Statement by H.E. Ambassador OSUGA Takeshi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, at the First Regular Session of the Executive Board of UN-Women
2020/2/14
Mr. President,
At the outset, I would like to join the previous speakers in expressing warm welcome to you and other bureau members. I would also like to express my appreciation to Madam Mlambo-Ngcuka for her comprehensive statement.
I wish to make three points.
First, in this exceptional year, Japan will also renew its commitment to the shared cause of gender equality by hosting the 6th WAW! – World Assembly for Women – this April in Tokyo. The main theme will be “WAW! with Men – free from stereotyping yourself” and the keynote will be kindly given by His Excellency Mr. Gudni Johannesson, President of the Republic of Iceland, who is one of the HeForShe Impact Champions along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. We warmly welcome Ms. Anita Bhatia, Deputy Executive Director, to represent UN Women in this meeting. We look forward to relaying the expected enthusiasm nurtured in Tokyo to Mexico City and Paris.
Second, I am personally delighted to witness the 10th anniversary of UN Women as I was deeply engaged in the drafting of the report of the High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence entitled “Delivering as one” back in 2006, which led to the creation of UN Women four years later. The main idea was to put together the “normative and analytical” functions held by OSAGI and DAW and the “policy advisory and programming” function of UNIFEM into one.
Japan takes positive note of the recent efforts of UN Women in change management, but when reviewing its structure and operation, the fact that the most powerful and unique advantage of UN Women lies in its composite structure should never be overlooked. Japan is a passionate supporter of the human security concept and highly values UN activities that focus on the needs of the most vulnerable people on the ground. In case of UN Women, however, Japan believes that its normative and analytical function should also be emphasized. It is the backbone that enables UN Women to play an active role in mainstreaming gender equality across the UN system and also provide effective policy advice to both developing and developed countries, striving to achieve the SDG 5.
My third and last point. Japan commends UN Women’s efforts in broadening its partnership base. Reaching out for resources not only to governments but also to the private sector and to individuals including through national committees, is all the more important because it constitutes an effective means of advocacy and policy advice towards a wide variety of stakeholders, including in donor countries.
Thank you very much.
At the outset, I would like to join the previous speakers in expressing warm welcome to you and other bureau members. I would also like to express my appreciation to Madam Mlambo-Ngcuka for her comprehensive statement.
I wish to make three points.
First, in this exceptional year, Japan will also renew its commitment to the shared cause of gender equality by hosting the 6th WAW! – World Assembly for Women – this April in Tokyo. The main theme will be “WAW! with Men – free from stereotyping yourself” and the keynote will be kindly given by His Excellency Mr. Gudni Johannesson, President of the Republic of Iceland, who is one of the HeForShe Impact Champions along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. We warmly welcome Ms. Anita Bhatia, Deputy Executive Director, to represent UN Women in this meeting. We look forward to relaying the expected enthusiasm nurtured in Tokyo to Mexico City and Paris.
Second, I am personally delighted to witness the 10th anniversary of UN Women as I was deeply engaged in the drafting of the report of the High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence entitled “Delivering as one” back in 2006, which led to the creation of UN Women four years later. The main idea was to put together the “normative and analytical” functions held by OSAGI and DAW and the “policy advisory and programming” function of UNIFEM into one.
Japan takes positive note of the recent efforts of UN Women in change management, but when reviewing its structure and operation, the fact that the most powerful and unique advantage of UN Women lies in its composite structure should never be overlooked. Japan is a passionate supporter of the human security concept and highly values UN activities that focus on the needs of the most vulnerable people on the ground. In case of UN Women, however, Japan believes that its normative and analytical function should also be emphasized. It is the backbone that enables UN Women to play an active role in mainstreaming gender equality across the UN system and also provide effective policy advice to both developing and developed countries, striving to achieve the SDG 5.
My third and last point. Japan commends UN Women’s efforts in broadening its partnership base. Reaching out for resources not only to governments but also to the private sector and to individuals including through national committees, is all the more important because it constitutes an effective means of advocacy and policy advice towards a wide variety of stakeholders, including in donor countries.
Thank you very much.