Diana Farah

DUBAI: Japan is hosting the World Assembly for Women 2022 (WAW! 2022) on Dec. 3, it was announced in an online press briefing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan on Tuesday.

During the briefing, FURUMOTO Tatsuhiko, Director for Gender Mainstreaming Division (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and ACHILLES Michiko, Senior Advisor of HR Strategy (SAP Japan Inc) spoke about the goals and vision for this year’s WAW event.

The main theme of the event, according to Furumoto, is ‘WAW! For Mainstreaming Gender into a New Form of Capitalism.’

Furumoto explained that the prolonged impact of COVID-19 and the current situation in Ukraine has led to increased economic and social instability, further highlighting existing gender inequalities in our global society.

WAW! 2022 will feature keynote speakers, including Iceland’s President Gudni Thorlacius Johanesson and Executive Director of UN Women Sima Bahous.

Throughout the assembly, ten sessions relevant to the new form of capitalism will take place, incorporating gender perspectives into various policies. Two special sessions will also focus on youths and rural areas, encouraging the next generation to participate in discussions on gender equality.

The G7 presidency will fall under Japan in 2023, therefore Japan will utilize WAW! 2022’s outcomes to engage in discussions about gender mainstreaming on an international level, Furumoto said.

SAP Japan’s Senior Advisor Achilles spoke about the challenges and opportunities for promoting women’s leadership and empowerment in Japan during the online press briefing.

She explained that the outlook is positive with the number of employed women has increased approximately 3.4 million in nine years since 2012.

She also said that the proportion of women in department manager, directors and section chief roles has been steadily increasing.

According to Achilles, the number of women executives has increased by 4.8 times since 2012.

The four pillars of the basic policy on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women 2022 includes:

• Economic Empowerment of Women
• Realizing a society in which women can live with dignity and pride
• Men’s engagement in families and communities
• To achieve the goals for appointment of women in the fifth basic plan

WAW! 2022 will be held for the first time in three years at Tokyo’s Mita Conference Hall.