The 27 KFAW Foreign Correspondents’ ReportsthSumiyah :Empowerment from Within
Ms. Astri HIDAYATIPro file

I graduated from University of Sebelas Maret,
majoring in communication. Currently, I am pursuing amaster’s degree in mass communication at University
ISSN 0918-8266
of Airlangga. I used to work as a communication
officer for a government office and decided to resign
when my daughter was born. I am also freelancing
besides taking care of my daughter. My husband is a
(Indonesia)
journalist and helps a lot in the house.

Sumiyah is a 49-year-old woman living with her husband
who works as a fisherman and three children who are
currently enrolled in high school and junior high school.
Living by the sea where many people work either as
fishermen or fishmongers, Sumiyah has found an
opportunity to make some extra income for her family,
which is also related to fish and fishing.
Due to the fact that she is from a poor family, Sumiyah
never got a proper level of education for herself. Therefore,
when she got married and tried to support her family’s
income, all she could do was an informal job that didn’t pay
much. As a mother of three with a husband who works on
the sea for days, Sumiyah was extremely busy managing
her time. Financial hardship due to the lack of income madeher do many things by herself since she had to save themoney.
Until 2010, Sumiyah was working as a snack seller tosupport her family. The spirit of getting more income tosupport her family made Sumiyah actively look for
information near her home, in case there are job opportunities
for her. Sumiyah’s home is located not far from the sea andher village is known as a fishing village. Around the area,
there is a fish auction center where the fishermen sell theirfish. When Sumiyah received news about the opportunity to
get a job of deboning milkfish at the auction center, sheapplied for it. But, first of all, she had to take training forfive days. The training was provided by the Ministry ofMarine Affairs and Fisheries for free of charge. 50
participants took part in the event. Those who passed thetraining would have the opportunity to work at the auction
center.

ISSN 0918-8266
ISSN 0918-8266

ISSN 0918-8266

cook and prepare dinner. After 6:00 p.m., when her husband
is about to work as a fisherman, Sumiyah prepares his food,clothes and drink. Her husband comes home on the following
day at around 11:00 a.m.
According to Sumiyah, her life drastically changed after
2010 when she completed the training and began to get moreincome from the auction center. Before 2010, she doubted
whether her children could get proper education due to thefamiliy’s low income. Since she finally got the chance toincrease her family’s income, all of her children are now at
school, which makes her so happy.
Sumiyah’s determination to change her life by herself isa picture of how women empowered by the situation cancreate a good result in the end. Such empowerment was
gained due to her own mind or outside pressure. Sumiyah
showed us how life can be made better if we try. In the caseof Sumiyah, she had the opportunity to empower herself
with the help of the government through the training which
was provided for free, in addition to her husband’s support.

As we have seen above, women’s empowerment canhappen in many forms. Sumiyah determined to get a better
life, and she got the chance. Her determination was
supported by the chance provided by the government as
well. To some extent, governments must also be there toactively support empowerment. Such trainings as the one
attended by Sumiyah
have proven to be very
useful. Of course thewillingness of women tobe empowered is the mostimportant point. But at
The five-day training made Sumiyah trained to; 1.
the same time, there
remove bones from milkfish, 2. create long-lasting snacks
should also be some kindusing the fish as the main ingredient. This experience reallyof active supports from
opened Sumiyah’s eyes. Now she got many points of view
governments everywhere.
that might increase her family’s income. After passing andEmpowerment
doesn’tcompleting the training, Sumiyah got the job at the auction
have to be complex andcenter. She became a worker who specializes in deboning
complicated. As seen inmilkfish. Her working time is from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Sumiyah’s case, tailored
every day. For the job there, she earns approximately
programs
mustbeRp.100,000 (almost 1,000 yen). After finishing the job at theprovided considering theauction center, Sumiyah gets home and then prepares tolivelihood and what isstart selling snacks for school children. Indeed Sumiyah
needed by women around
Sumiyah is cleaning the fish.
still continues her previous activity to double her income.
the area.
KITAKYUSHU OTEMACHI BUILDING 3F
Location of
11-4, KOKURAKITA, KITAKYUSHU, 803-0814 JAPANShe works until about 5:00 p.m. Sumiyah then proceedsOTEMACHI
to
Kitakyushu

Location of
Kitakyushu
DalianBeijing

DalianSeoul

Tokyo
Kitakyushu
LocationBeijing
of
Seoul
Tokyo
KITAKYUSHU OTEMACHI BUILDING 3F
Kitakyushu
OTEMACHI 11-4, KOKURAKITA, Kitakyushu
KITAKYUSHU, 803-0814 JAPAN
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434 FAX＋81-93-583-5195

KFAW

DalianE-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en

Beijing

Seoul

KITAKYUSHU OTEMACHIBUILDING 3F
FAX＋81-93-583-5195
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434
E-mail:kfaw@kfaw.or.jp
URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en
OTEMACHI
11-4, KOKURAKITA,KITAKYUSHU, 803-0814 JAPAN
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434 FAX＋81-93-583-5195

KFAW E-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
KFAWfund for revitalization
OTEMACHI BUILDING
governmentKITAKYUSHU
projects. 3F
Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as a

The Kitakyushu
Forumon Asian Women (KFAW)803-0814
was established in October of 1990 with a special
OTEMACHI
11-4, KOKURAKITA,
foundation by
the Ministryof Labour (theKITAKYUSHU,
present Ministry of JAPANHealth, Labour and Welfare). The purpose
FAX＋81-93-583-5195
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434
government
fund for revitalization
projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as aof the KFAW
istopromotetheimprovementof
women'sstatus through various projects as well as theirE-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en
PRINTED
WITH
foundation by the Ministry of Labour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).
The purpose
mutual understanding and cooperation in Asia.
of the KFAW is to promote the improvement of women's status through various projects asSOY
well as
their
INK
KFAW
PRINTEDsoy ink.
WITH
This copy is printed with environment-friendly
understanding
andcooperation
Asia. was established in October of 1990 with a special
Themutual
Kitakyushu
Forum on
Asian
Womenin(KFAW)
TM

Tokyo
SOY INK
Kitakyushu
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women(KFAW) was established in Octoberof 1990withspecialgovernment
fund
fora revitalization
projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as aThis copy is printed with environment-friendly soy ink.

