National Women’s Education Center of Japan

The program consisted of Online Orientation sessions prior to arriving in Japan, In-Japan Program (around three (3) weeks), and an Online Follow-up session. The participants deepened their understanding of support based on the international standard of Survivor-Centered Approach, initiatives, action plans, and activities of public and private sectors for eradicating SGBV, through lectures on SGBV countermeasures in participating countries, including Japan, and visits to the related facilities. At the end of the program, each participant developed an Action Plan for strengthening activities in their home countries and held Online Seminar to present the achievements of the program.

The Online Orientation was held on September 2 and 4, during which each participant presented their Inception Report describing about their organization, responsibilities, and challenges in tackling SGBV. Prior to their arrival in Japan, the participants learnt about current situation and activities against SGBV in the world and particularly in Japan through on-demand videos. Then, they compiled Country Report on the SGBV situation in their countries.

At the beginning of the program, Mikiko Otani, attorney lawyer and an expert member of Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) delivered the Keynote Lecture on “International Framework for Elimination of SGBV” following the Program Orientation. Next, all the participants presented their Country Reports. The participants had the opportunities to examine the situation and measures against SGBV in each country through various perspectives. The program consisted of lectures by the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Hokkaido Prefectural Police, Sapporo City. It also included lectures by and site visits to NPOs and other private organizations actively engaged in support and advocacy.

From October 1 (Wed) to 3 (Fri), the participants visited Sapporo City to study prevention, protection, and survivor-centered multi-institutional cooperation facilitated by public-private partnerships.
The Gender Equality Office of the City of Sapporo and the NPO Women's Space On explained the essential conditions for successful collaboration. Through these sessions, participants deepened their understanding of how national laws and action plans presented by the Cabinet Office are implemented at the local government level. The participants were particularly impressed by the fine-tuned support system, which effectively leverages the unique expertise of each organization through their partnership.

The Children and Adolescent Support Section of City of Sapporo, along with the NPO CAN presented the “LiNK” project, which supports young women facing difficulties in Sapporo City. Having previously observed the street outreach patrols conducted by the NPO BOND Project in Tokyo, the participants gained deeper insights through the “LiNK” lecture on how to reach young women who tend to be left out of the existing support service framework. The session also fostered a cross-cultural exchange, with participants sharing similar initiatives from their own countries, such as nighttime street patrols in Botswana and women’s empowerment through sports in Zambia.

The Sapporo Center for Gender Equality served as the host for the sessions in Sapporo City. The center also delivered comprehensive facility tour. The participants showed great enthusiasm, asking numerous questions as they explored the Information Center, which offers extensive resources on women and gender issues. They were particularly interested in CoCo Cierge SAPPORO, a dedicated space providing personal consultations for women's employment and entrepreneurship and various seminars and consultation services.

Towards the conclusion of the program, each participant developed an individual Action Plan．These plans detailed how they intend to integrate the insights and strategies gained during the program into their respective duties upon returning to their home countries.

The action plans presented by each participant integrated survivor-centered approach and multi-institutional cooperation models explored through visits, lectures, and cross-country exchanges.
Proposed Action Plan topics varied, including specialized training for police, social workers, medical, and judicial personnel dealing with SGBV, improvement of training materials and response guidelines, implementation of surveys to ascertain victim needs, holding meetings to strengthen cooperation with relevant stakeholders, raising awareness among community leaders, and efforts in school education. Many participants highlighted specific Japanese practices they aim to introduce in their own countries, such as "Life Safety Education" promoted by MEXT and multilingual hotline for consultation support, protection of survivors of digital sexual exploitation using digital technology by the NPO PAPS, and the domestic violence perpetrator program.

On the final day of the program in Japan, an online seminar was held to share key takeaways and topics of their Action Plans. The event featured invited lectures, JICA officials and JICA long term scholarship students, fostering a final round of discussion on the program’s outcomes.

In an online follow-up meeting on December 11, participants reported the progress of the Action Plans.

NWEC extends its sincerest thanks to all contributors from government ministries, local authorities in Tokyo and Sapporo, and the dedicated experts, and private organizations whose invaluable cooperation made this program possible.