The 28 KFAW Foreign Correspondents’ ReportsthMs. Carmen LEDESMA

Jurist specialized in women’s human rights whomonitored the National Plan to Combat Violenceagainst Women 2009-2015 and gave technical
ISSN 0918-8266
assistance at the regional level to local governmentson the National Plan to reduce Gender-based
Violence 2016-2021. I was Director of Policies for aLife Free of Violence and Economic Autonomy of
Women in the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable(Peru)
Populations.

Between December 2016 and March 2017, a natural
disaster called the Coastal Boy Phenomenon (El Niño) hit
northern Peru, leaving thousands of families affected by the
overflowing of rivers that caused floods in several
departments, including Piura. The catastrophe destroyed
homes, agricultural lands, road access and basic services
and, therefore, a state of emergency was declared. In Piura,a total of 141,860 people lost their homes as of March 31,
2017. There were 27,981 victims and 34 shelters were
installed with a total of 1,985 tents to protect the populationin the districts of Catacaos and Cura Mori in Piura.
The Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations(MIMP) participated in the relocation of families andwomen, girls, boys and adolescents in different shelters, andselected the shelter of San Pablo in Catacaos, Piura toconcentrate more women with a total of 267 families. In thiscontext, the MIMP installed Violence Assistance Module
where lawyers and psychologists were stationed in order toprevent violence against women, and “JUGUEMOS” (Let’s
Play) Module for children to stimulate their early recovery
through games, taking into account the resilience situationof this population after the natural disaster.
During the period between 2016 and part of 2017, highrates of violence were recorded in Piura, averaging 55%
cases of psychological violence, 36% physical, 9% sexual, in
addition to 3 cases of femicide and 9 cases of attempted
femicide. Behind this situation was a condition in whichdisplaced women and children were exposed to other formsof violence. In Piura, 2,757 cases of violence were registeredin 2016 only.
The economically active female population of Piura was
40% (370 thousand people), with 82.5% of women engaged in
the informal sector.
In this context of displaced women, the MIMP, together
with its National Program Against Family and Sexual
Violence, designed an intervention strategy to promote thegeneration of income for women to achieve their economic
autonomy through the development of their productive
abilities to weave toquilla straw products—traditional
crafts of Piura with great recognition—using natural
resources in the area as a comparative advantage over otherregions. Out of the total of 267 women in the shelter, in thefirst phase of the intervention in the second half of 2017,
over 100 women were trained in the design of innovative
straw products to enter the market. In order to support thispilot project of women entrepreneurs, a network of womenartisans called Weaving Hopes was created in the district ofLocationofCatacaos in Piura Region, aiming to promote future
Kitakyushu
Beijing

Location of
Kitakyushu

KFAW

Beijing

DalianSeoul

DalianSeoul

Tokyo
Kitakyushu

Pro ﬁ leISSN 0918-8266

ISSN 0918-8266

sustainability and women’s economic independence with theobjective of promoting their economic autonomy by building
their capacity for producing straw products and addressingcommercial issues, as well as by cultivating their leadershipwhile applying gender and intercultural approaches.
The MIMP has given technical assistance and been
cooperating with the private sector, other state institutions,regional corporations such as BELCORP to facilitate thewomen’s empowerment and economic autonomy, as well aswith others with a knowledge about colors and fashion
trends of the products and services to make them morecompetitive and promote them to the market withsustainable projections.
The artisan women displaced and located in the San
Pablo shelter did not have a space for designing theirproducts, and therefore a module was installed as a workshop(10 meters wide, 17 meters long, and 4 meters high) with aspace suitable for preparing their products, receiving
training, and exhibitions and sales, which is divided into 4
areas: the product elaboration area, the marketing area, thelactation area with cots to breastfeed their children whileworking, and the play area for their small children. It has anintercultural approach respecting the way the artisans
work at round tables—talking and sitting on cushions as
they do their work, with the model of the product put at thecenter.
Currently, there are approximately 200 women who havejoined the network, selling their products in shopping centers
and at the request of companies. The MIMP has designed thesecond phase of theintervention
toexpedite access totheinternational
market that is in theprocess of being
implemented.
Thestrategyofthisproject helps the External part of the Workshop Tent of theartisan women‘s network “Weaving Hopes”,
women
out
of which was full of visitors during a sale at a fair.
violence and poverty
as they say: “We feel
free
and
weave
hopes of growth for
our life free ofviolence with economic
empowerment.”
Toquilla straw products handwoven by women artisans

KFAW

The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
Achieving the SDGs from KFAW
government fund for revitalization projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as a
KFAWaims atfoundation by
the Ministryof achieving
Labour (theGOAL
present5Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The purpose(Gender
Equality),
sharing thechallengesof the KFAW
is to promote
the improvementof women's
status through various projects as well as their
PRINTED WITH
and efforts
withthe world.
mutual understanding
andcooperationin Asia.