government fund for revitalization projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the foundation
KFAW wasasofaLabour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The purposeby recognized
the Ministry
No.82 March 2018
foundation by the Ministry of Labour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour
andKFAW
Welfare).
purposeof theis toThe
promotethe improvement of women's status through various projects as well as theirTMCurrent Issues Series

Women Today

Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and Gender (Part 3)

Promoting Women’s Contribution
to Conflict Resolution
and Peace Building
The women and peace issue has long been asignificantly important issue of gender equality. Indeed,
the goals of the 1975 International Women’s Year aswell as the UN Decade of Women were Equality,
Development and Peace.
In 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously
adopted resolution 1325 which acknowledges theimportance of the participation of women and theinclusion of gender perspectives in peace negotiations,humanitarian planning, peacekeeping operations, postconflict peacebuilding and governance. In addition, theparticipation of women in politics is also recognized asimportant for the participation of women in decision
making on peace and security. In 2008, UN Security
Council resolution 1820 became the first resolution torecognize sexual violence as a tactic of war. Until now,
six other resolutions to follow up 1325 and 1820 wereadopted by the Security Council.
The Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), which was
adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women heldin 1995, has been considered as a holy text for achieving
gender equality. Gender mainstreaming is one of theimportant accomplishments of BPFA. 1325 is theresolution which achieved gender mainstreaming inconflict resolution and peace building first in our history.
Formulation of National Action Plans (NAP) to
implement 1325 was started by Denmark in 2005 andfollowed by other countries. As of 2017, 72 countries
among the 193 UN member countries have formulated
the NAP. In the Asia and Pacific region, 12 countries
includingthePhilippines(2010),
Nepal(2011),
Australia(2012), Kyrgyzstan(2013), Republic of Korea
and Indonesia(2014), Afghanistan, Japan and New
Zealand(2015), Tajikistan and East Timor(2016),
Solomon Islands (2017) have formulated NAP.
Special features of the countries which formulated
1325 NAP are developed countries which have provided
ODA to countries with conflicts as well as countries whichhave/had conflict within/outside the respective countries.
The only country which formulated a law on 1325 is
the USA. The Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 was
proposed by a parliamentarian of the Democratic Party toensure that the United States promotes the meaningful
participation of women in mediation and negotiation
processes seeking to prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent
conflicts and was adopted in September 2017.
Japan’s NAP was formulated with close collaboration
with civil society, such as holding twelve different
meetings for drafting, organizing consultation meetingsin five local areas including Kitakyushu. Although thecontents of the Japan NAP was slightly changed during
the final process, the formulation process with GO/

No.82 March 2018

Ms. Hiroko HASHIMOTO

NGO collaboration is innovative and the contents of
NAP are comprehensive as it contains actions forrecovery from natural disaster.
In 2015, on the 15-year anniversary of 1325, UN
Women conducted a global high level study on theimplementation of 1325. The results found that although
the number of peace agreements which referred to women
increased, women’s participation in peace negotiation was
9% and female ratio among PKO was 3%. Furthermore,
women’s participation was concentrated in the lower
ranking level. Another study found that the successfulrate of peace negotiation was increased when the female
ratio in the peace negotiation group was higher.
In July 2016, I participated in the Asia-PacificRegional Symposium on National Action Plans on
Women, Peace and Security organized by the Asia-PacificRegional office of UN Women. At the Symposium, I madea statement on monitoring and evaluation of 1325 NAP,
with special emphasis on involvement of civil society. My
surprise was that a country where internal conflicts exist
explicitly stated that the country has no plan to formulate
NAP since there is no conflict in the country.
As the important aspect of women, peace andsecurity (WPS), I would like to discuss the impunity ofthe perpetrators of gender based violence (GBV) which
has been perpetrated even by the officers of the PKO.
The victims are not only women, but also, men, LGBT
people, and even young girls and boys. In order toprevent GBV, the United Nations and member countries
have conducted gender training of military officers andcivilians. In the case of the self-defense forces of Japan,
after training has been provided to all officers,
occurrence of GBV within the force was significantly
reduced. In addition to gender training for eradicating
GBV, role of school education and media is absolutely
essential. Furthermore, I strongly believe thatpunishment of perpetrators is imperative. UN Secretary
General emphasized zero tolerance for GBV. However,there are not so many countries that refer to punishmentof the perpetrators of GBV in NAP. This fact should be
the reflection of insufficiency of international agreements
on punishing perpetrators of GBV.
Pro file
Professor Emeritus of Gender Studies of Jumonji
University and Principal of Jumonji High School, Japan.
Japan Representative to the United Nations Commission
on the Status of Women 2011-2017.
Member of Asia-Pacific Regional Advisory Group on
Women, Peace and Security.
Member of JICA Advisory Board on Gender Issues
Published books and articles on gender mainstreaming ingovernment and women, peace and security.

1

Pro file

Principal of Jumonji High School/
Professor Emeritus of Jumonji University

Obtained master of development study degree from Jones
International University (UNDP Development Academy) in the
U.S. Entered Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. After serving
at Japanese Embassy to France, former Zaire, Japanese Mission
to the UN and others, dispatched to UNDP in 2001. Retired
from Foreign Ministry in 2005, served as a senior advisor to
UNDP in charge of coordination and funding of East Timor
humanitarian assistance, Kosovo Deputy Resident Representative,
and Country Director in Chad. Assigned to the current post
since January 2014.

