93No.

January2023

KITAKYUSHU FORUM ON ASIAN WOMEN
Kitakyushu Otemachi Building 3F, Otemachi 11-4,
Kokurakita, Kitakkyushu, Fukuoka 803-0814 JAPAN
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E-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp
URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp

Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) Web-based Newsletter

CONTENTS
Business and Human Rights, and World Cup- IWATSUKI Yuka (President of ACE) .......................................................................................... 1
A crucial matter: mainstreaming gender into all the population programmes- HORIUCHI Mitsuko (President of KFAW) ................................................................................ 5

Business and Human Rights, and World Cup- IWATSUKI Yuka (President of ACE)
Hello everyone, my name is Yuka IWATSUKI,
President of ACE. Due to COVID-19 pandemic,international conferences have switched toonline, thus I have not been to an actual
conference venue for a while. But finally at theend of November 2022, I participated the firstday of the “UN Forum on the Business andHuman Rights” held at the European
Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva.
Today, I would like to write a piece for thisnewsletter based on that story.

the social responsibility of corporations came tobe questioned. In a situation where the sales of
one global company were larger than the budgetof a country, CSR (Corporate SocialResponsibility) discussions and autonomous
initiatives such as the “United Nations GlobalCompact” were initiated, while there was amovement toward an international convention,
which did not materialize. In the midst of thissituation, a “new norm” different from aconvention, one that not only regulates orrestricts behavior, but also enables and promotesspecific actions, was aimed for, and the result is“UN Guiding Principles on Business and HumanRights.” It was compiled by the professor JohnRuggie, who was appointed by UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan as his Special
Representative on this matter.

I know that not many people are familiar withthe term “business and human rights,” so let me
explain a little about it. In the 1990s, as theeconomy became increasingly globalized, theimpact of corporate business on society (e.g.,environmental destruction) became an issue, and1

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So what is “UN Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights”?
There are three pillars.

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The UN Business and Human Rights Forum,organized by the UN Working Group on
Business and Human Rights, is held once a year
to share countries’ progress and experiences andto discuss how to implement the “GuidingPrinciples for Business and Human Rights.” This
time I participated for one day at the venue at theEuropean headquarters of the United Nations.
The conference consists of three plenary sessions
and 24 individual sessions over the course ofthree days.

1. States have duty to protect human rights.
2. Businesses have a responsibility to respecthuman rights.
3. Access to Remedy
The first pillar may sound something that has
been taken for granted, but it is expected that thegovernment will create a national action plan on
how to fulfill this obligation. In addition, “Statesshould set out a clear expectation” on how
companies should be responsible to respecthuman rights. The clearest expectation can be thelaw. In response to this, some countries havealready created and implemented laws that
impose new obligations on corporations
regarding human rights.
The second pillar, corporate “responsibility,”
is significant because it is clearly stated andbecause it indicates that the responsibility ofcorporations to “respect human rights” extends
not only to those they directly employ, but also
to their business partners and to the places where
they do business. And to prevent human rights
violations from occurring in a company'sbusiness, it promotes human rights due diligence(identifying and avoiding the risk of humanrights violations) and the capability of receiving
complaints when the violation does occur.

By the way, there is a monument of a chairwith one broken leg like this in front of theEuropean Union headquarters in Geneva,
Switzerland, where this event will be held. It issaid that this shape was originally created tosymbolize the victims of landmines, but it isplaced in front of the UN in order to condemn thedamage caused by war to civilians. The war,
which I never thought would happen, has
occurred in Ukraine, and there are still people
living in war zones who have suffered civilian
casualties and have been cut off from electricity
and other infrastructures. When I think of how
limited the United Nations is in what it can do tohelp them, this monument seems even sadder tome now.

The third pillar is to ensure that victims ofhuman rights violations have easy access tomechanisms to help them obtain effectiveremedies. easy access to mechanisms to assist
them in obtaining effective remedies.

Monument of a chair with one broken leg in front of the UN
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have been violated are considered to be thebiggest.

This time, since the inside of the UN was
under renovation, we registered as participants ata location outside the UN, picked up our passes,
and entered the building where the conference
was being held from the side of the main entrance.
As my flight was delayed and I was late for themain session, I was told that there were no moreseats available in the main conference room. The
ceiling of the room where this plenary session is
being held looks like this. This is the second time
I have come to this venue to participate in theconference, and I was struck by the beauty andmysterious look of the ceiling.