KFAW

SOY INKTokyo
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
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.84 November 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

SDGs: Realization of Human Rights and Gender Equality (Part-2)

Relationship Between
the Revision of Family Law
and the Women’s Movementin South Korea

Pro ﬁ leProfessor at Chonnam National
University School of Law
Visiting Scholar at Fukuoka University
School of Law

Kaori Kuroda is the Executive Director of CSO Network

Ms. Seonja CHA

Japan. She also serves as Japan Director of the Asia
Foundation Japan. Ms. Kuroda was a Japanese NGO
Expert for developing ISO 26000 (ISO Standard for Social
Responsibility) from 2007 to 2010. She currently serves as

The Constitution of the Republic of Korea (CRK) was
adopted in 1948. The Constitution states that “marriage shallbe entered into and sustained on the basis of equality of thesexes.” (Art. 20 CRK of 1948). The Korean Civil Code wasenacted in 1958. However, family law within the Civil Code did
not reflect the gender equality that was put forth in theConstitution. On the contrary, Korean family law incorporated
gender-based discriminatory regulations in the name of
tradition. Specifically, family law had provisions regulating
the “Hoju” system. In the Hoju system, men are responsible forsupporting family members, and they also have the right todecide who is permitted to join the family. The order ofsuccession to the status of “Hoju” is determined by gender,
with priority given to male descendants. For example, when afather passes away, his eldest male son, regardless of age,would ascend to the status of “Hoju”. Thus, feminist groups
argued that the “Hoju” system violated the values embodied in
the Constitution and submitted several family law
amendments to the National Assembly in an attempt toabolish it. However, these efforts failed every time. Conservative
groups regarded the “Hoju” system as a part of Korea’s
traditional culture that needed to be preserved. They exercised
significant political pressure to ensure the amendments did
not pass. In the meantime, abolishing the provisions for the“Hoju” system within family law became a symbol of thewomen’s movement in South Korea.
South Korea ratified the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in
1984. In 1990, the family law was significantly revised toreflect the ideas contained in CEDAW. Nevertheless, the“Hoju” system remained for fear that its sudden abolition
would cause social upheaval. Feminist groups acknowledged
the reality that the National Assembly, consisting mostly ofmen, would not pass an amendment abolishing the “Hoju”
system. They shifted strategies and petitioned theConstitutional Court of Korea (CCK) to determine whether the
regulations of the “Hoju” system violated constitutional rights.
In 2005, the CCK decided the “Hoju” system was incompatible
with the Constitution because it violated the constitutional
provisions for gender equality, marriage, and family life
(Constitutional Court of Korea, 2005. 2. 3. 2001HeonGa9). As
a result, the “Hoju” system was virtually abolished.
The CCK ruled that even though the Constitution seeks topreserve South Korean tradition (Art. 9 CRK of 1987), they
could not uphold a traditional family system that violated
gender equality. The CCK ruled that tradition as noted in Art.

No.84 November 2018

9 of the Constitution is a historical concept, whereas genderequality in marriage and family life are fundamental principles
set forth in the Constitution. Therefore the patrilineal
succession inherent in the “Hoju” system would be incompatible
with the Constitution.
It took about a half a century to go from the enactment offamily law in 1958 to the decision of constitutional
incompatibility in 2005. This has left several outstanding
tasks for the women’s movement. First, the inability of thewomen’s movement to secure passage of the amendment
abolishing the “Hoju” system highlights the need to strengthen
women’s political power.
Second, through the CCK decision, people began tounderstand the constitutional provisions that express how ourcountry’s ideological orientation influences family
relationships. This can be understood within the context of thefeminist slogan “The personal is political” by Carol Hanisch. In
the future, the Constitution will play an important role inrealizing women’s freedom and equality in the family.
Finally, while the CCK found that tradition is a historicalconcept, it provided the Korean women’s movement with a newmeans to address old customs that discriminate based on
gender. CEDAW asks countries that ratify the Convention totake various measures, including legislation, to change gender
discriminative customs (Art. 2 (f) CEDAW). In reality, oldcustoms in most countries discriminate against women.
Nevertheless, if they are justified and maintained in the nameof tradition, they might be very difficult to change. However, if
tradition is a historical concept, customs that discriminate
based on gender should be scrutinized to determine whether
they are meaningful today.
The efforts of the Korean women’s movement to change thegender discrimination embodied in family law show what has
to be done to realize gender equality. I want to share thisexperience with women in East Asian countries so that I may
contribute to the development of an equal society.
Pro ﬁ leProfessor at Chonnam National University School of Law
Visiting Scholar at Fukuoka University School of Law
Currently, serves as an Advisory Committee of Korean
National Congress about Legislation, a Member of Boardof Directors in the Korean Academy of Family Law andChief Editor of the Korean Academy of Social Welfare andLaw.

1a member of the Roundtable for promoting Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) established by the SDGs
Promotion Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s office.

Executive Director of CSO Network Japan

Ms. Kaori KURODA

The preamble of “Transforming Our World: The 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development” (hereinafterreferred to as the “2030 Agenda”)1 states:
They (17 goals and 169 targets) seek to realize thehuman rights of all and to achieve gender equality
and the empowerment of all women and girls.2
The Denmark Institute for Human Rights, a worldrenowned think tank, announced that more than 90% of
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets arelinked to international human rights and labour
standards.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR) emphasized that human rights are
essential for achieving the SDGs in the process of
formulating the Global Goals. OHCHR published asummary table on the linkages between the SDGs andrelevant international human rights instruments. Below
is an excerpt from the table of goal 1 and goal 5 andrelevant international human rights instruments.
“Human rights” are specified in the preamble,
declaration and several paragraphs of the 2030 Agenda.
For example, paragraph 8 says, “We envisage a world of
universal respect for human rights and human dignity,
the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination…”,
and paragraph 10 says, “The new Agenda is guided by
the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, including full respect for international law. It is
grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
international human rights treaties, the Millennium
Declaration and the 2005 World Summit outcome.”