Director of UNDP Representation Office in Tokyo

Mr. Tetsuo KONDO

As mentioned in my previous articles, Goal 5 of theSDGs is to ensure gender equality and women’s
empowerment. Now let us consider what our society will
look like when gender equality and women’s empowerment
are achieved. Needless to say, our society should be freefrom gender based violence and ensure equal rights for
women. However, this is not sufficient to say that SDGs
Goal 5 is achieved. Although gender gap in the area of
health and education is gradually narrowing, the samecannot be said for that in political and economic life.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender
Gap Report, it may take more than 200 years to achieve
economic gender parity given the current pace. Women’s
political participation has a similar delay. Overall, theremaining challenges to achieve global gender equality
are daunting.

processing, and water pumping. The village women are
responsible for farm work and caring for children and theelderly, in addition to domestic work such as cooking andcollecting water and firewood. The multi-functional
platform improves the labor conditions of women andprovides opportunities for income generation. By using
the machine, women can process shea butter for sale,and the distributed income can be used for their family
and the maintenance of the machine. Thus, alleviating
the burden of unpaid work generates opportunities for
women and the revitalization of the community.
At the World Assembly for Women conference held inTokyo, I attended a panel on the redistribution of theburden of unpaid work. The conference focused on thesignificance of the “3R”; In order to tackle the issues
working women are facing today, we have to recognize,
reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work. Many of you
may remember Hilary Clinton’s concession speech after
her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential
election. She addressed her female supporters saying,“We have still not shattered that highest and hardest
glass ceiling.” It is true that a thick glass ceiling prevails
for women trying to take leadership in society. The
Cabinet Office of the government of Japan conducted asurvey in 2016 that indicated 40.6% of the respondents
were in favor of the notion that “husbands should workoutside and wives should stay home to care for theirfamily.” In order to break the glass ceiling, each one of us
should discard such stereotypes and fight against
unconscious gender discrimination.

High quality education and technology for youth andwomen are essential for the structural reform andindustrialization of the economy; it is the basis of a stable
health system and social equilibrium. To say that theempowerment of women is the empowerment of allsociety is not an overstatement. However, even with thegrowing presence of women in the labor market, there isa persistent perception that women are responsible fordomestic work and childcare. Women expend one to threehours more than men on domestic work, and twice to tentimes more on childcare, care of the elderly, and nursing.
This prevents women from participating in the labormarket, causing gender pay gaps, and compelling many
women to resort to informal labor. Uneven sharing of theburden of unpaid care work is thus one of the mostsignificant obstacles to achieving SDGs in the area ofgender equality and women’s empowerment.

In 2016, the Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD) adopted the Nairobi
Declaration supporting a cross-sectoral approach to theempowerment of women. TICAD VI noted that theredistribution of the burden of unpaid work will resolve
gender disparity and will consequently benefit thecontinent by adding $105 billion to its economy. Genderequality is a challenge not only for women but also for allof us. Let us all take action in our daily life to achieve
Goal 5 of the SDGs.

The issues of unpaid labor are not limited to developed
countries alone. In Chad, where I was working as thecountry director of UNDP, a project that distributed
multi-functional platforms in the southern pastoral
areas brought great changes to the lives of local women.
This platform is fueled by diesel engine and serves
multiple purposes such as electric power generation, food2

No.82 March 2018

Current Issues Series

Women Today

Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and Gender (Part 3)

Promoting Women’s Contribution
to Conflict Resolution
and Peace Building
The women and peace issue has long been asignificantly important issue of gender equality. Indeed,
the goals of the 1975 International Women’s Year aswell as the UN Decade of Women were Equality,
Development and Peace.
In 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously
adopted resolution 1325 which acknowledges theimportance of the participation of women and theinclusion of gender perspectives in peace negotiations,humanitarian planning, peacekeeping operations, postconflict peacebuilding and governance. In addition, theparticipation of women in politics is also recognized asimportant for the participation of women in decision
making on peace and security. In 2008, UN Security
Council resolution 1820 became the first resolution torecognize sexual violence as a tactic of war. Until now,
six other resolutions to follow up 1325 and 1820 wereadopted by the Security Council.
The Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), which was
adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women heldin 1995, has been considered as a holy text for achieving
gender equality. Gender mainstreaming is one of theimportant accomplishments of BPFA. 1325 is theresolution which achieved gender mainstreaming inconflict resolution and peace building first in our history.
Formulation of National Action Plans (NAP) to
implement 1325 was started by Denmark in 2005 andfollowed by other countries. As of 2017, 72 countries
among the 193 UN member countries have formulated
the NAP. In the Asia and Pacific region, 12 countries
includingthePhilippines(2010),
Nepal(2011),
Australia(2012), Kyrgyzstan(2013), Republic of Korea
and Indonesia(2014), Afghanistan, Japan and New
Zealand(2015), Tajikistan and East Timor(2016),
Solomon Islands (2017) have formulated NAP.
Special features of the countries which formulated
1325 NAP are developed countries which have provided
ODA to countries with conflicts as well as countries whichhave/had conflict within/outside the respective countries.
The only country which formulated a law on 1325 is
the USA. The Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 was
proposed by a parliamentarian of the Democratic Party toensure that the United States promotes the meaningful
participation of women in mediation and negotiation
processes seeking to prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent
conflicts and was adopted in September 2017.
Japan’s NAP was formulated with close collaboration
with civil society, such as holding twelve different
meetings for drafting, organizing consultation meetingsin five local areas including Kitakyushu. Although thecontents of the Japan NAP was slightly changed during
the final process, the formulation process with GO/

No.82 March 2018

Ms. Hiroko HASHIMOTO

NGO collaboration is innovative and the contents of
NAP are comprehensive as it contains actions forrecovery from natural disaster.
In 2015, on the 15-year anniversary of 1325, UN
Women conducted a global high level study on theimplementation of 1325. The results found that although
the number of peace agreements which referred to women
increased, women’s participation in peace negotiation was
9% and female ratio among PKO was 3%. Furthermore,
women’s participation was concentrated in the lower
ranking level. Another study found that the successfulrate of peace negotiation was increased when the female
ratio in the peace negotiation group was higher.
In July 2016, I participated in the Asia-PacificRegional Symposium on National Action Plans on
Women, Peace and Security organized by the Asia-PacificRegional office of UN Women. At the Symposium, I madea statement on monitoring and evaluation of 1325 NAP,
with special emphasis on involvement of civil society. My
surprise was that a country where internal conflicts exist
explicitly stated that the country has no plan to formulate
NAP since there is no conflict in the country.
As the important aspect of women, peace andsecurity (WPS), I would like to discuss the impunity ofthe perpetrators of gender based violence (GBV) which
has been perpetrated even by the officers of the PKO.
The victims are not only women, but also, men, LGBT
people, and even young girls and boys. In order toprevent GBV, the United Nations and member countries
have conducted gender training of military officers andcivilians. In the case of the self-defense forces of Japan,
after training has been provided to all officers,
occurrence of GBV within the force was significantly
reduced. In addition to gender training for eradicating
GBV, role of school education and media is absolutely
essential. Furthermore, I strongly believe thatpunishment of perpetrators is imperative. UN Secretary
General emphasized zero tolerance for GBV. However,there are not so many countries that refer to punishmentof the perpetrators of GBV in NAP. This fact should be
the reflection of insufficiency of international agreements
on punishing perpetrators of GBV.
Pro file
Professor Emeritus of Gender Studies of Jumonji
University and Principal of Jumonji High School, Japan.
Japan Representative to the United Nations Commission
on the Status of Women 2011-2017.
Member of Asia-Pacific Regional Advisory Group on
Women, Peace and Security.
Member of JICA Advisory Board on Gender Issues
Published books and articles on gender mainstreaming ingovernment and women, peace and security.

