding, the application of the WPS agenda to disaster risk reduction and new issues arising from the progress of technologies, under the themes of “Role of Women in Peace Mediation and Peacebuilding and as Human Rights Defenders” and “Further Elaboration of the WPS Agenda, Including Advancing Its Application to Disaster Risk Reduction”.
- In the morning breakout session of February 5th, participants discussed under the theme of “Significance of Development and Implementation of National and Regional Action Plans”. Good practices and experiences from various countries and regions were shared regarding the formulation and implementation of WPS national and regional action plans.
- At the plenary session in the afternoon of the same day, the draft of the WPS Focal Points Network 7th Capital-Level Meeting Communiqué was read out based on the discussions of the two-day meeting, indicating the concrete directions and actions that the international community should take together in the future.
In 2000, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted the UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), which stated for the first time in the Council's history that international peace and conflict prevention and resolution require the equal participation of women, protection against sexual violence in conflict, and gender equality. To implement the resolution and related resolutions, Japan has so far formulated and implemented three rounds of action plans.
The WPS Focal Points Network is a network amongst the UN Member States to promote the WPS commitments through sharing lessons learned and good practices among Member States and regional organizations; as of January 2025, a total of 103 members from 93 countries and 10 regional organizations are the participants. Japan and Norway are the Co-Chair of the Network in 2025.