Women Today“Asia and Me– Decent Work,A Key Agenda Item in
Human Development”

President, KFAW

Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI

It was the mid-90s when I started working directly
for Asia. Economic globalization developed rapidly after
the collapse of the cold war; Asia was its central region.
A year later when I started working for Asia, thefinancial crisis hit the area hard, and some counties
saw very adverse effects on many aspects of theirsocieties.
This incident gave me, a newcomer to Asia, an
excellent learning opportunity to understand Asiansocial issues much quicker and on a deeper level than if
the crisis had not happened. Here I will only mention
two distinctive phenomena.
The first is that it seems to be very difficult toprepare or generate in the middle of good times thepolicies and institutions needed for difficult times, eventhough one can afford to do so. For example, Thailand
enjoyed full employment before the crisis thanks tohigh economic growth for several years. However, soonafter the crisis occurred, employment in Thailand
rapidly worsened. Two million Thai became unemployed(a 7 % unemployment rate). There was no unemployment
insurance system in Thailand. Another phenomenon isthat the female employment pattern followed regarding
hiring and firing was not necessarily the pattern which
one usually thinks of. It was widely believed that“women were first fired and last hired.” Actually, I
observed in the crisis that women were often the last
fired. This means that economic globalization is based
more on competition for cheaper labor/cutting costs
rather than on improving productivity. I acutely felt the
spread of non-standard employment from where I stood.
One of many rewarding aspects of my work in Asia has
been the opportunity to meet many women leaders in
Asia; some of them have became my good friends.
Looking at Japan, it is widely known that we have very
few women leaders. Japan in 2012 ranked 101st in theworld 135 countries in Gender Gaps Index published by
the World Economic Forum. To me it appears thatJapan should be considered as a ‘developing country’ inthe field of gender equality. The top ranking country forfemale leadership in Asia is the Philippines which was
ranked 8th and had always been among top ten. There
are yet a number of other Asian countries whose ranksof gender gaps are higher than that of Japan.
Women’s status within Japan has its own pattern. It
is generally lower in the field of economic activities,
namely employment and the political arena. Japan
must seriously implement the recommendations such as
positive actions made in 2009 by the UN Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
Since last year Japan has been encouraged by the

No.69 November 2013

international community to promote women’s greater
participation in companies. The International Monetary
Fund (IMF) even pointed out the extent to which womenessentially “save” Japan (economy). The present
administration of the Japanese government madeinitiatives to encourage companies to promote women’s
participation in executive positions; they also hope to
see more work-life balance policies take root and thrivein Japan.
In Asian developing countries it is, of course, truethat there is still a need to provide assistance /support
for the improvement of fundamental living conditions ofpeople, inter alia women. And it is also true that there
exists great wisdom in many of the good practices
exercised by Asian people. A number of good practices in
economic empowerment of women were recognized in a
recent meeting to assess development assistance given
to Asian people’s organizations by a private fund.
Microcredit is a particularly good example. Recipientsof microcredit are mostly women living under thepoverty line. Yet almost all women recipients of
microcredit pay back their loans and contribute
substantially to their families and the society. The
Grameen Bank, whose founder is Nobel Prize laureate
Professor Yunus, is very popular in the world for his
efforts to help empower poor women. There are also a
number of similar undertakings involving microcredit
in Asia that could be mentioned. In addition such socalled south-south cooperation is recognized as one of
the most effective ways to help people/women in need.
So in conclusion of this essay, let me stress theimportance both in Japan and throughout the whole of
Asia on producing “decent work” as a key agenda item
for human development. It has led, I believe, to an
overall Asian society that is stronger.

Profile of Mitsuko HORIUCHI
Professor, Bunkyo Gakuin University Graduate Schoolof Foreign Studies (2006 to present). Currently holds theposts of the President of Kitakyushu Forum on Asian
Women, and Chairperson of Stop Child Labour Network.
Formerly, Director of the International Labour
Organization (ILO) Office in Japan as well as the ILO
Special Regional Advisor on Gender Issues (2001-2005),
ILO Assistant Director-General for Asia and the Pacific(1996-2000), Minister of the Permanent Mission of Japanto the United Nations (1993-1996) and Cabinet Counselor
and Director, Office for Women’s Affairs, Prime Minister’s
Office (1990-1993).