1

Pro file

Principal of Jumonji High School/
Professor Emeritus of Jumonji University

Obtained master of development study degree from Jones
International University (UNDP Development Academy) in the
U.S. Entered Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. After serving
at Japanese Embassy to France, former Zaire, Japanese Mission
to the UN and others, dispatched to UNDP in 2001. Retired
from Foreign Ministry in 2005, served as a senior advisor to
UNDP in charge of coordination and funding of East Timor
humanitarian assistance, Kosovo Deputy Resident Representative,
and Country Director in Chad. Assigned to the current post
since January 2014.

Director of UNDP Representation Office in Tokyo

Mr. Tetsuo KONDO

As mentioned in my previous articles, Goal 5 of theSDGs is to ensure gender equality and women’s
empowerment. Now let us consider what our society will
look like when gender equality and women’s empowerment
are achieved. Needless to say, our society should be freefrom gender based violence and ensure equal rights for
women. However, this is not sufficient to say that SDGs
Goal 5 is achieved. Although gender gap in the area of
health and education is gradually narrowing, the samecannot be said for that in political and economic life.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender
Gap Report, it may take more than 200 years to achieve
economic gender parity given the current pace. Women’s
political participation has a similar delay. Overall, theremaining challenges to achieve global gender equality
are daunting.

processing, and water pumping. The village women are
responsible for farm work and caring for children and theelderly, in addition to domestic work such as cooking andcollecting water and firewood. The multi-functional
platform improves the labor conditions of women andprovides opportunities for income generation. By using
the machine, women can process shea butter for sale,and the distributed income can be used for their family
and the maintenance of the machine. Thus, alleviating
the burden of unpaid work generates opportunities for
women and the revitalization of the community.
At the World Assembly for Women conference held inTokyo, I attended a panel on the redistribution of theburden of unpaid work. The conference focused on thesignificance of the “3R”; In order to tackle the issues
working women are facing today, we have to recognize,
reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work. Many of you
may remember Hilary Clinton’s concession speech after
her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential
election. She addressed her female supporters saying,“We have still not shattered that highest and hardest
glass ceiling.” It is true that a thick glass ceiling prevails
for women trying to take leadership in society. The
Cabinet Office of the government of Japan conducted asurvey in 2016 that indicated 40.6% of the respondents
were in favor of the notion that “husbands should workoutside and wives should stay home to care for theirfamily.” In order to break the glass ceiling, each one of us
should discard such stereotypes and fight against
unconscious gender discrimination.

High quality education and technology for youth andwomen are essential for the structural reform andindustrialization of the economy; it is the basis of a stable
health system and social equilibrium. To say that theempowerment of women is the empowerment of allsociety is not an overstatement. However, even with thegrowing presence of women in the labor market, there isa persistent perception that women are responsible fordomestic work and childcare. Women expend one to threehours more than men on domestic work, and twice to tentimes more on childcare, care of the elderly, and nursing.
This prevents women from participating in the labormarket, causing gender pay gaps, and compelling many
women to resort to informal labor. Uneven sharing of theburden of unpaid care work is thus one of the mostsignificant obstacles to achieving SDGs in the area ofgender equality and women’s empowerment.

In 2016, the Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD) adopted the Nairobi
Declaration supporting a cross-sectoral approach to theempowerment of women. TICAD VI noted that theredistribution of the burden of unpaid work will resolve
gender disparity and will consequently benefit thecontinent by adding $105 billion to its economy. Genderequality is a challenge not only for women but also for allof us. Let us all take action in our daily life to achieve
Goal 5 of the SDGs.

The issues of unpaid labor are not limited to developed
countries alone. In Chad, where I was working as thecountry director of UNDP, a project that distributed
multi-functional platforms in the southern pastoral
areas brought great changes to the lives of local women.
This platform is fueled by diesel engine and serves
multiple purposes such as electric power generation, food2

No.82 March 2018







  
Date & Time: Sat., November 25, 2017, 13:00-16:00
Venue:
Large Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center, MOVEKFAW organized a symposium on elder care from the perspective of gender and the acceptance of foreign caregivers to Japan under thetheme of “Who Will Care for You in Your Old Age?” In his keynote lecture, Mr. Wako Asato, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto

University, spoke about the current state of nursing care on the ground in Japan and overseas. During the panel discussion, participants
discussed and exchanged ideas about the current state of long-term nursing care and foreign care workers in Taiwan, Province of China, thesituation of accepting foreign caregivers at facilities in Japan, and the experiences of a Filipino woman who is active as a care worker in Japan.

