Response to the Questionnaire to Government on Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action

Table of Contents

Part 1 Overview of trends in achieving gender equality and women's advancement

  1. Background to the formulation of the National Plan of Action
  2. Public opinion regarding the gender-equal society
  3. Activities of non-governmental organizations(NGOs),etc.
  4. Strengthening the organization for creating a gender-equal society
  5. The proposal for a basic law designed to promote a gender-equal society

Part 2 Budgetary and institutional measures

  1. Budgetary measures
  2. Follow-up mechanism of the Beijing Platform for Action
  3. The Role of NGOs in supporting the Beijing Platform for Action

Part 3 Implementing the high priority items identified by the Beijing Platform for Action

A. Innovative policies, programs, projects, and best practices

  1. Women and poverty
    (1)
    Enhancing support for fatherless and widows
  2. Education and training of women
    (1)
    Promoting gender equality by opening the way for a diversity of choices through enrichment of education and learning
    1)
    Enhancing elementary and secondary education for gender equality
    2)
    Promoting gender equality in institutions of higher education
    3)
    Promoting social education
    4)
    Promoting women's social participation and life-long learning
    5)
    National Women's Education Centre
    6)
    Course and employment guidance
    7)
    Program for educational reform
  3. Women and health
    (1)
    Supporting the health of women throughout life
    1)
    Enhancing women's health education and counseling support
    2)
    Supporting the health of pregnant women and childbirth
    a)
    Partial amendment to the Law on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business
    b)
    Telephone clubs
    3)
    Promoting measures to prevent osteoporosis
    4)
    Amendment to the Eugenic Protection Law
  4. Violence against women
    (1)
    Eliminating all forms of violence against women
    1)
    Studying comprehensive measures towards the elimination of violence against women
    2)
    Promoting comprehensive measures against prostitution
    a)
    Partial amendment to the Law on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business
    b)
    Telephone clubs
    3)
    Domestic violence
    4)
    Promoting measures to prevent sexual harassment
    5)
    Enhancing measures to provide consultation,protection and relief to women victims of violence
    6)
    Offering courses and training for staff involved in interviewing, providing guidance and protecting victimized women, and prosecuting violence against women
    7)
    The issue known as"Wartime Comfort Women"
    8)
    Contribution to the UNIFEM
  5. Women and armed conflict
    (1)
    Contributing to international institutions promoting peace
  6. Women and the economy
    (1)
    Ensuring equal opportunity and equal treatment in employment
    1)
    Amendment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Law
    a)
    Strengthening the Equal Employment Opportunity Law
    (i)
    Prohibition of discrimination against women in recruitment,hiring, assignment, and promotion
    (ii)
    Strengthening measures to ensure the effectiveness of law
    (iii)
    Establishment of regulation to promote positive action
    (iV)
    Establishment of regulations to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace
    (V)
    Mandatory maternal health care
    b)
    Revision of Labour Standards Law
    (i)
    Abolition of restrictions on overtime work,holiday work, or night work by women
    (ii)
    Extension of maternity leave period in case of multiple pregnancy
    c)
    Establishment of measures to restrict night work by employees taking care of children or other family members(revision of the Child Care and Family Care Leave Law)
    (2)
    Ratifying the ILO 156 Convention (A convention regarding the equal opportunity and treatment of women and men with family responsibilities)
    (3)
    Establishment an environment that allows workers to continue working while taking care of children or family members
    1)
    Enhancing the conditions for workers taking care of children and other family members
    a)
    Revision of the Child Care Leave Law
    b)
    Establishment of the child care leave benefits and family care leave benefits
    (4)
    Enhancing measures to support child care taking into account diverse life styles
    1)
    Enhancing child care services
    a)
    Enhancing child care measures that meet demand
    (5)
    Promoting measures for part-time work
    (6)
    Building partnerships in rural communities
    1)
    Improving the economic status of women, working conditions and environment
    a)
    Improving the economic status of women in rural communities
    (7)
    Support for women entrepreneurs
    (8)
    Quantifying unpaid work
  7. Women in power and decision-making
    (1)
    Expanding women's participation in the policy and decision-making process
    1)
    Increasing participation by women in national policy decision-making processes
    a)
    Promoting the participation of women in national advisory committees
    b)
    Supporting the appointment of women to advisory councils and committees in prefectures and designated cities
    c)
    Participation of women in the policy and decision-making processes in rural communities
    2)
    Promoting women's participation in the policy and decision-making process in the international arena
    a)
    Promoting Japanese women representation in international organizations
  8. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
    (1)
    Developing and strengthening the structure for comprehensive implementation
    1)
    Strengthening the organization and functions of national machinery
    a)
    Enhancement of responsible ministries and agencies in the Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality
    b)
    Establishment of a new council to promote the achievement of a gender-equal society
    c)
    The Liaison Conference for the Promotion of Gender Equality
    2)
    Investigations into a basic law designed to promote a gender-equal society
    a)
    Basic philosophies
    b)
    National and local governments and citizen's obligations
    c)
    Basic issues concerning the promotion of the achievement of a gender-equal society
    d)
    Council for Gender Equality
    3)
    Strengthening cooperation between national and local governments
    4)
    Strengthening cooperation with NGOs
  9. Human rights of women
    (1)
    Strengthening the legal literacy of women
    (2)
    Enhancing the conditions for enabling the elderly to live in safety and security
    1)
    Promoting the health and welfare measures for the elderly
    2)
    Introduction of a new care system
    a)
    Establishment of a long-term insurance system
    (3)
    Strengthening measures for the disabled
    1)
    Considering for people with disabilities
    2)
    The Week for the Disabled
    (4)
    Promotion of measures related to the "UN Decade of Human Rights Education"
  10. Women and the media
    (1)
    Supporting media efforts to adopt expressions that respect the human rights of women
    1)
    Promoting measures to prevent involuntary exposure to expressions of sex and violence
    2)
    Studying the establishment of regulation on information on the Internet and other new media
    (2)
    Promoting gender-free expressions in official releases and publications of official organizations
  11. Women and the environment
    (1)
    Supporting the participation of women in environmental protection activities
  12. The girl-child
    (1)
    Strengthening Measures against child prostitution
    1)
    The World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and follow-up actions
    (2)
    Child abuse

