UN Women Executive Director visits Japan ahead of the G20 Summit
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UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is visiting Japan this week, where she will attend the Annual Global Summit of the Women Political Leaders (WPL), the largest global network of women in politics. The WPL Summit will take place in the House of Representatives in Tokyo, bringing together women Heads of State and Government, Ministers and Parliamentarians from 81 countries, on the eve of the G20 Summit, which Japan is hosting 28-29 June.
At the WLP Summit, the Executive Director will launch a global Call to Action to parliamentarians and urge them tobecome key drivers of gender equality. This Call to Action comes at a critical moment. In 2020, it will be 25 years since the Beijing Platform for Action set out how to remove the systematic barriers that hold women back from equal participation in all areas of life, whether in public or in private. The Beijing promise remains unfulfilled.
Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka will then travel to Osaka to participate in a G20 official special event focused on women’s empowerment. The Executive Director, along with the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and other leaders of international organizations, will present key recommendations on engaging women business leaders in gender equality. The Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Shinzō Abe is expected to receive the recommendations and provide a response.
Another highlight of the mission will be the formal launch of an agreement with the clothing company Fast Retailing, which is Uniqlo’s parent company. The three-year long partnership, which includes financial contribution, will target specific initiatives for gender equality.
The Executive Director’s trip to Japan will conclude with a HeForShe public event at the United Nations University in Tokyo to raise awareness of the role of men and boys in accelerating gender equality and galvanize greater momentum for the HeForShe initiative in Japan.