For example, indigenous peoples are standing
up and speaking out against corporate business inorder to protect their lands from development orto protect the environment from corporate
destruction. However, it is also a fact that theseso-called Human Rights Defenders are beingsued by corporations (SLAP lawsuits) or losing
their lives, and there are movements around theworld to suppress the voices of those who raise
their voices for the protection of human rights. It
is against this backdrop, far from remedying
human rights violations, that this forum is being
held. This time, too, representatives of SouthAmerican indigenous peoples in colorful ethnic
costumes took the stage to speak, and we mustensure that those who raise their voices areproperly protected.
Another trend that has been attracting
attention over the past few years is the trend forgovernments to make “human rights due
diligence” mandatory by law. As legislation is
being enacted in the EU, its progress is the focus
of worldwide attention due to its impact. A
member of the EU parliament was also present todiscuss the status and focus of their consideration.
While one might think that companies would beopposed to such a move, surprisingly, someindividual companies are in favor of it. This isbecause in order to create a level playing field, it
is better to have laws that all companies must
follow in the same way. Currently, there arecompanies that are doing their best to preventchild labor at a cost, while there are companies
that are profiting from child labor in their supply
chains, but cannot be blamed for it.

A view of the main conference hall

Of course, I was not only looking at the ceiling.
This forum has a main concept each year and it
was “Rights holders at the centre: Strengthening
accountability to advance business respect forpeople and planet in the next decade.” TheBusiness and Human Rights Working Group has
just reviewed the 10 years since 2011, when theGuiding Principles for Business and HumanRights were created, and announced its roadmap
for the next 10 years to 2021, in which the thirdpillar, access to remedy, is the gap between idealand reality, and the voices of those whose rights

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From the Japanese government, which has
made progress by formulating a national actionplan and announcing guidelines for corporate
human rights due diligence, Special Advisor tothe Prime Minister Mr. Nakatani was on site toattend the conference and deliver a speech.
Expectations are high for the next steps to see if
the Japanese government will consider
legislation in response to the global trend.

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Sonia and Kailash Satyarthi, founder of the Global March Against ChildLabour, at a press conference in Tokyo in 2001.

The reason why I am keen on following thediscussion on “Guiding Principles for Businessand Human Rights” is because they are closely
related to child labour, which I am working on atACE.

After meeting her, I realized that “child labor
should not be dismissed as a problem of poor
children in developing countries. It is also a
problem of our own consumer countries that use
such products without knowing it.” For instance,
cacao, the raw material for chocolate, cotton forT-shirts, etc., can be traced back to the children
who work in the fields. We, as NGOs, can workin these communities to promote the eliminationof child labour. However, we cannot change thebusiness model which is based on child labour. It
is the companies themselves that can change
their business model. In order to encouragecompanies to seriously address human rights
issues in their supply chains, such as child labour,
governments should create laws that require
human rights due diligence, which would
promote prevention and elimination of childlabour, even down to the production sites of raw
materials that are connected in the global
economy.

One of the turning points in my work on theissue of child labour was actually the World Cup:in May 2001, a year before the 2002 World Cup
in Japan and Korea, a girl who were sewing
soccer balls came to Japan from India. At thattime, soccer balls were sewn by hand, and someof them were worked by women and children athome in India and Pakistan. Sonia was one of thegirls who sewed soccer balls in such a way.
The reason for her visit to Japan was to hold apress conference to launch the “World Cup
Campaign: Kick Child Labour Out of the World!”
She said at the press conference, “Please use
soccer balls made by adults with fair wages.
Children should go to school. Please help us todo so.”This World Cup in Qatar also had an issue for
migrant workers on construction sites of thestadium. Workers who lost their lives or wereinjured while working in unsafe conditions had
their rights violated. The Business and Human

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Rights concept calls on companies andgovernments to take responsibility for theprocesses by which these things are made.

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I hope this article on “Business and Human
Rights,” including my experience at theEuropean Headquarters of the United Nations,has made you feel a little closer to the topic.
Japan still has a long way to go, but I would liketo continue to send encouragement from civilsociety to both the government and corporations
to promote their efforts. Please keep your eyes on
this together.

Japan is a major consumer nation. In this light,
we have a great responsibility. That is why theinternational NGOs expect Japanese government
to do more, and the Japanese government canmake a global impact by creating rules thatcompanies are eager to follow.
[Profile]

recommendations to then Prime Minister Abe,Ms. IWATSUKI Yuka, co-founder and president offulfilling her role. ACE is now promoting practical

the Action against Child Exploitation (ACE), one ofefforts to eliminate child labour in India and Ghana

the most active civil society organization in Japanby implementing community-based child labour

to fight against child labour. She has been tirelessly

elimination programs and supporting “Childworking for protecting the rights of children,

Labour Free Zone-system” initiative in Ghana. She

focusing on elimination of child labour. In 2004,

acts as Secretariat for the Campaign for theACE established the Stop Child Labour Network

Convention on the Rights of the Child in Japan,

Japan, and engaged in advocacy activities

which was launched in 2019. This campaign madeincluding speaking at the global conferences onpolicy recommendation to realize the enactment of

the elimination of child labour. In the occasion of

the Basic Act on Children's Rights.