1

Current Issues Series
Professor, the University of Kitakyushu

Dr. Keiko T. TAMURA

Women’s Social Advancement
and Birthrate Decline inSingapore

Born in Fukui Prefcture. Doctor of Laws, graduated from
Kyushu University Graduate Schools for Law. Specializes
in international relations, research on Southeast Asia. Has
published “Establishment of a Nation of Singapore –Nationalism, Ethnicity and Gender,” “Politics andLanguages in Singapore, a Multiethnic Nation – 25 Years of“Vanished” Nanyang University,” “Introduction to Modern
Politics in Southeast Asia,” (written and edited) and others.

Singapore, a small city state in Southeast Asia, is wellknown for having achieved a level of economic prosperity
even higher than that of Japan. Also, just like Japan,
Singapore is facing a problem of rapidly declining birthrate.
In 2010 the birthrate in Singapore declined to as low as
1.15. Meanwhile, the number of single women is increasing;
12.7% of women aged from 35 to 39 are unmarried. What has
prevented women from getting married and having babies?
Singapore was originally an immigrant society. In thecolonial times immigrants retained their native customs andtraditions. Women were subordinate to men. The only role
expected for women was to get married, have babies andraise them. To change this situation right after Singapore
gained its independence in 1965, the national government
began working actively to improve the domestic male andfemale labor force in both quantity and quality. The Prime
Minister said that there would be no future to society if halfof the population was not educated or utilized just because
they were women; and that women in Singapore should
receive a good education and their abilities be fully utilized.
The government promoted primary and secondary education
especially for women and encouraged women to participate
in the labor market. In addition, the government implemented
the “stop-at-two” children policy to control the country’s
continuously increasing population in those days, whichfurther promoted women’s economic advancement. Moreover,in the latter half of the 1980s, the government commenced apolicy to transform Singapore into Asia’s financial andservice center, leading to the development of the service
industry in the country’s economic structure. This also
created more opportunities for women to work outside thehome. As a result, the country’s female labor force
participation rate grew from 25.3% in 1966 to 60.0% in 2011.
In 2008 the percentage of female managers within thegovernment and in other public organizations was 35.1%.
Considering that women account for approximately 40% of
the total labor force, the percentage of women promoted to
managers is almost commensurate with the female labor
force participation rate. Besides, while women’s average
income is 72.6% of men’s, there is almost no difference
between the income earned by men and women aged from 25
to 30.
As indicated above, in Singapore women as well as men
are called upon to contribute to the country as good workers
to support the small city state’s development. Meanwhile,
the government’s attitude employed in the latter half of the

1980s has posed another problem for women. Due to thecountry’s labor force shortage, the government switched its
population policy to the “three-or-more” children policy,
encouraging women to have many more babies to increase
the country’s population. Moreover, family ties began to beemphasized, also encouraging women to play the pivotal rolein the family as a good wife and a good mother. Behind thisemphasis placed on family ties lay the government’s fear thatthe spread of Western values and the country’s economic
development might make people forget their own Asianvalues, such as respect for patience, discipline, order andpatriotism. The government believed that families shouldplay a major role in maintaining such values.
If an environment was established where women could
strike a good balance between their careers and families, it
might be possible for women to contribute to the developmentof their country as good workers, while also playing thepivotal role in their families. However, the government
believes that social welfare is a matter to be dealt with byeach family and that women should play the pivotal role inthat regard. This belief increases the burden on women.
The reason for Singaporean declining birthrate also liesin the country’s elitist education system. Children’s futures
are almost entirely determined by their results in thePrimary School Leaving Examinations (taken in the sixth
grade of elementary schools). Accordingly, many motherswith children in higher elementary grades quit their jobs
and spend almost all their time to help their children withstudies. It is not rare to spend a vast amount of money onchildren’s tutoring schools or private instructors. In addition,in Singapore there is no school district system or entrance
examination for public elementary schools. If parents want
their children to be enrolled in prestigious elementary
schools, they participate in schools’ clean-up or othervolunteer activities. This is because at many schools one of
the admission requirements is parents’ involvement involunteer activities. Thus, the financial and mental burdenconcerning child-rearing is so considerable that many women
hesitate to have babies. The female labor force participation
rate is not very high at 60%, probably because many womenquit their jobs after starting to raise their children.
The rapid decline in birthrate can be referred to as aquiet revolt of the women in the country. I think that thesituation is very similar to that of Japan, where fewer andfewer women are having babies.