However, why are the SDGs not discussed in thecontext of human rights? One of the reasons may be dueto the fact that out of the 17 goals and 169 targets, theword “human rights” was specified only in one goal (SDG
4.7). If we only look at goals and targets, we may miss theessence and philosophy of the 2030 Agenda. As far as
Gender Equality is concerned, not only working on Goal
5 but also understanding this as an overarching issue
are prerequisite for achieving all the goals, as mentioned
previously. UN Women says, “Achieving gender equality
and women’s empowerment is integral to each of the 17
goals. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls
across all the goals will we get to justice and inclusion,
economies that work for all, and sustaining our sharedenvironment now and for future generations.” 3
In Japan, many companies and local authorities havebegun making contributions to achieving SDGs. Many
have started this endeavor by linking their existing
activities to each goal. However, “cherry picking” should
be avoided. It is recommended that appropriate goals be
set and what is needed externally from a global
perspective be identified.
The Government of Japan has appraised the fiveprinciples of universality, inclusiveness, participatory
approach, integrated approach, and transparency andaccountability in the SDGs Implementing Guiding
Principles. It is important that efforts to attain the goals
be based on respect for human rights, gender equality
and women’s empowerment, in addition to the above
principles to realize a sustainable and inclusive future.

Excerpts of linkage documents between SDGs and human rights documents
Goal
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Related Human ● Rights to an adequate standard of living [UDHR art. 25; ICESCR ● Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women [CEDAWRightsart. 11; CRC art. 27]
arts. 1-5] and girls [CRC art. 2], particularly in legislation, political● Right to social security [UDHR art. 22; ICESCR art. 9; CRPD art. and public life (art. 7), economic and social life (arts. 11,13), and28; CRC art. 26]
family relations (art. 16)]
● Equal rights of women in economic life [CEDAW arts. 11,13,14 (2) ● Right to decide the number and spacing of children [CEDAW(g), 15 (2), 16(1)]arts. 12, 16 (1)(e); CRC at. 24 (2)(f)]● Special protection for mothers and children [ICESCR art. 10]● Elimination of violence against women and girls [CEDAW● Right to just and favourable conditions of work [ICESCR art. 7;
CEDAW art. 11]
Source: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/MDGs/Post2015/SDG_HR_Table.pdf

3 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs

1 United Nations, “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development”
2 Words in parentheses have been added by the author.

2

No.84 November 2018

Current Issues Series

Women Today

SDGs: Realization of Human Rights and Gender Equality (Part-2)

Relationship Between
the Revision of Family Law
and the Women’s Movementin South Korea

Pro ﬁ leProfessor at Chonnam National
University School of Law
Visiting Scholar at Fukuoka University
School of Law

Kaori Kuroda is the Executive Director of CSO Network

Ms. Seonja CHA

Japan. She also serves as Japan Director of the Asia
Foundation Japan. Ms. Kuroda was a Japanese NGO
Expert for developing ISO 26000 (ISO Standard for Social
Responsibility) from 2007 to 2010. She currently serves as

The Constitution of the Republic of Korea (CRK) was
adopted in 1948. The Constitution states that “marriage shallbe entered into and sustained on the basis of equality of thesexes.” (Art. 20 CRK of 1948). The Korean Civil Code wasenacted in 1958. However, family law within the Civil Code did
not reflect the gender equality that was put forth in theConstitution. On the contrary, Korean family law incorporated
gender-based discriminatory regulations in the name of
tradition. Specifically, family law had provisions regulating
the “Hoju” system. In the Hoju system, men are responsible forsupporting family members, and they also have the right todecide who is permitted to join the family. The order ofsuccession to the status of “Hoju” is determined by gender,
with priority given to male descendants. For example, when afather passes away, his eldest male son, regardless of age,would ascend to the status of “Hoju”. Thus, feminist groups
argued that the “Hoju” system violated the values embodied in
the Constitution and submitted several family law
amendments to the National Assembly in an attempt toabolish it. However, these efforts failed every time. Conservative
groups regarded the “Hoju” system as a part of Korea’s
traditional culture that needed to be preserved. They exercised
significant political pressure to ensure the amendments did
not pass. In the meantime, abolishing the provisions for the“Hoju” system within family law became a symbol of thewomen’s movement in South Korea.
South Korea ratified the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in
1984. In 1990, the family law was significantly revised toreflect the ideas contained in CEDAW. Nevertheless, the“Hoju” system remained for fear that its sudden abolition
would cause social upheaval. Feminist groups acknowledged
the reality that the National Assembly, consisting mostly ofmen, would not pass an amendment abolishing the “Hoju”
system. They shifted strategies and petitioned theConstitutional Court of Korea (CCK) to determine whether the
regulations of the “Hoju” system violated constitutional rights.
In 2005, the CCK decided the “Hoju” system was incompatible
with the Constitution because it violated the constitutional
provisions for gender equality, marriage, and family life
(Constitutional Court of Korea, 2005. 2. 3. 2001HeonGa9). As
a result, the “Hoju” system was virtually abolished.
The CCK ruled that even though the Constitution seeks topreserve South Korean tradition (Art. 9 CRK of 1987), they
could not uphold a traditional family system that violated
gender equality. The CCK ruled that tradition as noted in Art.