Keynote Speech                                      
              
  ­                                                                                              
       (Associate Professor, PhD, Graduate
School of Letters, Kyoto University) 

                  
                     
                                        
                                     
    

                                  
              
                                      
   
                      
    
     
         
  

No.82 March 2018     
                              
                              
               
  
              
                 
              

Panel Discussion<Coordinator>   (President of KFAW)

Panelist Presentation 1

  ­­

(Professor, Institute of Health and Welfare
Policy, National Yang-Ming University)         
               
          ¡          ¢           
                        
                       ¢                
                                             
        
                       £                                                        
                                                   
   
    
       ­     Panelist Presentation 3    (Certiﬁed Care Worker, Special elderly nursing
home “Dai-ni Keizansou Poppo”) 
                             
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          
     
                                          
              
  ¥               ¢                   
 
 
            
                 
                                              
                     
    £                 ¢  Panelist Presentation 2

 

(Director, Social Welfare Corporation“Seizanrikai”)­          
  ¡                
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                                ¢ 
 



No.82 March 2018

Reports on FY2017 KFAW Asian Researchers Network Seminar“The Forefront of Marriage Situations in the Islamic World”
Date & time Sun., October 22, 2017, 14:00-17:00
Venue	Small Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center, MOVE
Lecturer	Kazuaki TAKEMURA (Research Institute for Languages and Cultures ofAsia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Hiroko MINESAKI (Associate Professor, Aichi University of Education)
Kazumi YAMAZAKI (Associate Professor, Yokohama City University)
Satomi OHGATA (Professor, Kyushu International University)

Pro file

The 27th KFAW Foreign Correspondents’ Reports

Ending Child Marriage

Yoga Trainer and Facilitator: ACE school
I have an MBA degree with key subjects such as
management and marketing. Previously, I worked as acoordinator at Ambe Murari Sewa Kendra (AMSK), a nonprofit organization and oversaw coordinating, managing
and reporting activities to donors. In addition, I also act asa resource person for yoga training for various clubs andorganizations and help schools develop yoga curriculums
for primary and secondary level kids.

Ms. Yojana POKHAREL (Nepal)

Participants 44

This seminar presented the reality of diversified marriages
in Muslim countries, namely Egypt, Iran, and Indonesia.
In Egypt, financial burdens to be shouldered when getting
married are increasing. The wedding expenses include costsfor holding an engagement reception, arranging housing andpurchasing furniture and household goods, giving an amountof money called “sadak” to the bride by the groom inaccordance with the Islamic law, and holding a wedding
reception to make the marriage publicly known. The right todivorce, which is quite strong, is granted only to the husband
and denied to the wife. The husband can unilaterally end his
marriage without the wife’s consent by simply declaring a
divorce three times. The divorce thus finalized is irrevocable,
and the husband can no longer retract it.
In the case of Iranian wedding, the marriage process istaken in the following order: signing a traditional marriage
contract according to the Islamic law, announcing theengagement, holding a wedding ceremony (reception), andhaving a post-wedding ritual (banquet on the day following

the wedding ceremony). In Iran, a marriage proposal iscommonly made to the parents of the prospective bride first.
Then, it will be formally accepted if the bride’s parents judge
the couple to be a good match. Aside from the traditional
marriage, there is a growing trend among young men andwomen to live together before marriage, as well as to marry a
person they meet by chance. There are also cases where
husbands are put in jail for failing to pay a deferred mahr.
As one of the diversified forms of marriage in Indonesia,
polygamous marriage was introduced. Public opinions
towards polygamous marriage are divided even within the
country. For instance, there is a significant difference in theratios of those who oppose or favor polygamy between Jakarta
and Lombok, indicating regional disparities are conspicuous.
Also, interfaith marriage is prohibited under the Indonesianmarriage law. Therefore, if a couple who follow different
religions wish to get married, one of them must convert to thesame religion as the other.

“I Still Want to Have a Boy:

Ms. Sangeeta Bhandari
introduced
some
Nepaliproverbs, such as “To be born adaughter is a lost destiny,” and“The birth of a son paves theway to heaven.” She also gave
supplementary
explanation
concerning Nepali people’s true feelings about son preference
as follows: “Even though people say in public that theywouldn’t mind not having a son, they are not speaking out
their honest thoughts,” “Some husbands divorce their wives
and remarry in an attempt to have a son,” and “Even educatedpeople wait for the right moment when it is believed to easily
conceive a baby boy”. As possible reasons for their preference
for boys, she cited the following traditional customs of thecountry: a successor is essential for the continuation of thefamily and the caste due to the patriarchy; a son is ranked
higher in the inheritance order; a daughter-in-law takes careof her in-laws, whereas a married daughter becomes a
member of another family; only male members of a bereaved
family can light a funeral pyre; and a dowry, which is the sumof money given to the groom by the bride’s family upon
marriage, is considered burdensome.

The Current State of Son Preference in Nepal”
Fri., December 15, 2017, 14:00-16:00
Small Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center, MOVE
Lecturer 	Mayuko SANO (Associate Professor, Fukuoka Prefectural University)
Sangeeta Bhandari (President, Sunrise Orphanage Nepal)
Participants 29
Date

Venue

In Nepal, the selective abortion of female fetuses is widelypracticed among women irrespective of their social hierarchyboth in urban and rural areas, which has become a social
problem. In this seminar, the reality of prenatal sex selection
and its social background were introduced based on thefindings of a survey conducted from 2015 to 2017.
Since 1985, the sex ratio in Nepal has been high (105 to
107 males per 100 females), suggesting that the sex selective
abortion is suspected to be prevalent. It is pointed out thatson preference has become prominent after abortion was
legalized in Nepal in 2002. The survey analysis shows thatpeople in urban areas tend to prefer boys compared withthose in rural areas, while relatively poor people, those withlower educational backgrounds, and those belonging to alower caste also have preference for boys.

Following last fiscal year, KFAW gave an outreach lecture to
students at Jiyugaoka High School as part of the career development
program. Through the lecture and the workshop, the students realized
the value and significance of working, while gaining a better
understanding of the challenges we face in today’s society and theimportance of expressing their own opinions. Later, the students
visited 19 business establishments in the city to exchange opinionswith their employees, and further made a poster presentation about
the establishments they toured. This experience should serve as agood opportunity for the students to think about their futures.

