KITAKYUSHU FORUM ON ASIAN WOMEN JUNE 2009

Triannual Publication

WOMEN TODAY…………………………

COVER PROFILE…………………………

CURRENT ISSUES SERIES……………

PARTICIPATING IN THE 53 CSW…

NEW FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS…
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ REPORTS…

rd

NO.

56

JUNE 2009

Women Today
Arni HOLE

Director General,the Department of Family
and Equality,
the Royal Ministry ofChildren and Equality

Norway: A Haven for Gender
Equality and Families?
Politics that pay off in economic terms
and the number of babies

children. They cook and clean and pick up the kidsfrom kindergarten.
Norwegian politics has seen the merit of affirmative actions as a way to promote equality. In 1981, a
quota was introduced in the Gender Equality Act demanding 40% of the underrepresented gender in all
public appointed committees and councils. In 1993,
the new Municipal Act introduced a 40% quota for
all appointed bodies from the municipal council, andthe first fathers’ obligatory quota of 4 weeks withpay, within the parental leave scheme (see above,
non-transferable to the mother). Today 90% of thefathers are taking their obligatory 6 weeks leave
which will be expanded to 10 weeks by July 1st, 2009.
In 2003, the Parliament voted for 40% quotas for theunderrepresented sex in board-rooms of four types ofcompanies. The most significant change came for the
public limited companies (stock-exchange noted)
where the representation of women in these 500
large companies rose from 7% in 2003 to 40% in
2008. Able and educated women were not hard tofind.
In the competition for competence and to attract
talents, both public and corporate sectors need topromote family friendly surroundings for women andmen, mothers and fathers. Thus the laws and regulations on parental leave and other welfare provisions,provide a favorable setting for making it “acceptable”(in business life) to be a parent, regardless of one’s
gender. The tripartite cooperation between the state,
the employers and the employees (since 1950), takes
care of the joint financing of expenditures.
Talents are evenly divided among the genders, inchild-caring and rearing as in economic decisions andmanagement. Hence, equality is a win-win situation
for both women and men. There is time for new alliances between the sexes.

In 2009 the Norwegian Gender Equality Act turns
30. These last 30 years have seen substantial equality between the genders come true in Norway. When
300 large companies in Europe were measured, Norway scored highest among the countries having 44.2%
women on company boards. Sweden came in second
with 26.9%. And Portugal came in at the bottom with
0.8% women on boards (Could the Right Man for the
Job be a Woman?: Hudson, 2008).
During the last 30 years, many laws have been
amended and more parental rights secured, enabling
both parents’ possibilities to pursue both paid workand family. From July 1st mothers and fathers share
46 weeks parental leave of absence with a 100% or 56
weeks with 80% refunding of their salaries, provided
they have qualified through paid work before birth.
Both parents have the right to stay at home to carefor sick children (below 12 years of age) 10 days pr.
year pr. parent, with pay. Parliament has 40% female representatives, as have the 430 elected municipal bodies. Cabinet enjoys 50% of each gender. 80%
of women have paid work. And Norway has a fertility
rate of 1.96, one of the highest in Europe.
The “Columbi Egg” of Norwegian politics has been
to combine gender equality with comprehensive family and parental provisions. No person, regardless ofgenders, should be forced to choose either work or
having children. It is of course up to the women andmen, the families themselves, to decide how to lead
their lives. Public policies secure the opportunity tochoose freely ― there is no “forcing” anyone. Obviously this type of political thinking promotes economic development and stability.
Today most people in Norway take gender equality
for granted. But the mission is not yet accomplished.
Cultural habits, traditions and stereotypes prevail.
Still we see a very gender-segmented labor market, andyoung people tend to choose gender-traditional educations and professions. Mostly men are top managers in the private corporate sector vs. 21% women.
Many women (40% vs. 13% men) work part-time
when having small children. Consequently, theyloose out on pension points. There is still a 15% gender-based pay gap per hour (as in the EU on an average).
However, the White Paper: “Men, Masculinities
and Gender Equality” submitted to the Parliament in
December 20081, shows an enormous change inmen’s roles and not the least: fathers’ roles. Fathers
simply take a lot of responsibility at home and for theProfile of Arni Hole
Arni Hole is Director General for the Department of Family andEquality in the Royal Ministry of Children and Equality since 2001.
She holds degrees in Pilosophy and Economic History. Hole has
held several Director General positions within public service (5Ministries) including the Norwegian School of Sports and the
Research Foundation of the Oslo Region. She has served on
many boards.