No.84 November 2018

9 of the Constitution is a historical concept, whereas genderequality in marriage and family life are fundamental principles
set forth in the Constitution. Therefore the patrilineal
succession inherent in the “Hoju” system would be incompatible
with the Constitution.
It took about a half a century to go from the enactment offamily law in 1958 to the decision of constitutional
incompatibility in 2005. This has left several outstanding
tasks for the women’s movement. First, the inability of thewomen’s movement to secure passage of the amendment
abolishing the “Hoju” system highlights the need to strengthen
women’s political power.
Second, through the CCK decision, people began tounderstand the constitutional provisions that express how ourcountry’s ideological orientation influences family
relationships. This can be understood within the context of thefeminist slogan “The personal is political” by Carol Hanisch. In
the future, the Constitution will play an important role inrealizing women’s freedom and equality in the family.
Finally, while the CCK found that tradition is a historicalconcept, it provided the Korean women’s movement with a newmeans to address old customs that discriminate based on
gender. CEDAW asks countries that ratify the Convention totake various measures, including legislation, to change gender
discriminative customs (Art. 2 (f) CEDAW). In reality, oldcustoms in most countries discriminate against women.
Nevertheless, if they are justified and maintained in the nameof tradition, they might be very difficult to change. However, if
tradition is a historical concept, customs that discriminate
based on gender should be scrutinized to determine whether
they are meaningful today.
The efforts of the Korean women’s movement to change thegender discrimination embodied in family law show what has
to be done to realize gender equality. I want to share thisexperience with women in East Asian countries so that I may
contribute to the development of an equal society.
Pro ﬁ leProfessor at Chonnam National University School of Law
Visiting Scholar at Fukuoka University School of Law
Currently, serves as an Advisory Committee of Korean
National Congress about Legislation, a Member of Boardof Directors in the Korean Academy of Family Law andChief Editor of the Korean Academy of Social Welfare andLaw.

1a member of the Roundtable for promoting Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) established by the SDGs
Promotion Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s office.

Executive Director of CSO Network Japan

Ms. Kaori KURODA

The preamble of “Transforming Our World: The 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development” (hereinafterreferred to as the “2030 Agenda”)1 states:
They (17 goals and 169 targets) seek to realize thehuman rights of all and to achieve gender equality
and the empowerment of all women and girls.2
The Denmark Institute for Human Rights, a worldrenowned think tank, announced that more than 90% of
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets arelinked to international human rights and labour
standards.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR) emphasized that human rights are
essential for achieving the SDGs in the process of
formulating the Global Goals. OHCHR published asummary table on the linkages between the SDGs andrelevant international human rights instruments. Below
is an excerpt from the table of goal 1 and goal 5 andrelevant international human rights instruments.
“Human rights” are specified in the preamble,
declaration and several paragraphs of the 2030 Agenda.
For example, paragraph 8 says, “We envisage a world of
universal respect for human rights and human dignity,
the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination…”,
and paragraph 10 says, “The new Agenda is guided by
the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, including full respect for international law. It is
grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
international human rights treaties, the Millennium
Declaration and the 2005 World Summit outcome.”

However, why are the SDGs not discussed in thecontext of human rights? One of the reasons may be dueto the fact that out of the 17 goals and 169 targets, theword “human rights” was specified only in one goal (SDG
4.7). If we only look at goals and targets, we may miss theessence and philosophy of the 2030 Agenda. As far as
Gender Equality is concerned, not only working on Goal
5 but also understanding this as an overarching issue
are prerequisite for achieving all the goals, as mentioned
previously. UN Women says, “Achieving gender equality
and women’s empowerment is integral to each of the 17
goals. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls
across all the goals will we get to justice and inclusion,
economies that work for all, and sustaining our sharedenvironment now and for future generations.” 3
In Japan, many companies and local authorities havebegun making contributions to achieving SDGs. Many
have started this endeavor by linking their existing
activities to each goal. However, “cherry picking” should
be avoided. It is recommended that appropriate goals be
set and what is needed externally from a global
perspective be identified.
The Government of Japan has appraised the fiveprinciples of universality, inclusiveness, participatory
approach, integrated approach, and transparency andaccountability in the SDGs Implementing Guiding
Principles. It is important that efforts to attain the goals
be based on respect for human rights, gender equality
and women’s empowerment, in addition to the above
principles to realize a sustainable and inclusive future.

Excerpts of linkage documents between SDGs and human rights documents
Goal
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Related Human ● Rights to an adequate standard of living [UDHR art. 25; ICESCR ● Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women [CEDAWRightsart. 11; CRC art. 27]
arts. 1-5] and girls [CRC art. 2], particularly in legislation, political● Right to social security [UDHR art. 22; ICESCR art. 9; CRPD art. and public life (art. 7), economic and social life (arts. 11,13), and28; CRC art. 26]
family relations (art. 16)]
● Equal rights of women in economic life [CEDAW arts. 11,13,14 (2) ● Right to decide the number and spacing of children [CEDAW(g), 15 (2), 16(1)]arts. 12, 16 (1)(e); CRC at. 24 (2)(f)]● Special protection for mothers and children [ICESCR art. 10]● Elimination of violence against women and girls [CEDAW● Right to just and favourable conditions of work [ICESCR art. 7;
CEDAW art. 11]
Source: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/MDGs/Post2015/SDG_HR_Table.pdf

3 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs

1 United Nations, “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development”
2 Words in parentheses have been added by the author.