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No.69 November 2013

JICA

Gender Mainstreaming Policies for Government Officers 2013

Under a commission by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Kyushu International Center, the Kitakyushu Forum on
Asian Women (KFAW) holds an annual seminar for central and local government officers in developing countries who are in charge of
gender mainstreaming policies.
The purpose of the seminar is to foster government officers who can promote gender mainstreaming policies comprehensively andeffectively in developing countries toward a gender-equal society.
This year, the seminar was held for approximately five weeks from June 6 to July 4, receiving ten participants from nine countries.
This seminar provides a well-balanced mix of lectures,workshops, site visits and presentations. Participants canlearn about administrative measures promoted by local
governments and various efforts made by civic organizations
and private companies. The seminar curricula are designed
to help participants comprehensively understand theconcepts and methods of gender mainstreaming policies
from the perspectives of both theory and practice.
This year’s seminar began with a presentation session
on gender problems in their own countries to share, discussand analyze them with other participants. This helped
participants mutually learn about the situations in different
countries, other participants’ experiences and various ideas.
Subsequently, at the basic lectures to help participants
develop effective policies in their countries, Japanese
government officers and experts presented the outlines ofnational and local gender mainstreaming policies. Giving
some examples of gender mainstreaming policies in Japan,
they spoke from historical and international viewpoints. A
wide variety of themes, including gender-sensitive budget

Interaction with citizens

analysis, women and health, and women and violence, werehandled. Most of them were held in Tokyo.
In Kitakyushu, participants attended lectures in which
the city’s characteristics were fully reflected. At one lecture,
participants specifically learned about the promotion of thecity’s gender mainstreaming policies, while at anotherlecture they listened to a female leader actively working in
the city. At the lectures on work-life balance and dating DV,
they learned not only about Kitakyushu City’s efforts, butalso about more specific and practical efforts promoted by
the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW), privatecompanies, and civic organizations.
In addition, this seminar included an interaction with
Kitakyushu citizens, a good opportunity to directly
communicate and discuss gender issues. The participantsalso interacted with children at a nursery school and anelementary school.
The seminar concluded with participants’ presenting
their action plans.

At a workshop

Participants’ Messages and Impressions
The seminar has helped me understand what has been implemented

Many women in the world are now sufferingin Japan. The visit to the Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center,from violence. Raising people’s awareness of

MOVE was especially impressive. I strongly hope that a similar service

the problem is effective for the relief of violence

will become available in my country, and this seminar has given me

victims. The lecture has helped me gain a usefulhope and strength to realize that idea.

tool to prevent the occurrence of DV.

The visits to various locations, such as a nursery

As participants, we learned a lot from each other andschool, an elementary school, an agricultural area, and thestimulated each other. I have learned effective methods

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, were very impressive.

for policy planning, and absorbed various experiences

The interaction with citizens at each site was also an

and ideas, giving me the confidence to implement them ininvaluable experience for me.

my own country.

