(As delivered)

 

 

Statement by Ambassador Yoshifumi Okamura

Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations

 

At the Second Session of the UN-Women Executive Board

15 September 2015

 

 

Mr. President,

 

            At the outset, I would like to commend Your Excellency, Mr. Ib Petersen of Denmark, for your strong leadership as the President of the UN-Women Executive Board for 2015. I would also like to express my appreciation for the excellent statement just made by Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of UN Women.

            I reiterate Japan’s strong commitment as a member of the Board to continue to work closely with you.  

 

Mr. President,

 

            Last month, Japan hosted an international symposium in Tokyo entitled the “World Assembly for Women” (WAW! 2015).

            This was the second time we have hosted this symposium. This year, it gathered approximately 150 leading figures from Japan and around the world, namely 41 countries and 8 international organizations, in the field of women’s issues, especially in gender equality and women’s empowerment.

            Among them, we particularly appreciate the participation and contribution of Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka.

 

            WAW! 2015 was convened under the theme of “WAW! for All”.

            It posited that, in order to create a better world, not only women but also men, across all generations and social statuses, have to make commensurate efforts towards the common goal of gender equality and equal empowerment.  

 

            At the outset of the symposium, the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe, made a statement in which he said that the “final curtain has been drawn on the era in which people ask ‘why?’”

            He observed that we have for too long been asking ourselves ‘why’ we should promote the engagement of women.

            But, it is now broadly acknowledged that society would be greatly invigorated if women’s wide-ranging participation were assured. And it is not necessary anymore to keep justifying ‘why’ this is so.

            Rather, we must now move forward beyond the mere recognition of this fact toward its actual realization.

 

            Mr. Abe further declared that “Now is the time for us to discuss ‘how’”. We have to reflect on how to bring the gender equality and women’s empowerment into reality. This is his core message.

 

            There were many interesting debates held at the symposium. For example, we discussed work-life balance. The necessity of developing concrete measures for balancing work with family life was widely recognized.

            We also discussed how to promote women’s empowerment by engaging the men’s participation.

            We concluded that education is a key for women’s empowerment, in particular providing appropriate and high-quality education for both women and girls. In this connection, Mr. Abe committed to implementing ODA amounting to more than 42 billion Japanese yen towards education for women and girls.

 

            We are going to issue“WAW! To Do 2015”, which is not an ordinary outcome document, but rather an implementation platform to follow-up.

            Conferences usually produce outcome documents, but all too often it becomes difficult to follow up, or rather, easy to forget, such outcomes. But this is not a case for “WAW! To Do”. Japan faithfully followed up the actions included in last year’s “WAW! To Do” outcome document, and will do so again for this year’s.

            In this regard, I am pleased to share with you our successful follow-up actions from last year’s “WAW to do,” as well as the items included in this year’s outcome document through UN Women.

 

            I am also pleased to inform you that the kick-off ceremony for the UN Women Japan Liaison Office in Tokyo successfully took place on 30 August. Prime Minister Abe and Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka were both there to celebrate it, and we thank you again for your attendance.

            The new Liaison office is an important venue, which symbolizes the deepening partnership between UN Women and Japan. We sincerely welcome it.

 

Mr. President,

 

            With regard to the integrated budget for biennium 2016-2017, Japan welcomes that this next budget continues to focus on strengthening the base structure of field offices.

In this connection, I am confident that the new liaison office in Japan will served as an important coordination center for the Asia-Pacific region.

      

            Furthermore, in order to realize this goal, resource mobilization must remain a priority issue. In this context, Japan thinks it important for UN Women to make continuous efforts to broaden and deepen its resource base, including by engaging the private sector.

            For our part, we in Japan will do our best to mobilize further financial contributions, and also to collaborate in various ways toward strengthening the resource mobilization capacity of UN Women.

 

            I would like to underline the importance of gaining support and understanding of our tax payers when it comes to financial assistance. That is why we would like to encourage UN Women to improve accountability and transparency on its projects.

 

            In this connection, as clearly mentioned in the report of the Advisory Committee, we invite UN-Women to continue to make efforts to improve the operational efficiency and effectiveness of its projects.

            We invite also UN Women to build up its monitoring capacity so that it can ensure that donor funds are being used correctly. The results and expected outputs should be monitored if they are really being achieved.

 

            In this same context, we also expect UN Women to further advertise its effective activities and success stories to assure its visibility within international society.

            The way you present promising examples of your work is not insignificant matter in order to develop your positive reputation. It leads to building trust and cooperative relationships with your project partners. Your field offices should play a critical role on that regard.

 

 

Mr. President,

      

            After the Executive Board meeting, we will celebrate both the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and 15th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

            Women, Peace and Security is one of the key elements of women’s issues. We stand ready to support this agenda and cooperate with UN-Women towards the success of the High level Review meeting of the Resolution in October.

            In closing, I assure you that Japan, as a member of the Board since the inception of UN Women, will continue to contribute positively to the work of this Board and to take a leading role in this important field.

 

I thank you very much, Mr. President.