2

No.84 November 2018

Debriefing on Participation in the 62nd Session of the
UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62)
Date

Thursday, June 14, 2018 18:30-20:00

Venue

Small Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center MOVE

Reporters

Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI, President of KFAW
39

Report by Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI, President of KFAW
The priority theme of CSW62
was “Challenges and opportunities
in achieving gender equality andthe empowerment of rural womenand girls”. Despite the fact thatwomen account for 60% of workers
in agricultural areas, mountainand fishing villages, and rural
districts around the world, they do not have rights related tosocial protections and labor. The major challenge is that
there are very few women who have the right to own land.
The percentage of medically-assisted births is less than 38%
and access to safe drinking water continues to be low. The
rate of child marriages is also high and literacy rates arelow.
The key to empowering rural women and girls is decent
work and social security, education and training, sustainableenergy and technology, clean water, elimination of violenceand harmful practices, and inclusion of women in decisionmaking processes. At CSW62, national governments and theUnited Nations were requested to take action on these issues
and civil society organizations were also invited to take part.

Report by Ms. Yukiko ODA, Vice Convener, JAWW (Japan
Women’s Watch)
On March 13, 2018, JAWW co-organized a side event
related to the priority theme with the International Women’sYear Liaison Group and the National Women’s Committee ofthe United Nations NGOs, with the participation of 128
people from 23 countries and regions.
Around the world, women play significant roles in themaintenance and development of agricultural areas, mountainand fishing villages, and rural districts, but face disadvantages
in many aspects. Even though situations differ, women in bothdeveloping and developed countries face similar problems. Four
speakers were invited from Japan, Africa, Asia, andinternational organizations to this event to discuss what actions
are needed to lead to women’s empowerment. Emphasis wasplaced on creating movements basedon networking, the need for policies toincorporate gender equality at every
opportunity, cooperation with actions
by the national government and society
as a whole, and the importance ofpromoting policies to increase women’s
access to property, such as land.

Gender Mainstreaming Policies for Government Officers 2018 (the First)
KFAW conducts
a training program
twice a year for
central and local
government officials
indeveloping
countries, who arein charge of genderm a i n s t r e a m i n g,
consigned by theJapan International Cooperation Agency, Kyushu Center(JICA Kyushu). The first training course (A) in FY 2018
was held from Monday, June 11 to Wednesday, July 11,
and government officials from 7 countries, Ghana,
Kosovo, Palestine, Malawi, Nigeria, South Sudan andTanzania, participated in the training.
One subject of the training is Gender Mainstreamingin Childcare System, which has been conducted over 30
times thanks to the cooperation of the Koutakuji Daycare
Center and Koutakuji Daycare Center II in Kitakyushu
City.
This time, the participants visited the Koutakuji
Daycare Center II on July 2 and enjoyed an exchange

No.84 November 2018

program celebrating the Tanabata festival with thechildren. They also learned about childcare in Japan
today in a lecture given by Ms. Sakiko Fujioka, the VicePrincipal of the center.
After the visit, a participant from Palestine said, “I
understood that fathers and mothers can go to work
thanks to daycare centers in Japan. Child-rearing has
been regarded as amother’s task for a longtime. However, in Japan,
daycare center is now
playing an important rolefor promoting women’s
participation in the labormarket. I would like toimprove childcare services
in Palestine based on thisexperience in Japan.” Thevisit to the daycare center
further deepened theirunderstanding of gender
A warm handmade invitation card
mainstreaming.
from children

3“Gender in Africa – Let’s talk about Africa, now and the future”
KFAW held a seminar for promoting gender equality and empowering women from a global perspective as well as
for deepening understanding of Africa. For the seminar, government ofﬁcials from Africa, who were visiting Japan for a
JICA training course on gender mainstreaming, were invited and they talked about their countries.

Ms. Yukiko ODA, Vice Convener, JAWW (Japan Women’s Watch)Participants

International Understanding Seminar

Date

Friday, June 29, 2018 13:30-16:00

Venue

Main Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality
Center MOVE

ProgramPresentation by government officials from Africa
Presenters:• Mr. Twene James (Ghana)• Ms. Ilunga Adventina Kato (Tanzania)• Mr. Kalelo Phiri Joseph (Malawi)• Ms. Keri Jane Tumalu Erasto (South Sudan)• Mr. Edo Sunday Ekata (Nigeria)
Facilitator: Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI, President of KFAW
Participants

56◆Mr. Twene James (Ghana)◆Mr. Kalelo Phiri Joseph (Malawi)

Ghana
has
ratifiedtreaties
concerning gender equality, but inreality women cannot equally accessland, technology, information, credit,
etc. as men can. Currently, a very
important “Affirmative Action Bill” is in
the process of submission to the Diet. If
this becomes law, women will be able to

Malawi has had a female president
elected for the first time in southern
Africa. We have some achievements so far
including the increased girl’s enrollment
rate in primary and secondary schools
and decreased maternal mortality rate.
We, however, have only a few female
decision-makers and harmful cultural

obtain 20 percent of the decision-making positions forimportant policies.

practices for women and girls still persist. We still have manythings to do to achieve gender equality.