1 The White Paper cites a measurement done through a broad comparative survey based on data from 20 years back and in 2007.

No.56 June 20091

Current Issues Series
Gender-Sensitive
Measures to Prevent HIV/AIDSPart 2
Yoko TSURUGIMedical Staff, International Programs,
Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association
Obstetrics and gynecology physician

Groups Vulnerable to HIV Infection

In the first lecture, I explained that HIV spreads
most often through unprotected sex with an infected
partner, or through the sharing of contaminateddrug needles or syringes. I also stated that during
the early stage, HIV spreads among most vulnerable
groups, most notably Commercial Sex Workers(CSW), Men Sex with Men (MSM) and Intravenous
Drug Users (IDU). It is essential to take effective
measures while this disease is in its early stage,
since HIV is likely to spread, infecting many more
people outside these most vulnerable groups.

people begin to consider HIV to be their own
problem, rather than someone else’s. The epidemic is
so pressing an issue that most people feel theycannot afford to discriminate against infected people.
As I have indicated thus far, HIV/AIDS is by nomeans a disease infecting specific groups. Rather, it
is a disease that can infect anyone. Once HIV
spreads throughout a society, however, some groups
are much more vulnerable than others. Thesevulnerable groups comprise women and adolescents.
In my first lecture I explained that in many
countries, female CSW do not receive sufficient
education regarding HIV. The same is true of womenin general. Compared with men, women, who receive
less education, find it difficult to obtain andunderstand related information. This lack of
information renders women more vulnerable to HIV
infection than men are. Moreover, since HIV istransmitted through sexual contact, HIV-infected
woman are usually regarded as being sexually active(even though many are infected by their husbands).
Sexually active women are often regarded as“disgraceful.” In almost all societies, people tend tohave negative images of sexually active women,
although many societies are relatively permissive
toward sexually active men. Many women hesitate toaccess various medical services concerning
HIV/AIDS simply because AIDS is a sexuallytransmitted disease. Although mother-to-childtransmission can be prevented only if pregnant
women infected with HIV are detected and treatedadequately during their pregnancy, in many societies
even today, pregnant women do not have access toeven the most basic medical examinations.

CSW, for instance, are extremely susceptible to HIV
infection through sexual contact with theircustomers. If CSW have high HIV infection rates,
their customers are also at high risk of infection.
Infected customers eventually infect their partners.
MSM can also transmit HIV to their female
partners, since some men are bisexual. Other men
marry women in order to conceal the fact of theirhomosexuality, so as to evade social prejudice anddiscrimination. IDU who are infected bycontaminated needles or syringes are also likely to
infect their partners with HIV. Since women are
infected with HIV primarily through sexual contact,
regardless of their sexual orientation or number ofpartners, every woman is at risk of HIV so long as
she has sexual contacts without using condoms. If
HIV spreads among women, the number of infectedchildren can increase through mother-to-childtransmission, since HIV can be transmitted to babies
through pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding.
Immediately after HIV begins to spread outside mostvulnerable groups, the entire society will suffer fromthe epidemic. In general, a society is considered to beexperiencing an HIV epidemic when the HIV
infection rate of the general population exceeds 2%.
In some countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, however,
the infection rates of pregnant women exceed 30%(the infection rate of pregnant women is considered
to be roughly proportional to the adult HIV
prevalence of the respective country). In Cambodia,
where I once worked with an anti-tuberculosis andHIV project, the HIV infection rate of the general
population used to exceed 2%, the highest in Asia. In
a society where 2% of whose population is infected,
you will encounter infected people in your daily life.
The risk of infection is so high and immediate that

Another vulnerable group comprises adolescents. In
the hope that youngsters will keep themselves “pure”
and “clean,” adults tend to conceal sex informationfrom youngsters. In actuality, however, of all
generations, youngsters are the most curious about
sex. Being sensitive toward adults’ strong
disapproval of their interest in sex, youngsters tend
to engage in sexual acts secretly. If they have any
problem as a result, they cannot consult with adults.
Nor do youngsters have the money needed to resolve
such problems. Accordingly, it is reasonable toconclude that youngsters comprise another groupthat is extremely vulnerable to HIV infection.

2

No.56 June 2009

Burkina Faso

New Foreign
Correspondents
In 1991, the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW)
established the foreign correspondents system to build up broad
networks with people in overseas countries, particularly in the
Asia and Pacific region.
This year KFAW was pleased to receive 18 foreign correspondent
applications for FY 2009 foreign correspondents. Of the 18
applicants from 15 countries, KFAW selected nine from ninecountries. As a result, the total number of past and present
foreign correspondents has reached 245 in 35 countries. Throughits network of foreign correspondents, KFAW will continue toprovide up-to-date information from various parts of the world.

