Minister’s Message on International Women’s Day 2016

March 8, 2016

KATO Katsunobu
Minister in Charge of Women’s Empowerment
Minister of State for Gender Equality

The 8th of March is International Womenʼs Day. I celebrate this day with everyone joining forces to advance the empowerment of women and gender equality in Japan and all over the world, and I renew my determination to further advance these efforts.

In Japan, last year marked the beginning of a new chapter for advancing the empowerment of women.

In June, to ensure that the perspective of womenʼs active participation is integrated into the annual budget requests of ministries, the Government, for the first time, established “the Intensive Policy to Accelerate the Empowerment of Women 2015.” This has further accelerated the Governmentʼs initiatives toward promoting the active participation of women. Every year from now on, the Intensive Policy will be established.

In August, the Diet passed the Act of Promotion of Womenʼs Participation and Advancement in the Workplace. This Act, which imposes an obligation on large companies and others to create action plans with numerical targets and to release relevant information, will fully enter into force in April of this year. This Act will drive positive actions of an unprecedented scale.

In addition, in December, the Cabinet approved the Fourth Basic Plan for Gender Equality. The plan stresses the need to transform labor practices that assume male-oriented working styles, and to promote efforts that will create a larger pool of women professionals who will go on to hold leadership positions.

This year, we will steadily implement these initiatives. Furthermore, we will ensure that promoting womenʼs empowerment is discussed at the G7 Japan 2016 Ise-Shima Summit, not only at the leadersʼ meeting but at all relevant ministerial meetings. In doing so, we will further build up the international momentum for gender mainstreaming that promotes womenʼs active roles across all sectors.

Promoting womenʼs active participation is a priority issue of the Abe Cabinet. I am fully committed to achieving a “society in which all women shine,” where women can turn their hopes and dreams into reality, at their homes, in their communities, and in their workplaces.