No.69 November 2013

3

KFAW FY 2013/2014

Visiting Researchers and Research Theme

Globalization among Women in Japan and Korea

Gender Inequality in Japanese Society: The Perspectives of Identity, English Ability,
and Social Networks: Women’s Mixed Feelings toward Marriage

Visiting Researcher

Part-time Lecturer, Musashino University

Visiting Researcher

Ayumi SASAGAWA

Associate Professor, Faculty ofContemporary Law, Tokyo Keizai University

Joint Researchers

Junko Matsuzaki CARREIRA

Doctoral Degree Course student,
Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences,
Tokyo Woman’s Christian University

Reiko IKEMATSU
Using quantitative data (EASS: East Asian Social
Survey 2008) and qualitative data (interviews and/or
free-writing questionnaire surveys), this research
will explore how globalization is spreading among
women in Japan and Korea. Specifically, a wide
variety of quantitative analyses will be performed interms of values, identity in East Asia, culturalcontacts, global knowledge, frequency of media usage,social distances with other countries, international
mobility, attitudes toward globalization andnationalism,
overallevaluation
regardingglobalization, social networks, English proficiency,
etc., in order to clarify differences between men andwomen in Japan and Korea. Based on these results,
interviews and/or free-writing questionnaire surveys
will be conducted with women in Japan and Korea. By
doing so, the research will strive to reveal how
globalization is spreading among women in Japan and
Korea.

DBA Candidate, DBA Course,
Graduate School of Social Design Studies, Rikkyo University

Takako OZEKI
Part-time Lecturer, Otsuma Women's University

Lemmin QUITAHALAIn spite of established legal systems to achieve genderequality, conventional wisdom and customs against agender equal society steadfastly remain in Japan without
undergoing significant change, and are observed indifferent social scenes. The conventional gender norm
persists, partially because some people support it andreceive (or believe to receive) some benefits from it.
In this regard, this research will focus on marriage.
While marriage is referred by some to as a system that
restrains women, it still exists as the most significant
lifetime event for many women. In the research, interviews
will be conducted for women in a provincial city wheretraditional values are probably deep-rooted, and for
women in the Tokyo metropolitan area where those values
are likely being swept away. By clarifying women’s
perspectives concerning marriage, the research will strive
to reveal at least part of the mechanism that helps
maintain awareness and the norm of gender inequality.

THE FORUM WINDOW

boosting economic growth in its priority area, wasthe primary focus. During TICAD V 78 events wereorganized by international organizations and civilsociety organizations. Stop Child Labour Network,
which I chair, jointly organized, with the International
Labour Organization (ILO), a symposium focused on
elimination of child labour, the realization of universal
primary education, and job creation for youth – allare essential for the quality of development. In thes y m p o s i u m g o o d p r a c t i c e s i n N G O s, p r i v a t eenterprises, as well as in the ILO were presented.
The forum offered an excellent opportunity to discuss
African development from the perspectives ofchildren and young people.

Fifth Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD V)President, KFAW  Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI

TICAD V was held early June in Yokohama. It was
20years ago, in 1993, that TICAD was launched by
the Government of Japan with three United Nationsorganizations. An important aim of TICAD is to help
promote sustainable African development. Thisinitiative was also intended to reverse the decline ininterests in development assistance by theinternational community after the collapse of the coldwar (It should be noted that African Union became aco-organizer of TICAD V).  
TICAD is a high level meeting where policy
dialogues between African leaders and theirdevelopment partners are promoted. The theme of
TICAD V was“Hand in Hand with a More Dynamic
Africa.” Economic development, in other words,

4

No.69 November 2013

The 23rd KFAW Foreign Correspon

dents Start-up Activities!

In 1991, the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) established a foreign correspondents system to broadly networkwith people overseas, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Past and present foreign correspondents are in total 271 people
in 40 countries. This year, persons from 5 countries work as KFAW foreign correspondents. Through this network, KFAW willcontinue providing up-to-date information from various parts of the world. The profiles of the correspondents and other reports
are available at the KFAW website.