VOKOUMA Jocelyne specialized in history andanthropology. After developing her career as ajournalist, schoolteacher and human rights
technical advisor, she was appointed Secretary
General of the Women Promotion Ministry in
Burkina Faso. Currently, as a research worker
at the Institute of the Sciences of Societies, she
is studying her country’s clothing culture andthe art of cooking. Accordingly, she is particularly interested in this year’s theme. This is the
fourth consecutive year she has served as a
KFAW foreign correspondent.

Your Daily Life - Clothing, Dietary Lifeand Living Environment
Over the past few years, KFAW has asked its foreign
correspondents to report on such themes as “women and disaster,”“women and community activities,” and “the elimination of all
forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.” In
response, foreign correspondents have written reports on women’ssituations in their respective regions and countries, as well as on
national policies regarding women’s issues.
For this year, the KFAW has selected a more familiar theme: Your
Daily Life. Although many Japanese readers are interested in thedaily life of people in other parts of the world, gathering related
information on the Internet is more difficult than collecting data on
political or social issues. The KFAW asked its foreign
correspondents to report on actual daily life of people in theirrespective regions/countries, focusing on clothing, dietary life andliving environment.
The next issue (No. 57) of Asian Breeze will feature reports on
clothing. Showing photographs, foreign correspondents will
introduce ethnic costumes unique to their countries, and will
explain on which occasions local people put on those costumes.
Issues No. 58 and No. 59 will feature dietary life and living
environment respectively. The reports will be characterized bydetailed descriptions that only local residents can provide.

UgandaIndia

As the Chairwoman of the Uganda
Muslim Women Vision, Hadijah KIBIRA
is dedicated to promoting protection of
women’s rights, women’s education andwelfare for women. Having earned amaster’s degree in regional development,
she currently serves as a part-time lecturer at the Islamic University in Uganda. In 2003, she visited Japan to attend a
JICA Seminar. This will be the second
time she has served as a KFAW foreign
correspondent, following her service during the 14th period.

Satoko CHATERJEE was born in Niigata
Prefecture, Japan. After working at a local TV station and a senior high school(part-time lecturer), she is currently committed to environmental education andregional development education at an
NGO named the Development ResearchCommunication and Services Center. She
has lived in West Bengal, India, for 12
years. This will be the second time she
has served as a KFAW foreign correspondent, following her service during the17th period.

No.56 June 20093

Uzbekistan

Republic of Korea

After specializing in philology at Tashkent
State Pedagogical University, ALIKULOVA
Nargiza engaged in comparative studies
of Asian politics and administration for
two years at a Japanese graduate school.
She has also served as a PR specialist at
the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of
Uzbekistan and in the UNDP Project on
Capacity Building for Internet Technological Development and Promotion in
Uzbekistan.

LEE Kyoung Hee loves drawing, and specialized in design at university. After graduation, she worked at a design firm, designing web pages and editing books.
Currently, as a staff member of the 2009
Incheon Global Fair & Festival Organization Committee, she is committed topreparations for the event, which will beheld in Incheon for 80 days, from August
2009.

CanadaSubadhra RAI is a Singaporean woman living in Canada. This will be the third time
she has served as a KFAW foreign correspondent. The last time (15th period) she
was in Thailand and reported on that country. As a college instructor, she currently
teaches internationally educated nurses. As
a foreign correspondent, she was invited to
Kitakyushu in 2002 and participated in various exchange programs with local residents.

Papua New Guinea

Thailand
Vietnam

Satoko PORTEOUS was born in Tokyo. After
studying in the U.S. and Hong Kong, she
worked at the research and marketing sectionsof Japanese and U.S.-based enterprises. She has
lived outside Japan for the past 15 years, moving from country to country with her British
husband, due to his business demands. For the
past two years, she has resided on Samui Islandin Thailand. As the mother of three children,
she is busy fulfilling her parental responsibilities. Yet, she has decided to apply for a KFAW
foreign correspondent’s position, in order tobuild networks with many women in other partsof the world.

Andrew IKI, the first KFAW foreign correspondent living in Papua New Guinea,
currently serves at the Ministry of Community Development as a program officer. In June 2008, he visited Japan to attend the JICA Seminar. At present, he isstruggling to incorporate into the Ministry’s programs what he learned at theseminar in Japan.

