Details

Agenda (subject to change)

In June 2014, Germany assumed the presidency of the Group of Seven (G7), and hosted the meeting of heads of state and government a year later in 2015. In this context, Federal Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel chaired a multinational “G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women” in Berlin. There, Dr Merkel met with female representatives from business, science, research and civil society, discussing possibilities for sustainably strengthening the role of women in the public and private sector.

Education and professional development have, for example, been identified as indispensable factors for economic participation of women in developing countries. Nevertheless, many industrialized states, including Germany, are still lagging behind in appointing women to leadership positions. As the acting G7-president, Japan will convene the summit in May this year. It is to be expected that the empowerment of women will again constitute an important topic since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe initiated a campaign aimed at improving gender equality, which has been internationally coined “womenomics”.

With the G7-meeting in Japan just around the corner, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS, Japan Office), is hosting this conference in cooperation with the Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB) in order to foster dialogues to further improve the socio-economic and political participation of women. Here, distinguished speakers from Asia and Europe will have the opportunity to exchange their ideas and expertise with in-depth discussions.

Programme

Venue: Room REI

09:00

Registration of participants

09:30

Welcome Remarks

• Paul LINNARZ, Regional Representative for Economic Policy, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (Tokyo office)
• Friederike BOSSE, General Secretary, Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB)

09:45

Opening Statement

• Monika SOMMER, Counsellor (Labour and Social Affairs), German Embassy Tokyo

10:00

Keynote Speech 1

• Akiko Taguchi, Director for Japan, International Labour Organization

Keynote Speech 2

• Roberta CLARKE, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

10:30

Coffee Break

11:00

Session 1: The “G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women” concluded in September 2015 that countries with increased women’s participation and leadership in the economy, civil society and political parties tend to be more inclusive and democratic. Hence, this session aims to analyse how international platforms , institutions and other organizations are viable in boosting the economic empowerment of women.

• Birgit GRUNDMANN, Former State Secretary, Ministry of Justice (Germany)
• Mikiko OTANI, Member of the Grounding the Global – International Mechanisms Programme and former member of the Regional Council and Programme and Management Committee of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development APWLD (Japan)
• Paolo FRANCISCO, Executive Director, AIM RSN Policy Center for Competitiveness (Philippines)
• Meijun QIAN, Associate Professor , College of Business and Economics, Australian National University
• Q&A moderated by: Ji-Hyun KIM, Tokyo Correspondent, The Korea Herald

12:30

Break (Coffee and Tea will be provided)

14:00

Session 2: Having established a foundation in the first session, this discussion will identify key challenges and conditions in strengthening the role of women in the private and public sector. What prerequisites are the sine qua non of sustained gender equality? How can gender discrimination and violence against women be effectively and efficiently eradicated? Here, the importance of access to education, economic autonomy, reconciliation of work, family and private life and other factors will be thoroughly examined.

• Minh Ha HUYNH, Deputy Director, Business Information Center, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Vietnam)
• Keiko HIRAO, Professor, Sophia University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (Japan)
• Sun-Mi KANG, Director, Harang Gender Training Center (Korea)
• Natsuko HAGIWARA, Professor, Graduate School of Social Design Studies, College of Sociology, Rikkyo University (Japan)
• Gesine FOLJANTY-JOST, Director, Institute of Political Science and Japanese Studies, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany)
• Q&A moderated by: Ji-Hyun KIM, Tokyo Correspondent, The Korea Herald

15:40

Coffee Break

16:00

Session 3: This session will give attention to regional perspectives about women in leadership positions and their influence on female empowerment in politics and the economy. What are the legal and socio-cultural hurdles for women to take up leadership roles and how do societal shifts such as demographic change affect the accessibility to such positions?

• Veasna BUNCHHITH, Secretary General, Cambodian National Council for Women (Cambodia)
• Ruhi AHMED, Head of CSR, BSRM Group (Bangladesh)
• Yi-Chien CHEN, Board Member, Awakening Foundation & Associate Professor, Graduate Institute for Gender Studies, Shih Hsin University (Taiwan)
• Luzviminda A. VILLANUEVA, Project Manager (Rank of Deputy Director), GREAT Women Project-2, Philippine Commission on Women (Philippines)
• Michiko ACHILLES, Vice President, Head of Human Resources, SAP Japan / Director & Vice Chair of the Board, NPO GEWEL (Japan)
• Q&A moderated by: Ji-Hyun KIM, Tokyo Correspondent, The Korea Herald

17:40

Closing Remarks

• Paul LINNARZ, Regional Representative for Economic Policy, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (Tokyo office)

Language

English-Japanese (simultaneous interpretation)

Registration

Your participation is free of charge. Please apply with your full name, affiliation and, whether or not you would like to attend the reception after the event by April 15th to the KAS Japan Office via E-Mail (KAS-Tokyo@kas.de). Registrations will be handled on a first come, first served basis. If you get no reply to your application within a week, please contact us again. On the event day, please bring your business card to the registration desk.

We are looking forward to welcoming you at our event.