BangladeshIndonesia

Nepal

Ms. Munima SULTANA

Ms. Gloria ARLINI

Ms. Bharati POKHARELThe Financial Express,
Special Correspondent

Nusantara Development
Initiatives (NPO), Assistant Director

Independent Journalist

Pakistan

U.S.A

Mr. Saboor AHMED
Social Activist & Student of the
Quaid E Azam University, Islamabad

Ms. Kay MAKISHI
Coordinator of International
Relations, the Japan Exchange
and Teaching (JET) Program

Foreign Correspondents’ Report
ProfileGender Equality is still a Far Cry in Bangladeshi Politics

During my long journalism career, I have mostly been
focusing on gender issues in my reporting. After finishing mymasters from mass communication and journalism at the
University of Dhaka in 1993, I joined in a news agency andworked for 10 years. I changed my office by joining in thenational financial daily titled The Financial Express in 2005. I
did professional trainings like gender reporting, leadershiptraining for female journalists, financial and economic reporting.

Ms. Munima SULTANA (Bangladesh)
Lucky Akter’s entry in the mainstream politics in
Bangladesh was a little bit dramatic. She was not wellknown by people until the first week of February this year
despite her success in leading her educational institution. It
was some slogans she delivered with her bold voice andencouraging words that jumped her popularity, raising thenumber of supporters from hundreds to thousands, and evento hundreds of thousands in a day or two. Sparked up by her
strong message, hundreds and thousands of people from allover the country gathered at Shahbagh Square in central
Dhaka for two to three months.
Lucky eventually emerged as a symbolic figure of the
movement, which latercame to be known as the
Shahbagh Movement in
Bangladesh that wasdeveloped from protests
against the sentences
given to the war criminalsof the 1971 war of
independence (Liberation
War).
A meritorious student
of a university college in
Dhaka City, Lucky now
dreams of becoming aleader in national politics
despite the fact that it is
Ms. Lucky Akter
not at all an arena for

No.69 November 2013

women in Bangladesh.
Female leadership in Bangladesh, even though bothruling and main opposition party chiefs are women, remains
almost void since long ago. Student politics has been a
popular mode of climbing up the leadership ladder to thenational level in this country, but this nevertheless has
applied only to men so far. Female student leaders either
have not been able to survive in the male-dominated politicalfield or have become more devoted to their profession andfamily, giving up their ambition to become leaders of thenation. This practice has been continued for decades, and forthis reason there are only a very limited number of womenleaders in the country.
A few more new faces of young female leaders joined
Lucky as central figures in the Shahbagh Movement. But
after the movement, female leadership has turned weakcompared to the level when it was started, and they havebecome lost from view.
Lucky said, even in such a situation, she wanted toremain in the world of politics and vowed to fight against
male supremacy there. She stressed the improvements instudent facilities that have been realized under her able
leadership, such as improved food at canteens, bus services
and hotels in educational institutions. Her leftist party
recognized her role in the student politics. Lucky said shewould gain stronger leadership with better quality on her
party level, and eventually boost it to the national level.
As Bangladesh has yet to create the culture of developing
leadership through education, the emergence of young

5women in politics has been rare. The present government
has tried to encourage women to raise their voices, byincreasing the number of reserved seats allocated for womenin the national parliament to 50 along with five cabinet
posts.
But still, true leadership in Bangladesh is a far cry as
people continue to raise questions about leaders’ quality andattack on their activism. Lucky is not exceptional. Many
people, mainly men, cast doubt on her leadership asking
what she has done in Shahbagh. They do not want to accept
the fact that thousands of people felt strength at Shahbagh

when they listened to her slogans with powerful voice.
Amidst the situation, the trend that brings hope is that
non-governmental organizations have been trying topromote women’s leadership in all sectors across the country.
Since 2008, Bangladesh Association of Women Leader(BDAWL) has been working with great speed to raiseawareness about the need for greater engagement by womenin political decision-making. So women are hopeful that
their leaders will ascend from the grass-root level to the top
level in the near future. Lucky and other young leaders arealso a beacon of hope for them.

ProfileGender Issues in Nepal

I graduated from Tribhuvan University in 1998, and am
currently working as a freelance journalist. I feel privileged to have
served as a KFAW Foreign Correspondent in 2007, as thisexperience provided me with an opportunity to share interesting
issues related to gender in Nepal with a larger audience all over
the world. I am very excited to write on these interesting issues,
because I feel they are underrepresented in similar media as ofnow.