◆Ms. Ilunga Adventina Kato (Tanzania)◆Ms. Keri Jane Tumalu Erasto (South Sudan)

In Tanzania, a big gap exists in theemployment rates of women and men;many women are working in theinformal sector. The government has
taken measures such as the policy forgender equal education and a law
requiring employers to eliminate
discrimination in all workplaces. We

Women are considered second-classcitizens in rural areas of South Sudan.
They cannot claim their rights and cannot
participate in important decision-making.
Women are sometimes treated like acommodity. The maternal mortality rate isvery high due to lack of medical facilities
and staff. The recent civil war destroyed thealso have loans for women through the Women Development
Fund and the Tanzanian Women’s Bank. Now in Tanzania,
a law allows both men and women to own houses and lands
alone or jointly, and 39 percent of women possess their own
land.

country and poverty is rampant. Even in such circumstances, aproject was conducted for promoting the financial empowermentof war widows. Some of them who were supported by this projectsuccessfully increased agricultural production and came to beable to support their families.

◆Mr. Edo Sunday Ekata (Nigeria)
Nigeria has been promoting gender equality by formulating the National Gender Policy and National
Action Plan. The problems are the lack of appropriate legislation, lack of human resources who areknowledgeable concerning gender issues, and remaining religious and traditional customs that
discriminate against women. The roles of men and women differ in daily life. Men make decisions forfamilies, watch TV or read newspapers after work, play with children and help children go to school,
while women are responsible for family care and many household chores such as cooking, cleaning,
washing, fetching water, collecting firewood, trading and grinding crops.

4No.84 November 2018

Debriefing on Participation in the 62nd Session of the
UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62)
Date

Thursday, June 14, 2018 18:30-20:00

Venue

Small Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center MOVE

Reporters

Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI, President of KFAW
39

Report by Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI, President of KFAW
The priority theme of CSW62
was “Challenges and opportunities
in achieving gender equality andthe empowerment of rural womenand girls”. Despite the fact thatwomen account for 60% of workers
in agricultural areas, mountainand fishing villages, and rural
districts around the world, they do not have rights related tosocial protections and labor. The major challenge is that
there are very few women who have the right to own land.
The percentage of medically-assisted births is less than 38%
and access to safe drinking water continues to be low. The
rate of child marriages is also high and literacy rates arelow.
The key to empowering rural women and girls is decent
work and social security, education and training, sustainableenergy and technology, clean water, elimination of violenceand harmful practices, and inclusion of women in decisionmaking processes. At CSW62, national governments and theUnited Nations were requested to take action on these issues
and civil society organizations were also invited to take part.

Report by Ms. Yukiko ODA, Vice Convener, JAWW (Japan
Women’s Watch)
On March 13, 2018, JAWW co-organized a side event
related to the priority theme with the International Women’sYear Liaison Group and the National Women’s Committee ofthe United Nations NGOs, with the participation of 128
people from 23 countries and regions.
Around the world, women play significant roles in themaintenance and development of agricultural areas, mountainand fishing villages, and rural districts, but face disadvantages
in many aspects. Even though situations differ, women in bothdeveloping and developed countries face similar problems. Four
speakers were invited from Japan, Africa, Asia, andinternational organizations to this event to discuss what actions
are needed to lead to women’s empowerment. Emphasis wasplaced on creating movements basedon networking, the need for policies toincorporate gender equality at every
opportunity, cooperation with actions
by the national government and society
as a whole, and the importance ofpromoting policies to increase women’s
access to property, such as land.

Gender Mainstreaming Policies for Government Officers 2018 (the First)
KFAW conducts
a training program
twice a year for
central and local
government officials
indeveloping
countries, who arein charge of genderm a i n s t r e a m i n g,
consigned by theJapan International Cooperation Agency, Kyushu Center(JICA Kyushu). The first training course (A) in FY 2018
was held from Monday, June 11 to Wednesday, July 11,
and government officials from 7 countries, Ghana,
Kosovo, Palestine, Malawi, Nigeria, South Sudan andTanzania, participated in the training.
One subject of the training is Gender Mainstreamingin Childcare System, which has been conducted over 30
times thanks to the cooperation of the Koutakuji Daycare
Center and Koutakuji Daycare Center II in Kitakyushu
City.
This time, the participants visited the Koutakuji
Daycare Center II on July 2 and enjoyed an exchange

No.84 November 2018

program celebrating the Tanabata festival with thechildren. They also learned about childcare in Japan
today in a lecture given by Ms. Sakiko Fujioka, the VicePrincipal of the center.
After the visit, a participant from Palestine said, “I
understood that fathers and mothers can go to work
thanks to daycare centers in Japan. Child-rearing has
been regarded as amother’s task for a longtime. However, in Japan,
daycare center is now
playing an important rolefor promoting women’s
participation in the labormarket. I would like toimprove childcare services
in Palestine based on thisexperience in Japan.” Thevisit to the daycare center
further deepened theirunderstanding of gender
A warm handmade invitation card
mainstreaming.
from children

3“Gender in Africa – Let’s talk about Africa, now and the future”
KFAW held a seminar for promoting gender equality and empowering women from a global perspective as well as
for deepening understanding of Africa. For the seminar, government ofﬁcials from Africa, who were visiting Japan for a
JICA training course on gender mainstreaming, were invited and they talked about their countries.