B. Obstacles and how they are being overcome

  1. Education and training of women
    (1)
    The unbalanced representation of women by field of study
    (2)
    Efforts towards promoting a gender-equal perspective
  2. Women and health
    (1)
    HIV/AIDS Contagion
    (2)
    Increasing drug abuse by minors
    (3)
    Deliberations on the low-dose contraceptive pill
  3. Violence against women
    (1)
    Measures to prevent violence against women from being hidden
    (2)
    Low awareness of the general public regarding violence against women
  4. Women and the economy
    (1)
    Action to remove wage gap between men and women
    (2)
    The low number of men who take child care leave
    (3)
    The impact of the prolonged recession on the employment opportunities for women
  5. Women in power and decision-making
    (1)
    Low presentation of women in public sector
  6. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
    (1)
    Insufficient evaluation of impact from a gender perspective
    (2)
    Necessity of examining a neutral social system that allows individuals lifestyle choices
  7. Human rights of women
    (1)
    Necessity for providing information available globally regarding women's human rights
  8. Women and the media
    (1)
    The Commercialization of sex and expressions of violence
  9. The girl-child
    (1)
    Purchase of juvenile prostitution

C. Commitment to further action and initiatives

  1. WID initiative
    (1)
    Education
    (2)
    Health
    (3)
    Economic and social participation
  2. Meeting of Senior Officials of National Machinery for the Advancement of Women in East and Southeast Asian Countries
  3. Examination of a new basic plan for promoting the creation of a gender-equal society
  4. Japan's vision for equality and the advancement of women in the new millennium

（Annex）
Common data sets / indicators for measuring development progress

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