The United Nations has designated 8 March as the International Women’s Day, a commemorative day to review whether and how women’s frontiers — equality, security, development, and participation — has moved forward, and to discuss further progress on such matters.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China — Beijing+15. In order to assess the 15 years progress of gender equality and women’s empowerment, a review conference will be held from 1 to 12 March at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and talks will be held to overcome the remaining barriers.

To celebrate the International Women’s Day and Beijing+15, the United Nations entities that have offices in Japan will co-organize the “International Women’s Day 2010 United Nations public symposium” on Monday 8 March at Nikkei Hall in Otemachi, Tokyo. While following up the concurrent developments at Beijing+15, we will identify key issues regarding gender problems in Japan; share unique and innovative experiences of Japanese private sector and civil society; and discuss the current situation of Japan’s progress towards gender equality and future agendas.

The symposium will be held in conjunction with International Women’s Day initiative “Femmes@Tokyo” organized by Nikkei Inc. and others. We ask those interested in attending the United Nations public symposium to register through a website operated by “Femmes@Tokyo” (http://femmes.exhn.jp) at the registration site. For further information, please refer to the attached programme schedule.

Event:International Women’s Day 2010 UN Public Symposium
Date:15:30－18:00, Monday, 8 March 2010*The symposium will be followed by a 30-minute special session organized jointly by the UN and Nikkei Inc.
Venue:Nikkei Hall (Nikkei Bldg. 3rd floor, Otemachi 1-3-7, Chiyoda, Tokyo) *The hall is directly connected to Otemachi metro station via exit C2.
Organized by:United Nation Information Centre and UN Organizations in Japan, Nikkei Inc.
Supported by: Japan International Cooperation Agency （JICA）
Global Compact Japan Network （GC-JN）
Inquiries:United Nation Information Centre (Tel 03-5467-4451)

Programme (tentative)

　　　　　　　　　MC: Ms. Tomoko Nagano, Newscaster

15:30－15:40Opening; video message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
15:40－16:15Talk Sessions inviting UN goodwill ambassadors;
“Roles and situations of women and girls in developing countries”

Guests:Ms. Misako Konno, UNDP Goodwill Ambassador
Ms. Yuko Arimori, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador
Ms. Agnes Chan, Ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF
Moderator:Mr. Tsuyoshi Kitazawa, former national soccer team member and JICA’s official supporter

16:20－16:45Keynote Speech by: Ms. Kimie Iwata, Executive Vice President of Shiseido Co. Ltd.
“Title: Activities and issues surrounding Japanese corporations—from the perspective of realizing a gender equal society” (tentative)

16:50－17:45Men’s Panel Discussion;
In this panel we will focus on two themes: “changing men’s awareness on gender” and “reforming the fixed gender role based
system, policies, and environment at home, work and society”. We will invite males displaying leadership in achieving a gender equal society to hear their activities and visions, in order to discuss Japan’s newest trend in realizing a gender equal society based on the Beijing Platform for Action and its future prospects.

Panelists:Mr. Toshio Arima, Chairman of Global Compact Board Japan
Mr. Shinichi Nakahata, Chief Executive Officer, Kikuya Co., Ltd.
Mr. Manabu Tsukagoshi, Project Leader, NPO Fathering Japan
Mr. Kimio Ito, Professor, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Letters

Moderator:Ms. Miyo Iwata, Editorial Writer, Nihon Keizai Shimbun

17:50－18:00Closing by: Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, Minister of State for Gender Equality

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　* * * * *

18:15－18:45Joint Session “Commemorating the International Women’s Day”
Participants: Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, Minister of State for Gender Equality,
UN representatives and others

From 19:00 after the end of the joint session, a “Femmes@Tokyo” event “Dialogues de Femmes” will be held. For further information on the programme please refer to the “Femmes@Tokyo” website (http://femmes.exhn.jp).

【Note of notice regarding registration】
If you are interested in attending the UN public symposium, prior application is required. Please access the “Femmes@Tokyo” website and register no later than 22 February, choosing which programme you would like to attend. If the number of applicants exceeds the capacity, a drawing will take place.
□ United Nations public symposium and joint session
□United Nations public symposium, joint session, and “Dialogues de Femmes”

If you would like to register in English, please fill the attached form and send it to the secretariat office for Femmes @ Tokyo.