Prime Minister Kishida's Participation in the “HeForShe” Summit
September 21, 2022
[Provisional translation]
On the morning of September 21 (local time, before dawn of September 22 in Japan) for approximately 30 minutes, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio participated in the "HeForShe Summit" during his visit to New York to attend the 77th UN General Assembly. The overview of the Summit is as follows.
1. Male leaders from various fields who are actively working hard toward realizing gender equality and promoting women's empowerment gathered at this summit, where Prime Minister KISHIDA was inaugurated as the HeForShe Champion for the second term, following former Prime Minister ABE Shinzo.
2. After a moment of silence for the late ABE, Prime Minister KISHIDA stated that "women's economic independence" is at the core of "New Form of Capitalism," as well as an important key to addressing the structural problems such as pay gap between men and women, which women in Japan are facing and to ensuring that all women can follow the path they have chosen.
3. In addition, Prime Minister Kishida stated that as women and girls face the grave human rights violations of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine and other parts of the world, the Government of Japan has been contributing to the Global Fund for Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, and has now committed an additional 2 million EURO and that Japan will continue to support women and girls to regain their dignity and to live their lives in their own way.
4. Toward the realization of gender equality, including "women's economic independence," Prime Minister Kishida introduced the "World Assembly for Women (WAW!)”, which the Government of Japan will host on December 3. He called on participants to engage in active discussions with people from around the world.
5. At the Summit, together with Prime Minister Kishida, UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, as well as leaders from various fields participated in the Summit called on the world to make efforts to realize gender equality.
［Reference 1］HeForShe Movement
UN Women (UN Women) launched the "HeForShe Movement" in 2014, believing that the involvement of men is indispensable for promoting gender equality. Prime Minister ABE then was selected as one of the 10 heads of state (HeForShe Champion). Prime Minister KISHIDA will be the second HeForShe Champion (from 2022 to the end of 2025).
［Reference 2］ Prime Minister Kishida's Commitment as HeForShe Champion
The four pillars of Prime Minister Kishida’s Commitment as HeForShe Champion are (1) women's economic independence, (2) active communication on the promotion of women's advancement, (3) further strengthening cooperation with UN Women, and (4) ending Sexual Violence in Conflict.
