8 March 2005
U Thant International Conference Hall, UN House

From the beginning of the 20th century, many organizations have celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March. Since the United Nations (UN) International Women’s Year in 1974, the UN has observed this day as an occasion to further promote the empowerment of women as equal members of society. For the fourth time since 2002, UN agencies located in Japan will jointly organize a public forum to commemorate this event at the UN House in Tokyo. 
Much enthusiasm to further improve the situation of women worldwide was displayed by world leaders and women’s groups alike at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Now, ten years later, it is time to assess the progress that has been made in promoting women’s rights and gender equality since the adoption of the ambitious “Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.” Have women advanced in society as envisaged in 1995? Which tasks remain, or have newly emerged, on the agenda of women’s empowerment? Four distinguished speakers will assess the status of women today, focusing specifically on the roles that women play in development and as business entrepreneurs, and on the lessons to be learned from the response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami with regard to women’s needs and roles in disaster situations.
Interested members of the public are most welcome to attend the forum. Please use the answer form below to register your participation by 4 March (Friday).

PROGRAMME

Chair: Ramesh THAKUR, Senior Vice-Rector, United Nations University

14:00 – 14:10	Message from Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, read by Ramesh THAKUR
14:10 – 15:00	Keynote presentation  Wakako HIRONAKA, Member of the House of Councilors of Japan
15:00 – 15:45	Issues in women’s empowerment Women, development and the United Nations: Mitsuko HORIUCHI, Special Advisor on Gender Issues, International Labour Organization Women in business: Kyoko OKUTANI, Director, Women’s World Banking Japan Women and disaster response: Hiranthi WIJEMANNE, Executive Director, South Asia Women’s Fund
15:45 – 16:30	Open panel discussion
16:30 – 16:45	Photo Exhibition Official opening of an exhibition on “A Day in the Life of Africa: Focusing on Women”. The exhibition will be shown until 22 April 2005. This exhibition has been organized with the support of Olympus Corporation.
16:45 – 17:30	Information Marketplace All participants are invited for coffee and to visit the displays organized on the 2nd floor of UN House, where UN agencies will inform about their gender-related activities. Simultaneous Japanese-English interpretation will be available.

　
⇒REGISTRATION FORM (PDF 40KB)