2019 Osaka G20 Summit, she chaired the C20, agroup of civil society organizations as one of theengagement group to G20, and handed over their

A crucial matter: mainstreaming gender into all the population
programmes- HORIUCHI Mitsuko (President of KFAW)World's population has grown rapidly sincethe Industrial Revolution and continues to grow,albeit at a slower pace. According to the latest
UN projections, the world population reached 85

Asian Breeze No.93
billion on 15 November 2022.
After that, according to the UN medium
scenario, the population will increase to 8.5
billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9
billion in 2100. Sub-Saharan Africa will be thefastest-growing region, surpassing Central andSouth Asia by 2100. Nine countries will accountfor half of the population growth by 2050,including India, Indonesia, and Pakistan fromAsia. India, Indonesia, and Pakistan are among
them, as is the United States. India will replace
China as the most populous country next year.
Factors that will affect the population are thetotal fertility rate, child mortality rate, andinternational migration.
In 2018, for the first time in history, thepopulation over 65 years old exceeded thenumber of children under 5 years old; by 2050,
the elderly population will also exceed the young
population (15~24 years old). Care will be more
important than ever.
Looking back, at the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Development(ICPD) in Cairo, it was agreed that theimprovement of "sexual and reproductivehealth(rights)," now widely accepted as the basis
for population policy. The focus of population
policy has largely shifted to the individual level(micro), particularly to women's rights. In
addition, the notion that population anddevelopment issues are closely related andinteract with each other became a commoninternational understanding. Population issues
became a key area of gender and human rights
issues. In November 2019, a Summit was held in
Nairobi, Kenya, to mark the 25th anniversary ofthe ICPD. The Summit included statements suchas accelerating the achievement of the ICPD Planof Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Online NewsletterDevelopment. Nearly half of the commitments
expressed by conference participants including
government representatives, legislators, andNGOs, were to promote the ICPD Action Plan,and I look forward to further progress in thefuture.
Progress since the Cairo Conference is well
represented in the following indicators Maternalmortality rate decreased from 100,000 vs. 365 in
1994 to 211 in 2017, on average, worldwide. Theaverage lifetime number of births per woman has
decreased from 4.8 in 1969 to 2.5 in 2019.
However, there are many challenges, including
marginalized populations, ethnic minorities,
youth, and the unmarried who do not have accessto sexual and reproductive services.
Yet another feature of population change isurbanization, a trend that will continue with anestimated 68% of the world's population residing
in cities by 2050. There are many issues to beaddressed,
suchasimproving
urban
transportation and slum living conditions.
Both China and India have huge populationsof just over 1.4 billion people. The world's
growing population of 8 billion reminds us that
we must take more seriously the challenges weare aces in facing the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which are being pursued aroundthe world for the target year of 2030. The world
still faces so many challenges and problems,such as the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict,violence, and hunger.
The world population will continue to grow,reaching 9 billion in 2037. It is further projected
to peak at about 10.4 billion in the 2080s andremain at that level until 2100. It will take about
12 years for the population to grow from 7 billion
to 8 billion, about the same period of time it took
to grow from 6 billion to 7 billion.

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Half of the population growth to 8 billion
comes from Asia, followed by Africa with thesecond largest population of about 400 million.
By country, 10 countries account for more thanhalf of the population growth from 7 billion to 8billion. Of these, India is by far the largest,
followed by China and Nigeria. The futurearrival of the 9 billion population will also belargely due to the growth of the African andAsian populations.
Japan, by the way, is the 11th most populous
country in the world, and there are only 15
countries in the world with a population over 100
million, including Vietnam, which has apopulation of nearly 100 million. Africa is
attracting a great deal of attention, in part
because of the economic contribution of its large
population.
Furthermore, it is important to point out theincreasing longevity of the world's population.
The world's life expectancy at birth will reach
72.8 years in 2019, an increase of about 9 years
from 1990. Life expectancy in the least
developed countries is 7 years below the world
average, and in many developing countries, theproportion of the population in the working (25-Online Newsletter64) age group is increasing, but the challenges oflongevity and aging will be common worldwide
in the future.
The United Nations Population Fund's "WorldPopulation White Paper 2022" focuses on thefundamentals of population issues, namely,
reproductive health and rights. It points to an
overlooked crisis: about half of the world's
pregnancies, an estimated 121 millionpregnancies per year worldwide, are unintended.
It identifies these unintended pregnancies as apersonal, health care, human rights, development,and humanitarian issue. The individual right to"freely determine the number and spacing ofchildren" has been, in my view, the great present
law on population since the first World
Population Conference in Bucharest in 1974, andhas been established through the 1994 World
Conference on Population and Development (inCairo) and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on
Women (in Beijing), where sexual andreproductive health and rights However, inreality, there are many issues that need to beaddressed and further protected human rights isnecessary.

Thank you for reading. Any comments and suggestions are welcome.
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