Ms. Bharati POKHAREL (Nepal)
Gender-based discrimination is so much ingrained in
Nepali patriarchal society that Nepali girls start facing
discriminatory treatment from their very early stages oflife. This is particularly true in the rural parts of thecountry, which account for more than 70 percent of Nepal,
inhabited by inadequately educated people. First of all, agirl child is not at all wanted by parents who attach
importance to patriarchal values. Hence, if it is known thatthe baby in the womb is a girl, the pregnant mother starts
facing hatred held by her in-laws. She might as well have to
face undue coercion and even assault to go for an abortion.
The ordeal of hatred and discrimination continues
throughout the life of the newborn. She will be denied accessto education as much as possible, as the parents prefer her
contribution to household chores and/or other farm-based
income-generating activities. As a result, 14.2% of girls
between the ages of 5 and 14 work full-time and do notattend school at all in Nepal. The deep-rooted cause behindparents’ unwillingness to send daughters to school is thatthey consider girls as someone else’s property as they are to
be wed and sent to in-laws’ houses ultimately. Hence, they
consider investing in girls as a waste and prefer to utilizethat resource for better food, clothing and education of malechildren. It is worthy to note that the adult literacy rate in
Nepal for women is 34.9 percent and that for men is 62.7
percent. This signifies how difficult it is to raise the female
literacy rate and level it with men.
There is also a widespread practice of making girls
marry at an early age as much as possible, starting from theage of 10. It is very common that young girls become
pregnant by the age of 16. This is why maternal and childmortality are among the leading causes of death in Nepal.
Women also bear a very disproportionate burden in thehousehold. Many empirical studies have revealed that they
spend on average 18 hours (from 4 am to 10 pm) daily forhousehold and farm activities with very little breaks in
between, while men spend only 8 hours productively everyday. From early in the morning, women are pressed withhousehold chores such as milking cows, tending animals,bathing and washing clothes, collecting food and cooking
meals, etc. This is followed by physical work in the fields,
farms and forests under harsh conditions until lateafternoon. They are occupied with duties such as preparing
meals, feeding the family, and taking care of the elderly andkids once they come back home in the evening. Dependingon the location of a particular house, the household chores
could be very demanding. For instance, as cited in manystudies, women have to travel for hours to fetch potablewater for household consumption. This kind of daily practicewould have severe health impacts on women, as they often
suffer from a stooped back, prolapsed uterus, and so on. This
is why female life expectancy in Nepal is one of the lowest inSouth Asia.
Nepali women are denied property rights as much as
possible as most of the land titles are held by men. Likewise,
women have almost no say in decision making as men are
the key decision makers. This applies to decisions related toissues concerning households, families and the welfare ofchildren, etc. While women are considered the main
providers of food and care to families, it is a great pity thatthey are still denied an equal say in decisions affecting
these affairs.
Recently, as a result of untiring efforts of many
international and national non-government organizations,some progress has been made mainly on the policy and legal
fronts. The promulgation of Gender Equality Act (2006),
Human Trafficking and Transportation Control Act (2007)
and Domestic Violence (Crime and Punishment) Act (2009)
are the positive moves by the government. But this should
never be considered enough as Nepal has been notorious forthe lack of proper implementation of policies and enforcementof laws. Besides, since this issue is more concerned withchanging people’s attitudes and behavior, sustained efforts
at the community level to foster awareness about respecting
women’s rights are required. In order to achieve a genderequal society, men need to realize the immense contributionof women to their and their families’ well-being and accord
due respect to women in all walks of life.

6

No.69 November 2013

Information

ISSN 0918-8266

The 24th Kitakyushu Conference on Asian WomenInternational symposium“Women's Greater Participation in Japan and the World Brings Positive Change”“Promotion of women’s active participation” is one of the major pillars of Japanese Government’s
Growth Strategy. It is crucial for the socio-economic revitalization of our country to realize a society
where women can fully and actively display their individuality and ability.
In this international symposium we invite Ms. Yukako UCHINAGA, one of the female businessleaders, to share her views how to utilize women’s ability from a strategic standpoint of a corporation.
There follows the report of good practices in Norway, where women’s active participations have beensuccessful, by a panelist from Royal Norwegian Embassy. Moreover, initiatives taken in Korea andKitakyushu are to be presented and panel discussion will be carried out.