Ms. Yukiko ODA, Vice Convener, JAWW (Japan Women’s Watch)Participants

International Understanding Seminar

Date

Friday, June 29, 2018 13:30-16:00

Venue

Main Seminar Room, 5th Floor, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality
Center MOVE

ProgramPresentation by government officials from Africa
Presenters:• Mr. Twene James (Ghana)• Ms. Ilunga Adventina Kato (Tanzania)• Mr. Kalelo Phiri Joseph (Malawi)• Ms. Keri Jane Tumalu Erasto (South Sudan)• Mr. Edo Sunday Ekata (Nigeria)
Facilitator: Ms. Mitsuko HORIUCHI, President of KFAW
Participants

56◆Mr. Twene James (Ghana)◆Mr. Kalelo Phiri Joseph (Malawi)

Ghana
has
ratifiedtreaties
concerning gender equality, but inreality women cannot equally accessland, technology, information, credit,
etc. as men can. Currently, a very
important “Affirmative Action Bill” is in
the process of submission to the Diet. If
this becomes law, women will be able to

Malawi has had a female president
elected for the first time in southern
Africa. We have some achievements so far
including the increased girl’s enrollment
rate in primary and secondary schools
and decreased maternal mortality rate.
We, however, have only a few female
decision-makers and harmful cultural

obtain 20 percent of the decision-making positions forimportant policies.

practices for women and girls still persist. We still have manythings to do to achieve gender equality.

◆Ms. Ilunga Adventina Kato (Tanzania)◆Ms. Keri Jane Tumalu Erasto (South Sudan)

In Tanzania, a big gap exists in theemployment rates of women and men;many women are working in theinformal sector. The government has
taken measures such as the policy forgender equal education and a law
requiring employers to eliminate
discrimination in all workplaces. We

Women are considered second-classcitizens in rural areas of South Sudan.
They cannot claim their rights and cannot
participate in important decision-making.
Women are sometimes treated like acommodity. The maternal mortality rate isvery high due to lack of medical facilities
and staff. The recent civil war destroyed thealso have loans for women through the Women Development
Fund and the Tanzanian Women’s Bank. Now in Tanzania,
a law allows both men and women to own houses and lands
alone or jointly, and 39 percent of women possess their own
land.

country and poverty is rampant. Even in such circumstances, aproject was conducted for promoting the financial empowermentof war widows. Some of them who were supported by this projectsuccessfully increased agricultural production and came to beable to support their families.

◆Mr. Edo Sunday Ekata (Nigeria)
Nigeria has been promoting gender equality by formulating the National Gender Policy and National
Action Plan. The problems are the lack of appropriate legislation, lack of human resources who areknowledgeable concerning gender issues, and remaining religious and traditional customs that
discriminate against women. The roles of men and women differ in daily life. Men make decisions forfamilies, watch TV or read newspapers after work, play with children and help children go to school,
while women are responsible for family care and many household chores such as cooking, cleaning,
washing, fetching water, collecting firewood, trading and grinding crops.

4No.84 November 2018

FY 2018/19 KFAW Visiting Researchers and Research Themes                    ­  Comparative Study of Fukuoka and Taipei on the Promotionof Local Activities and Political Participation by Women

Empirical Study on Support for Mothers and Children Victimized
by Domestic Violence: Through Practices in Japan and Singapore  
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                 
             
                       

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     ­      
                      ­   

    
          ­     
   
     
            
   
                                                  
                     ­  
Discussions with city council members       
in Taiwan, Province of China  Research on Promoting Career Development from a Female Perspective:
Based on Interviews in Fukuoka and Kagoshima Prefectures                              
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                                       ­                             
           

           

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   
 
                       
  
  

This year, 6 persons from 5
countries are selected and work
as KFAW foreign correspondents.
Through this network, KFAW willkeep
providing
up-to-date
information from various parts of
the world. The proﬁles of thecorrespondents
and
other
reports are available at the KFAW
website (http://www.kfaw.or.
jp/cor respondents / index.
html.en).

No.84 November 2018



Profile     My active role is concerned with education and social activities incommunity in the North South of Pakistan. My role as a beacon for the
inhabitants, especially for school/college apprentices, is to guide andpublicize latest information by social media and general gatherings.
Growing-up situation in the countryside, where people suﬀer frompoverty, lack of education and basic human rights, discrimination against
women, and dropout of kids from school, makes me hard-pressed to step
up! I am conﬁdent servings as a KFAW foreign correspondent willencourage me to act more positively in this taxing condition.

