National Women’s Education Center of Japan

The National Women's Education Center of Japan was proud to organize and host the FY2010 International Forum for Women’s Empowerment, the theme of which was the “Role of Education to Promote Women’s Leadership”.
This year’s International Forum was divided into two parts, the first of which featured two keynote speeches. In Part I, Her Excellency Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi, Minister of Women’s Affairs of the Royal Government of Cambodia talked about the present state, progress, and challenges of leadership and education for women in Cambodia. Dr. Yoriko Meguro, Professor Emeritus of Sophia University and Representative of Japan to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, followed this with a compelling speech that critically reexamined the concepts of “women’s leadership” and “empowerment” and raised other pertinent questions.

In between the first and second parts, there was a poster session on gender equality policies in Asia Pacific countries presented by 14 representatives from the 2010 Empowerment Seminar for Women Leaders in the Asia Pacific Region, which was organized by NWEC prior to the International Forum. The session proved to be a valuable forum for exchanging ideas and opinions, with the representatives engaging in lively discussions with experts and researchers from Japan on issues of policy and gender-equality in the various countries.

Part II consisted of a panel discussion titled “Women's Leadership and Empowerment - Contributions of Life-long Learning”, which was led by Ms. Koto Kanno, Visiting Scholar at the National Women's Education Center of Japan. The session included reports by Ms. Maki Hayashikawa, Education Specialist at UNICEF's East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, and by Dr. Hyunjoo Song of the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education. The reports covered issues related to international organizations and case studies in Korea and Afghanistan. Furthermore, representatives from the 2010 Empowerment Seminar for Women Leaders in the Asia Pacific Region broke off into the following three thematic groups and each gave research presentations: governmental organizations, research organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

The presentations were followed by spirited and thought-provoking question-and-answer sessions concerning progressive approaches being tried in the different countries. Before the end of the International Forum, participants reaffirmed the need to form interpersonal networks among educators and policy specialists and exchange information in the field of women’s leadership in the Asia Pacific region.

Addendum 1: You may follow these links at the website of the National Women's Education Center of Japan to view a flash report on the 2010 Empowerment Seminar for Women Leaders in the Asia Pacific Region in addition to Country Reports (English).
Addendum 2:Posters and presentation materials of Panel Discussion are available here.
Addendum 3:Proceedings of the Forum are scheduled to be published in report form by the National Women's Education Center of Japan in March 2011.