▼ ▼1. Date : November 9 (Sat.), 2013 13:00-16:00
2. Venue : 2nd Floor Hall, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center MOVE
3. Capacity : 500 seats (first-com-and-first-served basis)
4. Participation fee : Free of charge
5. Nursery service : available (500 yen per person, reservation needed)

Mr. Bjørn MIDTHUN

Part I Awarding Ceremony of Work-Life Balance(Minister-Counsellor, Royal Norwegian Embassy)

Par II Keynote Speech“Utilize Women’s Abilities as a
Corporation’s Strategy-a Message to Corporations and Women -”Ms. Mihee HONG
(Head of Division Policy Research, Incheon Foundation for Women and Family)

Ms. Junko KOMORITA(Representative Director, Zm'ken Service Co., Ltd.)

Ms. Yukako UCHINAGA

Coordinator
Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI(Board Chair, Incorporated Non-profit Organization J-Win)▼

Ms. Yukako UCHINAGA
Graduated from the Universityof Tokyo. Has held various
positions such as a member ofthe Board of Directors at IBM
Japan, Chief Executive Officer
at Berlitz International (currently
named Berlitz Corp.) (2008),
and the company’s Chairperson
Emeritus. Since 2007, hasserved as Board Chair of theincorporated NPO J-Win(President, Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women)

Part III Panel Discussion
Panelists
Ms. Yukako UCHINAGA(Board Chair, Incorporated Non-profit Organization J-Win)*
For Part II and III, Japanese/English/Korean simultaneousinterpretation services are provided.

KFAW Consulate Series“History, Culture and Families of Viet Nam : 40 years of friendship between Viet Nam and Japan”
In FY 2012, the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW)
launched a new international understanding promotion project,“KFAW Consulate Series,” comprising lectures given by consuls
general of consulates located in Fukuoka Prefecture. At the thirdround of the series, the consul general of the Consulate-General of

the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in Fukuoka will deliver a lecture.
Date : November 27, 2013 (Wednesday), 15:00 – 16:30
Venue : Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center, MOVE
Lecturer : C onsul General Bui Quoc THANH, Consulate-Generalof the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in Fukuoka

DV Prevention Seminar“Toward a Society Free from Violence against Women”was held
On Saturday, August 10th, DV Prevention Seminar titled “Toward a Society Free from Violenceagainst Women” was delivered by Professor Emeritus Yuki SUNOHARA at Musashino University. The
lecture focused on supports to victimized children and mothers of DV/abuse.
Regarding responsibility of violence, there is an argument of responsibility sharing that victimized
women should also be responsible for it. But Professor SUNOHARA convincingly criticized theargument, “wives are a hundred percent responsible for their actions and husbands are a hundred
percent responsible for theirs.” Moreover, impacts on children of DV victimized families were illustrated in detail based on actual cases.
In the afternoon on the same day, the session 2 was held with a title of “Course for Dating DV Prevention Education Facilitators.” Thesession began with a lecture by Ms. Keiko NAKATA, Representative of DV Prevention Nagasaki, who has had long years of experience inthe field of dating DV prevention activities. Following that, an activities report was presented by “Ripple Fukuoka,” the organization formedby ex-participants of KFAW’s Training Course on Dating DV Prevention Education Facilitators. In the second half of the session, theparticipants joined group discussion to deliberate needs in dating DV prevention education.

Location of
Kitakyushu

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

DalianBeijing

Seoul

Tokyo
Kitakyushu

KFAW
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
government fund for revitalization projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as afoundation by the Ministry of Labour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The purposeof the KFAW is to promote the improvement of women's status through various projects as well as their
PRINTED WITH
mutual understanding and cooperation in Asia.

SOY INK

This copy is printed with environment-friendly soy ink.

7

TM