LE Thi has a long career as a researcherof gender and family issues and publisher
of many books. Until 2004, she hadserved as an advisor to the Swedish andDanish Fund for Promotion on Gender
Equality in Vietnam. This is the sixth
time for her to serve as a KFAW foreign
correspondent, the first time being in the
ninth period.

4No.56 June 2009

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ REPORTS(Access other foreign correspondents’ reports on a website: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/about/18-report.html.en)

Women and Community Activities
Haunted by Violence

Education and Participation of Girls andWomen in Decision Making

Tehreem HASAN (Pakistan)

TIANN Monie (Cambodia)

A taunt or pighore is enough to endanger the livesof some women living in the conservative setups ofPakistani society. A taunt given by the community is
considered one of the biggest threat’s to one’s honour.
People even leave their villages to protect themselves.
It is commonly believed that a pighore could continue
to haunt families for generations. Many incidents ofmurder have taken place based only on verbal taunts.
Memunai, the daughter of a khan was famous forher beauty. There were innumerable proposals for her
but they were turned down as she was to be wed withher cousin Sher Alam. The khans of the village would
send jirgas to her father to convince him to change his
mind but he had already made up his mind. Aftermarriage, Memunai told her husband about apaternal cousin, whose intentions she always
questioned. The conversation was heard by thespiteful cousin, who made a pledge to himself tocreate drift between the newlyweds. One day, in theabsence of Sher Alam, some guests who were staying
in his hujra, ran short of tobacco. On the demand ofothers, one man went to Sher Alam’s house to fetch
tobacco from there. After inquiring about the purposeof his visit, Memunai, from behind the door, handed
him some tobacco, as a gesture of “melmastiya”(hospitality) towards her husband’s guests. This
gesture was enough for her cousin to fabricate ascandalous story of how Memunai had damaged Sher
Alam’s family honour. Sher Alam faced with this“pighore,” as a “pakhtoon,” is extremely vulnerable.
The only way Sher Alam could free himself of theaffliction was to prove his allegiance to the“Pakhtunwali” (the Pakhtun code of conduct). So Sher
Alam slit his wife’s throat.
Although not as severe as in the illiterate, feudal
villages, violence also occurs in the cities there. For
example, Naseem got married and had two daughters.
After just a few years, her husband died and she wasforced by her parents to wed again. She gave birth toa son. Her new husband started complaining about
why her daughters were receiving the same education
as his son. Although much younger than his sisters,
the boy also started adopting the typical male attitude
of expecting his sisters to look after his needs and ofordering them about. The father discriminated against
the girls at every chance. Years of disagreement andquarrels led to Naseem’s divorce. Now she lives alone
with her daughters, who have received a good educationand have started working. We feel sorry for the little
boy who just became his father’s pawn.

No.56 June 2009

In Cambodia, as a good education is a very
important part of being empowered, all schools should
consider the needs of girls and provide safe spaces forlearning. Based on findings and various research in
Cambodia, girls/women should be allowed toparticipate in making the decisions that affect themand their futures. Participation can be one of the mostpowerful forms of empowerment since its lets us
really think through the issues and judge theoutcomes of the decisions made.
Women face more constraints in accessing theresources of modern society than men. Large genderdisparities exist in rates of adult literacy as well as
participation in formal education and the wage labour
market.
In formal education, for example, which is the key
to many aspects of modern society, women areseriously under-represented. There are varied
reasons for this, connected to perceptions of genderroles. Girls are expected to perform more domestic
chores than boys. Thus opportunity costs are highwhen girls attend school. As a woman’s status is to agreat extent determined by her role as a wife andmother and not through her work, higher education isdeemed to be not necessary. Girls’ resulting lack ofqualifications and skills severely restricts theiropportunities in the labour market. Men dominate all
professional fields and national decision-making
positions.
Improving women’s access to educational services
is a significant investment for the country’s
development. Education expands the employment
opportunities open to women and improves theirproductive capacity and social status. Education
provides information on contraception, nutrition andsanitation, which potentially improves the quality oflife for a woman and her family. Literacy andnumeracy also enhance the ability to access andexchange ideas and information and to identify andsolve problems. This expands the range of life choices
open to a woman and her ability to improve thequality of her life. In this way, education not only
improves women’s position in Cambodia society, butalso benefits society as a whole.
In conclusion, we must help people talk openly
about how gender norms and roles can lead todiscrimination and violence. Moreover, with thesupport of family, community and society, women canaccess all forms of education. And the strong voices ofgirls/women can ring out.

