Statement by OGURA Masanobu
Minister in Charge of Womenʼs Empowerment
Minister of State for Gender Equality
delivered at the General discussion,
the 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67)
６ March 2023, New York

【Priority Theme】
Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls

I am OGURA Masanobu, Minister in charge of Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in Japan.

On behalf of the Government of Japan, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and respect to the Chair and all those who have devoted themselves to the CSW67. I also would like to express my deepest appreciation to civil society organizations and representatives for their hard work and contributions to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are the important and solid policies for the Government of Japan. The KISHIDA Administration is working on its initiatives by positioning his “New Form of Capitalism” for creating “a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution,” as one of the main policies of his administration. The Administration has placed “women’s economic empowerment” as the very core of the “New Form of Capitalism.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on women's employment. We believe that it is important to promote their labor mobility into the digital sector for the economic empowerment of women.
The digital sector has features that a flexible work style is more likely to be adopted. This is why it is also of great significance to promote women’s employment in the digital sector from the perspectives of generating opportunities for women’s employment and of creating jobs in local communities.

Japan formulated the “Digital Human Resources Development Plan for Women” in April 2022 to support women’s employment in the digital sector. We are working on improving digital skills as well as promoting labor mobility into the digital sector based on this plan.

We consider women’s empowerment in the digital sector as one of the key drivers for economic growth. The “Task Force for Realizing a Virtuous Circle of Women’s Empowerment and Economic Growth”, which is organized under my leadership and composed of executives and experts from the private sector, is discussing initiatives in this area

Efforts have to start at the educational level for women's empowerment in the digital sector. Japan is striving to create opportunities for women students and draw them toward science and technology, and to promote understanding to choose STEM among women students, parents, and teachers.

Japan holds the G7 presidency this year. We plan to discuss women’s economic empowerment and measures to address challenges which came into light under the pandemic as central themes at the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Nikko, Tochigi in June. I expect that the discussions at the meetings will cover women's empowerment in the digital sector, which is the priority theme of the CSW this year.

We reaffirm that the realization of gender equality in all the fields is very important not only for Japan but also for the world. Japan will continue to work with the international community to build a society in which all women and girls around the world, regardless of gender, have an opportunity to demonstrate their ability, and to create a fair and equal opportunity for them.

Thank you very much.