Career Development Program for
Jiyugaoka High School Students
Date & Time Sat., September 30, 2017, 8:55-11:45
Venue

Gymnasium, Jiyugaoka High School

Lecturers 	Koichi MATSUMOTO (Associate Professor, Kyushu International University)

Naosuke YAMAWAKI (Lecturer, Kyushu Kyoritsu University)
Participants 467 second-year students of Jiyugaoka High School

No.82 March 2018

5

Since 1963, child marriage has been illegal in Nepal but
Center for Research on Women (ICRW) suggests that childit has not been abolished in practice. Factors such as lack ofmarriage will cost developing countries trillions of dollars
access to education, child labor, social pressures, dowry
by 2030. Likewise, young girls are more likely to suffer
practices and discrimination against girl children in thefrom uterine prolapse and obstetric fistula when they getfamily are the major contributors of such practice. According
pregnant after marriage due to underdevelopment of theirto the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nepal
reproductive organs. Girls who marry early also face an
has the third-highest rate of child marriage in Asia, withincreased risk of domestic violence and psychologicalmore than 40 percent of girls marrying before age 18, and 10
trauma.
percent before 15, though the minimum age of marriage for
In contrast, ending child marriage would have a largeboth women and men is 20 under Nepali law.
positive effect on the educational attainment of girls and
Nepal’s government has made some effort to end thetheir children, encourage women to have fewer children
practice, but a long-promised national plan has met withlater in life, and increase women’s expected earnings anddelays. In 2014, at the international “Girl Summit” inhousehold welfare. For example, in Nepal the benefit ofLondon, the United Kingdom, Nepal’s minister of women,
reduced fertility would be almost $1 billion.
children, and social welfare pledged to strive to end childmarriage by 2020. By the time the Nepal government held
Positive change is happening
its own national “Girl Summit” in Kathmandu in March
Authorities from the Ministry of Women, Children and2016, this goal had shifted to 2030, the end date for theSocial Welfare, said that there have been some changes inUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
the law which sets the legal minimum age of marriage forExperts on this subject say that the government has notboth girls and boys at 20. Violators of this law will be jailed
done enough to end the practice of child marriage, as there
for three years and fined about US $95. But experts argue
is little evidence of the government working effectively to try
that this punishment as a government policy to end childto prevent child marriage or mitigate the harm that married
marriage is too weak. And, officials of the United Nations
children experience.
Population Fund (UNFPA) believe that education is the bestThings are a bit complicated in rural Nepal where child
way to reduce child marriage; however, the challenge is thatmarriage is being practiced. For example, many parents of
Nepal has a high dropout rate among girls, who are 10 times
young girls and children do not know that child marriage ismore likely to get married.
against the law, and don’t see value in investing in education,
Nevertheless, things are changing for the better. The
especially for girls. Thus, girls at their young ages are forced
Nepal National Demographic Health Survey conducted in
to leave school and get married. Young girls can’t complain2001 shows that 40 percent of girls between the ages of 15to the authorities such as the police even if they know their
19 were married, whereas similar surveys show the figure
marriage is illegal. And, even they try to complain with thehas been dropping to 32.2 percent in 2006, and 28.8 percent
support form NGOs working in this issue, the police are
in 2011. This is a positive trend, and makes us believe that
reluctant to file the complaint.
changes will happen for sure though it takes some time.
The April 2015 earthquake killed many people and madenearly 4 million people homeless, which has made thesituation worse for child marriage. Therefore, out ofdesperation, many families want to marry off theirdaughters. Though there has
been no proper survey carried outof this matter, many quakestricken families share thesimilar story.
Child marriage has various
negative consequences such as
denial of access to education,
serious health problems including
death because of early pregnancy,and domestic abuse including
violence, sexual violence, andabandonment. A report by the
Mrs.Nibnana Khatun married at the age of 14 years
Mrs.Sahila Marik married at the age of 15
and gave birth to three children.
years.
World Bank and the International

6

No.82 March 2018

Reports on FY2017 KFAW Asian Researchers Network Seminar“The Forefront of Marriage Situations in the Islamic World”
Date & time Sun., October 22, 2017, 14:00-17:00
Venue	Small Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center, MOVE
Lecturer	Kazuaki TAKEMURA (Research Institute for Languages and Cultures ofAsia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Hiroko MINESAKI (Associate Professor, Aichi University of Education)
Kazumi YAMAZAKI (Associate Professor, Yokohama City University)
Satomi OHGATA (Professor, Kyushu International University)

Pro file

The 27th KFAW Foreign Correspondents’ Reports

Ending Child Marriage

Yoga Trainer and Facilitator: ACE school
I have an MBA degree with key subjects such as
management and marketing. Previously, I worked as acoordinator at Ambe Murari Sewa Kendra (AMSK), a nonprofit organization and oversaw coordinating, managing
and reporting activities to donors. In addition, I also act asa resource person for yoga training for various clubs andorganizations and help schools develop yoga curriculums
for primary and secondary level kids.

Ms. Yojana POKHAREL (Nepal)

Participants 44

This seminar presented the reality of diversified marriages
in Muslim countries, namely Egypt, Iran, and Indonesia.
In Egypt, financial burdens to be shouldered when getting
married are increasing. The wedding expenses include costsfor holding an engagement reception, arranging housing andpurchasing furniture and household goods, giving an amountof money called “sadak” to the bride by the groom inaccordance with the Islamic law, and holding a wedding
reception to make the marriage publicly known. The right todivorce, which is quite strong, is granted only to the husband
and denied to the wife. The husband can unilaterally end his
marriage without the wife’s consent by simply declaring a
divorce three times. The divorce thus finalized is irrevocable,
and the husband can no longer retract it.
In the case of Iranian wedding, the marriage process istaken in the following order: signing a traditional marriage
contract according to the Islamic law, announcing theengagement, holding a wedding ceremony (reception), andhaving a post-wedding ritual (banquet on the day following

the wedding ceremony). In Iran, a marriage proposal iscommonly made to the parents of the prospective bride first.
Then, it will be formally accepted if the bride’s parents judge
the couple to be a good match. Aside from the traditional
marriage, there is a growing trend among young men andwomen to live together before marriage, as well as to marry a
person they meet by chance. There are also cases where
husbands are put in jail for failing to pay a deferred mahr.
As one of the diversified forms of marriage in Indonesia,
polygamous marriage was introduced. Public opinions
towards polygamous marriage are divided even within the
country. For instance, there is a significant difference in theratios of those who oppose or favor polygamy between Jakarta
and Lombok, indicating regional disparities are conspicuous.
Also, interfaith marriage is prohibited under the Indonesianmarriage law. Therefore, if a couple who follow different
religions wish to get married, one of them must convert to thesame religion as the other.