5

Excision
VOKOUMA Jocelyne (Burkina Faso)
Excision is an old traditional practice which isdangerous for girl child’s physical integrity andhealth. It consists of cutting out whole or a part ofher genital organs which can be clitoris, the little or
the big lips. The pain is so sharp that, some girls’
children die, after losing blood.
Mothers and aunts play an important role in thistradition because children are afraid of excision. In
respect for tradition, mothers and aunts have to
obliged them to accept. In general, the girl childtrusts her mother. The mother uses this kind ofaffective relationship to flatter her daughter bysending her to spend time with her father’s grandsister. The child will then have sweets, eggs or a nicegift. Happily, the girl child follows her mother. The
girl has to wake up early in the morning and follow
her aunt to an unknown house. When they arrive,the young girl has to change her clothes and joinother girls who are waiting for the same fate. It
forbidden to cry as this brings shame to the family.
She has to be brave.
Once, a woman asked me “Do you know what
excision is?” I say no! (Because I’m coming from aculture which doesn’t practice it). She continued to
explan: “after cutting the clitoris with a traditional
knife, older women wash our sex with boiling waterand you can’t cry. There are two other women who
hold you tightly and shut young girls’ mouths”.
Although the age of a girl child excision is about 0
to 18 years old, it concerns mainly girls who are 10
years old. The practice equals violence anddiscrimination against the girl child. One reason forthis practice is to control the child’s sexuality during
their puberty, adulthood and after marriage. Aftercutting the clitoris or a part of it, depending on theregion, ethnic group, religions and cultures, women
who are excised have to sew up their vaginal
apertures. They only leave a little opening for theirmenstrual flow.
In addition to East Africa, excision is carried out
in many countries in West Africa. So, the prevalence
rates are respectively 86% in Mali; 77% in Burkina
Faso; 42% in Ivory Coast; 13% in Benin; 5% in
Ghana; and 2.2% in Niger. All of these countries’
hardly work to fight against the phenomenon which
hobbles girl children’s growth in the society.
In Burkina Faso, the government created on May
18, 1990 a national committee to fight against thepractice of excision. February 6th is “International
Day of Tolerance Zero to Women Genital
Mutilations.” In fact, because of the immigration,
most African populations continue to practiceexcision in Europe. About 30,000 excised women andgirl child live in France. In addition, a potential of
10,000 to 20,000 little girls are exposed to the risk ofexcision. In Germany, there are about 20,000 excised

women.
In most African countries, laws seriously punish
excision. Africa’s first ladies created a regional
structure named: “Actions’ Synergy of African First
Ladies.” From October 13-15 2008, they held a big
meeting in Ouagadougou with the support of experts
from all the concerned countries. The conclusions
recommended that the various states’ leadershipmake the problem of excision a national priority. The
partners have increased their financial support forthis problem. As a national strategy, when possible,
the hood of the clitoris should be restored throughsurgical acts. States disseminate information about
national laws to punish excision and push social
education actions to prevent new cases. National
programs also donate for example bicycles to help
field actors to run from village to village to talkabout the bad consequences of excision, such as,
sexual diseases, HIV/AIDS, medical complications
for child delivery, death, psychological problems, etc.
As for measures to protect victims, there are articles
380, 381 and 382 of the Penal Code of Burkina Faso
adopted in 1996 to reprimand women’s genital
mutilations. Although this tradition has not been
extinguished, these kinds of actions importantly
work towards the imprisonment of the guilty andtheir accomplices, helping to change public attitudes.

COVER PROFILE
Naomi KUBO
PrintmakerNaomi Kubo has always enjoyedpictures. She drew still-life
paintings at a painting class andlearned a copper engraving
method from her master, Mr.
Itsuji HIRATA. She also embraced
the possibility of monochrome expressions. That was the beginning of her career as a printmaker. Recently the themesof her block prints resolve around “fire” or “water” which
are essential to life but can also threaten it. Her creative
activities thus far include holding group or personal exhibitions in her hometown, Kitakyushu City as well asother Japanese cities, like Osaka and Kyoto. Last year,
she won “the Gold Prize of the Kitakyushu Artist Association Show”. Although she also works as a dispatchedworker, it is challenging for her to balance her work andprivate life. Kubo says that wood block printing fascinates her so much as there is nothing like the thrill of
printing. Each print work differs based on the spreadingof the ink. Her dream is to hold private art exhibition
overseas by “continuing to create high quality works.”

