POLICY & DIPLOMACYIMPROVING
WOMEN’SSTATUS
CREATES AN EMPOWERED SOCIETY
Japan will host the World Assembly for Women (WAW!) this December toincrease momentum toward achieving gender equality and empoweringwomen. With extensive experience in developing corporate talent,
ACHILLES Michiko—selected by the American magazine Diversity Global
as one of the “2017 Top 10 Influential Women in Global Diversity”—talks
about Japan’s efforts and the challenges involved.
The Government of Japan isaccelerating its actions toward
gender equality and women’sempowerment to create a society
in which everyone’s individualityand diversity are respected,regardless of gender. In December,

ACHILLES Michiko is Senior
Advisor of HR Strategy at SAP Japan.
She joined the APEC Women andthe Economy Summit from 2010 to2012 as Japan’s representative. Also
representing Japan at G20
EMPOWER, an international
alliance, she has worked to expand
women’s involvement amongcorporate decision-makers.

the sixth World Assembly for
Women (WAW! 2022) will beheld in Tokyo. The conference
invites leaders in different fields
from around the world for
discussions on gender issues inJapan and other countries.

According to the World
Economic Forum’s index ofnational gender gaps, Japan still
has a long way to go. However,the country is making steadysteps toward solving its issues. InJune, the Kishida administration
announced the Intensive Policy
for Gender Equality and theEmpowerment of Women 2022
(the Basic Policy on Gender
Equality and the Empowermentof Women 2022), which focuseson involvement by both menand women. The measures
advocate for women’s economic
independence through diverse
lifestyles. One of the specificactions is the requirement thatcompanies with 301 or more
employees disclose their gender
pay gaps.
ACHILLES
Michiko,amember of the WAW! advisors
and Japan’s G20 EMPOWER
co-chair, recognizes the policy as“a major step forward.” She adds,“Governments and corporations
are both taking action in a

Left: Women foreign ministers
from seven countries joined thefifth WAW! in March 2019.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Malala Yousafzai (far left) wasamong the speakers.
Bottom: Achilles was a speaker
and on the host committee forthe 2017 Global Summit ofWomen.

positive direction. That includes
real efforts to address gender gaps
within organizations and also
among employees at the same job
level. The next challenge will beto accelerate this drive.” Genderstatistics and their disclosure
are also essential from an ESG
perspective, and the disclosureof Japan’s female manager ratio
in the G20 EMPOWER 2020
report—in line with International
Labour Organization (ILO)standard statistical methods—isanother step forward.
Japan is meanwhile putting
effort into developing female
talent in digital technology. In
2020, the modal (most common)age of death for Japanese women
was 93. As we enter a time whenmany people live for 100 years,
economic independence forwomen is absolutely essential.
Japan has a three-year plan to focus
on developing female tech talent
to encourage women—many ofwhom have been employed inlower-wage industries—to workin digital fields. This is a promisingmeasure to heighten women’svalue in the labor market.

Achilles appreciates that thepolicy also focuses on men. She
says, “In addition to supporting
women’s careers, it’s importantto change men’s behavior
and encouraging men to takechildcare leave is one way to dothat. It would get men involved intheir families and communities,
letting married couples build theircareers together.”
According to Achilles, Japan
has designed several excellent
systems that mark it apart fromother countries, such as generous
leave and financial support forchildbirth and childcare, as well as
public and private childcare centerswith affordable fees. Achilles isenthusiastic about WAW! 2022.
“It will be a great opportunity tohave a deeper discussion about
the priority policy measuresand common global challenges
and to learn best practices, suchas family support policies,” shenotes. “It is important to show
our commitment to promoting
women’s empowerment and theireconomic independence.”
Further promoting genderequality and women’s empowerment

will help build the foundations
for accelerating diversity andinclusion in Japan. Throughout
history, Japan has developed
while taking in ideas fromvarious cultures. Achilles cites
Sony—which has emphasized
and respected employee diversity
while
producing
numerous
innovations—as a good example
of being proactive about adding
various perspectives to theirdecision-making. With a smile,
she says, “Besides, it’s more fun towork with different people withdifferent perspectives, isn’t it?”
Women’s empowerment leads togrowth for society and companies,
and Japan will push to achievethat empowerment.