Statement by Ms. AKITA Mio, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, at the UN Women Executive Board Annual Session 2021 : Agenda Item 3 (Strategic Plan)
2021/6/22
Thank you, Mr. President, for giving me the floor.
I would like to express our appreciation to the Secretariat once again for their efforts in revising the Strategic Plan. Japan supports the overall direction of the revised Strategic Plan, and I would like to share our views on some key areas.
First, I would like to emphasize the importance of focus on vulnerable populations. Although "leave no one behind" is placed at the heart of the Strategic Plan, it is not clear how to achieve this goal. To take everyone on board, the most vulnerable segment of the society must be looked after, and the empowerment of women and girls at the community level needs to be scaled up. We suggest articulating the kinds of concrete methodologies that can respect each individual beneficiary and capture their needs.
Second, we support four priority areas maintained in the new strategic plan. On the fourth thematic area, peace and security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction, I would like to reiterate the importance of responses to women and girls in vulnerable situations, particularly in light of the exacerbating pandemic and the adverse effects of conflicts and natural disasters. Clear direction and a response model to meet the needs of the most vulnerable population should be established. In addition, building inclusive and resilient communities, as well as securing the participation of each individual in such communities, holds a key to recovery from such dire situations. We also expect UN Women to strengthen its knowledge and expertise in the area of natural disasters and gender to give advice and guidance to partner organizations.
Third, Japan would like to see UN Women strengthen its system-wide mandate in conducting and achieving gender parity and enabling environments across the UN, in full alignment with the Secretary-General’s system-wide Strategy on Gender Parity. UN Women’s assistance in implementing the Strategy, such as strategic guidance, technical support and monitoring, would be much appreciated.
Fourth, on partnership with other UN agencies, there should be more reference to and concrete description of collaboration with other agencies, in particular, UNFPA, for the purpose of clearer demarcation of work, avoidance of duplication and stressing comparative advantage. The scope would cover collaboration in humanitarian and gender-based violence response, data collection and analysis.
Please be assured that Japan remains committed to supporting and working closely with UN Women and Member States to improve and implement the Strategic Plan.
Thank you.
I would like to express our appreciation to the Secretariat once again for their efforts in revising the Strategic Plan. Japan supports the overall direction of the revised Strategic Plan, and I would like to share our views on some key areas.
First, I would like to emphasize the importance of focus on vulnerable populations. Although "leave no one behind" is placed at the heart of the Strategic Plan, it is not clear how to achieve this goal. To take everyone on board, the most vulnerable segment of the society must be looked after, and the empowerment of women and girls at the community level needs to be scaled up. We suggest articulating the kinds of concrete methodologies that can respect each individual beneficiary and capture their needs.
Second, we support four priority areas maintained in the new strategic plan. On the fourth thematic area, peace and security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction, I would like to reiterate the importance of responses to women and girls in vulnerable situations, particularly in light of the exacerbating pandemic and the adverse effects of conflicts and natural disasters. Clear direction and a response model to meet the needs of the most vulnerable population should be established. In addition, building inclusive and resilient communities, as well as securing the participation of each individual in such communities, holds a key to recovery from such dire situations. We also expect UN Women to strengthen its knowledge and expertise in the area of natural disasters and gender to give advice and guidance to partner organizations.
Third, Japan would like to see UN Women strengthen its system-wide mandate in conducting and achieving gender parity and enabling environments across the UN, in full alignment with the Secretary-General’s system-wide Strategy on Gender Parity. UN Women’s assistance in implementing the Strategy, such as strategic guidance, technical support and monitoring, would be much appreciated.
Fourth, on partnership with other UN agencies, there should be more reference to and concrete description of collaboration with other agencies, in particular, UNFPA, for the purpose of clearer demarcation of work, avoidance of duplication and stressing comparative advantage. The scope would cover collaboration in humanitarian and gender-based violence response, data collection and analysis.
Please be assured that Japan remains committed to supporting and working closely with UN Women and Member States to improve and implement the Strategic Plan.
Thank you.