6

No.56 June 2009

C

S W

ISSN 0918-8266rdrdParticipating in the 53 Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Professor, The Japanese Red Cross Kyushu International College of Nursing KFAW Chief Researcher

Masami SHINOZAKI
The 53rd Session of the UN Commission on the Status
of Women (CSW) was held at the UN Headquarters in
New York from March 2 to 13, 2009. I participated in
the session and various related events up until March
5. The priority theme for this year’s session was “Equal
Sharing of Responsibilities between women and men,
including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS.”

my approach is not well recognized by otherpoliticians, so I can make little change.”
The representative of the EU delegation raisedquestions regarding work-life balance, collaboration inparental care and social responsibilities.
* Side Events*CSW Opening Session and Speeches by Representatives
Thanks to the efforts of Hiroko HARA, Chair of Japan
Women’s Watch (JAWW),
we were able to organize aside event at the UN
Headquarters, involving
both national delegatesand NGO representatives.
This
event,
themed“Gender Equality and ▲Side Events
Care in Japan and the International Community,”
began with greetings by Takashi AHIKI, Minister of
the Permanent Mission of Japan, and Keiko
TAKEGAWA, Deputy Director-General of the Cabinet
Office. Following their greetings, presentations were
provided by representatives of the Japanese
Association of University Women, Japan International
Cooperation Agency, Women’s Association for a Better
Aging Society, Medecins Sans Frontieres etc. On
behalf of the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women(KFAW), I also gave a presentation on the theme:
Necessity of East Asian Networks for Elderly Care.
The meeting room of this side event, with a capacity of
50 seats, was crammed to nearly twice its capacity.
And the audience was extremely enthusiastic. The
Q&A session was particularly lively, with manyquestions raised by the audience. In addition to taking
part in this event, I participated in workshops held by
women from Kyrgyzstan and South Korea, and an
additional one held by the International Council of
Jewish Women. I also attended the Beijing + 15
Caucus.

Many people participated in the CSW opening session.
Since the conference room was packed, an additionalroom was prepared for NGO members who could not
find seats. After expressing
their gratitude for theparticipation of so many,
including ministers andother high-level politicians,
the chairpersons also
thanked NGO members forparticipating in the event▲CSW Opening Session
and for providing valuablecomments in support of the CSW. Concerning thisyear’s theme, the chairpersons also explained that thesharing of responsibilities between women and men is
deeply related to private and informal issues, and thatthese issues, including problems of women’s unpaid
work, concern the roles of women and men in families
and local communities. Care for persons living with
HIV/AIDS, they said, epitomizes these problems.
They emphasized that to promote equal sharing of
responsibilities in caregiving, we must first recognizethat this issue relates deeply to values of individual
societies and cultures. They also emphasized the vital
importance of removing excessive burden fromcaregivers. In the context of the increasing numbers of
women working outside their homes, it is even moreessential to equally share care responsibilities between
women and men, they maintained. I was particularly
impressed by their remarks which pointed out that in
the current global economic crisis we must carefully
monitor national governments. And moreover, wemust make sure that they do not delay their efforts toachieve set targets, despite their tight budgets. I truly
support these views.

Next year will mark the 15th anniversary of the
Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing
in 1995. Although the United Nations does not plan
any special meeting at the next CSW session (the 54th),
the UN spokesperson announced that the 54th Session
will be highlighted by evaluation of past achievements
and a future outlook regarding commitments inindividual countries. It was also decided that prior to
the 54th Session, NGOs will organize an NGO forum
in New York. To prepare for that forum, NGOs in the
Asia-Pacific region will gather in the Philippines in
October 2009.

The most interesting speech was given by SHA
Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic andSocial Affairs. All the audience members, including
both national delegates and NGO representatives,
applauded when he said, “Even though I equally sharefamily responsibilities with my wife in my own home,

Location of
Kitakyushu
Beijing

Pyongyang
Seoul

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

Tokyo
Kitakyushu

E-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en
Starting from the issue (June 2008), we capitalize
the last names of persons at the beginning ofarticles. We adopted this policy so that our readers
can easily distinguish last names in spite ofdifferent customs regarding the writing of familynames.

KFAW
The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of1990 with a special government fund for revitalization projects. Subsequently,
in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as a foundation by the Ministry of Labour(the present tne Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The purpose of the
KFAW, through various projects, is to promote the improvement of women's
status as well as their mutual understanding and cooperation in Asia.

7

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