“I Still Want to Have a Boy:

Ms. Sangeeta Bhandari
introduced
some
Nepaliproverbs, such as “To be born adaughter is a lost destiny,” and“The birth of a son paves theway to heaven.” She also gave
supplementary
explanation
concerning Nepali people’s true feelings about son preference
as follows: “Even though people say in public that theywouldn’t mind not having a son, they are not speaking out
their honest thoughts,” “Some husbands divorce their wives
and remarry in an attempt to have a son,” and “Even educatedpeople wait for the right moment when it is believed to easily
conceive a baby boy”. As possible reasons for their preference
for boys, she cited the following traditional customs of thecountry: a successor is essential for the continuation of thefamily and the caste due to the patriarchy; a son is ranked
higher in the inheritance order; a daughter-in-law takes careof her in-laws, whereas a married daughter becomes a
member of another family; only male members of a bereaved
family can light a funeral pyre; and a dowry, which is the sumof money given to the groom by the bride’s family upon
marriage, is considered burdensome.

The Current State of Son Preference in Nepal”
Fri., December 15, 2017, 14:00-16:00
Small Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center, MOVE
Lecturer 	Mayuko SANO (Associate Professor, Fukuoka Prefectural University)
Sangeeta Bhandari (President, Sunrise Orphanage Nepal)
Participants 29
Date

Venue

In Nepal, the selective abortion of female fetuses is widelypracticed among women irrespective of their social hierarchyboth in urban and rural areas, which has become a social
problem. In this seminar, the reality of prenatal sex selection
and its social background were introduced based on thefindings of a survey conducted from 2015 to 2017.
Since 1985, the sex ratio in Nepal has been high (105 to
107 males per 100 females), suggesting that the sex selective
abortion is suspected to be prevalent. It is pointed out thatson preference has become prominent after abortion was
legalized in Nepal in 2002. The survey analysis shows thatpeople in urban areas tend to prefer boys compared withthose in rural areas, while relatively poor people, those withlower educational backgrounds, and those belonging to alower caste also have preference for boys.

Following last fiscal year, KFAW gave an outreach lecture to
students at Jiyugaoka High School as part of the career development
program. Through the lecture and the workshop, the students realized
the value and significance of working, while gaining a better
understanding of the challenges we face in today’s society and theimportance of expressing their own opinions. Later, the students
visited 19 business establishments in the city to exchange opinionswith their employees, and further made a poster presentation about
the establishments they toured. This experience should serve as agood opportunity for the students to think about their futures.

Career Development Program for
Jiyugaoka High School Students
Date & Time Sat., September 30, 2017, 8:55-11:45
Venue

Gymnasium, Jiyugaoka High School

Lecturers 	Koichi MATSUMOTO (Associate Professor, Kyushu International University)

Naosuke YAMAWAKI (Lecturer, Kyushu Kyoritsu University)
Participants 467 second-year students of Jiyugaoka High School

No.82 March 2018

5

Since 1963, child marriage has been illegal in Nepal but
Center for Research on Women (ICRW) suggests that childit has not been abolished in practice. Factors such as lack ofmarriage will cost developing countries trillions of dollars
access to education, child labor, social pressures, dowry
by 2030. Likewise, young girls are more likely to suffer
practices and discrimination against girl children in thefrom uterine prolapse and obstetric fistula when they getfamily are the major contributors of such practice. According
pregnant after marriage due to underdevelopment of theirto the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nepal
reproductive organs. Girls who marry early also face an
has the third-highest rate of child marriage in Asia, withincreased risk of domestic violence and psychologicalmore than 40 percent of girls marrying before age 18, and 10
trauma.
percent before 15, though the minimum age of marriage for
In contrast, ending child marriage would have a largeboth women and men is 20 under Nepali law.
positive effect on the educational attainment of girls and
Nepal’s government has made some effort to end thetheir children, encourage women to have fewer children
practice, but a long-promised national plan has met withlater in life, and increase women’s expected earnings anddelays. In 2014, at the international “Girl Summit” inhousehold welfare. For example, in Nepal the benefit ofLondon, the United Kingdom, Nepal’s minister of women,
reduced fertility would be almost $1 billion.
children, and social welfare pledged to strive to end childmarriage by 2020. By the time the Nepal government held
Positive change is happening
its own national “Girl Summit” in Kathmandu in March
Authorities from the Ministry of Women, Children and2016, this goal had shifted to 2030, the end date for theSocial Welfare, said that there have been some changes inUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
the law which sets the legal minimum age of marriage forExperts on this subject say that the government has notboth girls and boys at 20. Violators of this law will be jailed
done enough to end the practice of child marriage, as there
for three years and fined about US $95. But experts argue
is little evidence of the government working effectively to try
that this punishment as a government policy to end childto prevent child marriage or mitigate the harm that married
marriage is too weak. And, officials of the United Nations
children experience.
Population Fund (UNFPA) believe that education is the bestThings are a bit complicated in rural Nepal where child
way to reduce child marriage; however, the challenge is thatmarriage is being practiced. For example, many parents of
Nepal has a high dropout rate among girls, who are 10 times
young girls and children do not know that child marriage ismore likely to get married.
against the law, and don’t see value in investing in education,
Nevertheless, things are changing for the better. The
especially for girls. Thus, girls at their young ages are forced
Nepal National Demographic Health Survey conducted in
to leave school and get married. Young girls can’t complain2001 shows that 40 percent of girls between the ages of 15to the authorities such as the police even if they know their
19 were married, whereas similar surveys show the figure
marriage is illegal. And, even they try to complain with thehas been dropping to 32.2 percent in 2006, and 28.8 percent
support form NGOs working in this issue, the police are
in 2011. This is a positive trend, and makes us believe that
reluctant to file the complaint.
changes will happen for sure though it takes some time.
The April 2015 earthquake killed many people and madenearly 4 million people homeless, which has made thesituation worse for child marriage. Therefore, out ofdesperation, many families want to marry off theirdaughters. Though there has
been no proper survey carried outof this matter, many quakestricken families share thesimilar story.
Child marriage has various
negative consequences such as
denial of access to education,
serious health problems including
death because of early pregnancy,and domestic abuse including
violence, sexual violence, andabandonment. A report by the
Mrs.Nibnana Khatun married at the age of 14 years
Mrs.Sahila Marik married at the age of 15
and gave birth to three children.
years.
World Bank and the International

6

No.82 March 2018

The 27 KFAW Foreign Correspondents’ ReportsthSumiyah :Empowerment from Within
Ms. Astri HIDAYATIPro file

I graduated from University of Sebelas Maret,
majoring in communication. Currently, I am pursuing amaster’s degree in mass communication at University
ISSN 0918-8266
of Airlangga. I used to work as a communication
officer for a government office and decided to resign
when my daughter was born. I am also freelancing
besides taking care of my daughter. My husband is a
(Indonesia)
journalist and helps a lot in the house.