Mr. Muhammad SAJJAD (Pakistan)Deﬁnition          ¢         ­  ¥ 
             
                                            
                  ¦¦§§ ¨ ¡              
                             ¦        ¡        ¡     
            
       ©           ¨   
  ¡ ¦                                                  
¡ 

Child Marriage Around the World                   
    
                                         
             ¡      ¡      ¢         ¢         £¢ 
Situation in Pakistan                                                                 ­   ¤                            ­     ¥
¥ 
      
                         
             £    £            
     
                           
                 ¢                            
                           
                                   §¢¢     

Signiﬁcance of Child Marriage                                     
               
             
        Girl aged under 16 prepared     for marriage in Sindh               ¤                    ¦ ¦
         
                  ¤  
     



No.84 November 2018

The 28 KFAW Foreign Correspondents’ ReportsthMs. Carmen LEDESMA

Jurist specialized in women’s human rights whomonitored the National Plan to Combat Violenceagainst Women 2009-2015 and gave technical
ISSN 0918-8266
assistance at the regional level to local governmentson the National Plan to reduce Gender-based
Violence 2016-2021. I was Director of Policies for aLife Free of Violence and Economic Autonomy of
Women in the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable(Peru)
Populations.

Between December 2016 and March 2017, a natural
disaster called the Coastal Boy Phenomenon (El Niño) hit
northern Peru, leaving thousands of families affected by the
overflowing of rivers that caused floods in several
departments, including Piura. The catastrophe destroyed
homes, agricultural lands, road access and basic services
and, therefore, a state of emergency was declared. In Piura,a total of 141,860 people lost their homes as of March 31,
2017. There were 27,981 victims and 34 shelters were
installed with a total of 1,985 tents to protect the populationin the districts of Catacaos and Cura Mori in Piura.
The Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations(MIMP) participated in the relocation of families andwomen, girls, boys and adolescents in different shelters, andselected the shelter of San Pablo in Catacaos, Piura toconcentrate more women with a total of 267 families. In thiscontext, the MIMP installed Violence Assistance Module
where lawyers and psychologists were stationed in order toprevent violence against women, and “JUGUEMOS” (Let’s
Play) Module for children to stimulate their early recovery
through games, taking into account the resilience situationof this population after the natural disaster.
During the period between 2016 and part of 2017, highrates of violence were recorded in Piura, averaging 55%
cases of psychological violence, 36% physical, 9% sexual, in
addition to 3 cases of femicide and 9 cases of attempted
femicide. Behind this situation was a condition in whichdisplaced women and children were exposed to other formsof violence. In Piura, 2,757 cases of violence were registeredin 2016 only.
The economically active female population of Piura was
40% (370 thousand people), with 82.5% of women engaged in
the informal sector.
In this context of displaced women, the MIMP, together
with its National Program Against Family and Sexual
Violence, designed an intervention strategy to promote thegeneration of income for women to achieve their economic
autonomy through the development of their productive
abilities to weave toquilla straw products—traditional
crafts of Piura with great recognition—using natural
resources in the area as a comparative advantage over otherregions. Out of the total of 267 women in the shelter, in thefirst phase of the intervention in the second half of 2017,
over 100 women were trained in the design of innovative
straw products to enter the market. In order to support thispilot project of women entrepreneurs, a network of womenartisans called Weaving Hopes was created in the district ofLocationofCatacaos in Piura Region, aiming to promote future
Kitakyushu
Beijing

Location of
Kitakyushu

KFAW

Beijing

DalianSeoul

DalianSeoul

Tokyo
Kitakyushu

Pro ﬁ leISSN 0918-8266

ISSN 0918-8266

sustainability and women’s economic independence with theobjective of promoting their economic autonomy by building
their capacity for producing straw products and addressingcommercial issues, as well as by cultivating their leadershipwhile applying gender and intercultural approaches.
The MIMP has given technical assistance and been
cooperating with the private sector, other state institutions,regional corporations such as BELCORP to facilitate thewomen’s empowerment and economic autonomy, as well aswith others with a knowledge about colors and fashion
trends of the products and services to make them morecompetitive and promote them to the market withsustainable projections.
The artisan women displaced and located in the San
Pablo shelter did not have a space for designing theirproducts, and therefore a module was installed as a workshop(10 meters wide, 17 meters long, and 4 meters high) with aspace suitable for preparing their products, receiving
training, and exhibitions and sales, which is divided into 4
areas: the product elaboration area, the marketing area, thelactation area with cots to breastfeed their children whileworking, and the play area for their small children. It has anintercultural approach respecting the way the artisans
work at round tables—talking and sitting on cushions as
they do their work, with the model of the product put at thecenter.
Currently, there are approximately 200 women who havejoined the network, selling their products in shopping centers
and at the request of companies. The MIMP has designed thesecond phase of theintervention
toexpedite access totheinternational
market that is in theprocess of being
implemented.
Thestrategyofthisproject helps the External part of the Workshop Tent of theartisan women‘s network “Weaving Hopes”,
women
out
of which was full of visitors during a sale at a fair.
violence and poverty
as they say: “We feel
free
and
weave
hopes of growth for
our life free ofviolence with economic
empowerment.”
Toquilla straw products handwoven by women artisans

KFAW

The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
Achieving the SDGs from KFAW
government fund for revitalization projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as a
KFAWaims atfoundation by
the Ministryof achieving
Labour (theGOAL
present5Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The purpose(Gender
Equality),
sharing thechallengesof the KFAW
is to promote
the improvementof women's
status through various projects as well as their
PRINTED WITH
and efforts
withthe world.
mutual understanding
andcooperationin Asia.

KFAW

SOY INKTokyo
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
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.84 November 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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