Sumiyah is a 49-year-old woman living with her husband
who works as a fisherman and three children who are
currently enrolled in high school and junior high school.
Living by the sea where many people work either as
fishermen or fishmongers, Sumiyah has found an
opportunity to make some extra income for her family,
which is also related to fish and fishing.
Due to the fact that she is from a poor family, Sumiyah
never got a proper level of education for herself. Therefore,
when she got married and tried to support her family’s
income, all she could do was an informal job that didn’t pay
much. As a mother of three with a husband who works on
the sea for days, Sumiyah was extremely busy managing
her time. Financial hardship due to the lack of income madeher do many things by herself since she had to save themoney.
Until 2010, Sumiyah was working as a snack seller tosupport her family. The spirit of getting more income tosupport her family made Sumiyah actively look for
information near her home, in case there are job opportunities
for her. Sumiyah’s home is located not far from the sea andher village is known as a fishing village. Around the area,
there is a fish auction center where the fishermen sell theirfish. When Sumiyah received news about the opportunity to
get a job of deboning milkfish at the auction center, sheapplied for it. But, first of all, she had to take training forfive days. The training was provided by the Ministry ofMarine Affairs and Fisheries for free of charge. 50
participants took part in the event. Those who passed thetraining would have the opportunity to work at the auction
center.

ISSN 0918-8266
ISSN 0918-8266

ISSN 0918-8266

cook and prepare dinner. After 6:00 p.m., when her husband
is about to work as a fisherman, Sumiyah prepares his food,clothes and drink. Her husband comes home on the following
day at around 11:00 a.m.
According to Sumiyah, her life drastically changed after
2010 when she completed the training and began to get moreincome from the auction center. Before 2010, she doubted
whether her children could get proper education due to thefamiliy’s low income. Since she finally got the chance toincrease her family’s income, all of her children are now at
school, which makes her so happy.
Sumiyah’s determination to change her life by herself isa picture of how women empowered by the situation cancreate a good result in the end. Such empowerment was
gained due to her own mind or outside pressure. Sumiyah
showed us how life can be made better if we try. In the caseof Sumiyah, she had the opportunity to empower herself
with the help of the government through the training which
was provided for free, in addition to her husband’s support.

As we have seen above, women’s empowerment canhappen in many forms. Sumiyah determined to get a better
life, and she got the chance. Her determination was
supported by the chance provided by the government as
well. To some extent, governments must also be there toactively support empowerment. Such trainings as the one
attended by Sumiyah
have proven to be very
useful. Of course thewillingness of women tobe empowered is the mostimportant point. But at
The five-day training made Sumiyah trained to; 1.
the same time, there
remove bones from milkfish, 2. create long-lasting snacks
should also be some kindusing the fish as the main ingredient. This experience reallyof active supports from
opened Sumiyah’s eyes. Now she got many points of view
governments everywhere.
that might increase her family’s income. After passing andEmpowerment
doesn’tcompleting the training, Sumiyah got the job at the auction
have to be complex andcenter. She became a worker who specializes in deboning
complicated. As seen inmilkfish. Her working time is from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Sumiyah’s case, tailored
every day. For the job there, she earns approximately
programs
mustbeRp.100,000 (almost 1,000 yen). After finishing the job at theprovided considering theauction center, Sumiyah gets home and then prepares tolivelihood and what isstart selling snacks for school children. Indeed Sumiyah
needed by women around
Sumiyah is cleaning the fish.
still continues her previous activity to double her income.
the area.
KITAKYUSHU OTEMACHI BUILDING 3F
Location of
11-4, KOKURAKITA, KITAKYUSHU, 803-0814 JAPANShe works until about 5:00 p.m. Sumiyah then proceedsOTEMACHI
to
Kitakyushu

Location of
Kitakyushu
DalianBeijing

DalianSeoul

Tokyo
Kitakyushu
LocationBeijing
of
Seoul
Tokyo
KITAKYUSHU OTEMACHI BUILDING 3F
Kitakyushu
OTEMACHI 11-4, KOKURAKITA, Kitakyushu
KITAKYUSHU, 803-0814 JAPAN
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434 FAX＋81-93-583-5195

KFAW

DalianE-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en

Beijing

Seoul

KITAKYUSHU OTEMACHIBUILDING 3F
FAX＋81-93-583-5195
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434
E-mail:kfaw@kfaw.or.jp
URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en
OTEMACHI
11-4, KOKURAKITA,KITAKYUSHU, 803-0814 JAPAN
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434 FAX＋81-93-583-5195

KFAW E-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
KFAWfund for revitalization
OTEMACHI BUILDING
governmentKITAKYUSHU
projects. 3F
Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as a

The Kitakyushu
Forumon Asian Women (KFAW)803-0814
was established in October of 1990 with a special
OTEMACHI
11-4, KOKURAKITA,
foundation by
the Ministryof Labour (theKITAKYUSHU,
present Ministry of JAPANHealth, Labour and Welfare). The purpose
FAX＋81-93-583-5195
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434
government
fund for revitalization
projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as aof the KFAW
istopromotetheimprovementof
women'sstatus through various projects as well as theirE-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en
PRINTED
WITH
foundation by the Ministry of Labour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).
The purpose
mutual understanding and cooperation in Asia.
of the KFAW is to promote the improvement of women's status through various projects asSOY
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their
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KFAW
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Tokyo
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Kitakyushu
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women(KFAW) was established in Octoberof 1990withspecialgovernment
fund
fora revitalization
projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as aThis copy is printed with environment-friendly soy ink.

government fund for revitalization projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the foundation
KFAW wasasofaLabour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The purposeby recognized
the Ministry
No.82 March 2018
foundation by the Ministry of Labour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour
andKFAW
Welfare).
purposeof theis toThe
promotethe improvement of women's status through various projects as well as their

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