The Words of the Kikuya Family
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The Words of the Kikuya Family |
Tokyo, Japan -- UPF-Japan organized a commemorative event for International Women's Day in Tokyo on March 2. The event was co-hosted by the Women's Forum of Ambassadors for Peace, and more than 50 participants (80 percent of them women) attended.
In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Seiichi Kikuya, Secretary General of UPF-Japan, emphasized the importance of women's role in peacemaking, and Ms. Kazuko Munakata, President of the Women's Forum of Ambassadors for Peace, gave a report on their activities in support of children in Nepal.
The keynote speech was given by Mr. Katsuhide Kitatani, Chairperson of NPO 2050 and former Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund.
Mr. Kitatani appraised the audience about the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which emphasizes the need to "incorporate gender sensitivity and include women in approaches on security and peace-building," and criticized the slow pace of the international society in acting for the realization of this resolution.
He then asked the audience whether women by nature seek destruction or promote wars, and stressed the importance of women's participation in the process of political, economic, and social decision-making.
Then, Mr. Kitatani introduced NPO 2050's activities to support girls to go to school in five developing countries in Asia and encouraged the participants to: know the reality of developing nations, shift one's frame of reference, and think globally, and called for them to take part in volunteer work.
After the speech, the participants exchanged opinions on supporting the empowerment of women.
At the end of the program Ambassador for Peace certificates were given to six new women Ambassadors for Peace by Dr. Hiroo Suzuki, President of the Association of Ambassadors for Peace.
Note: NPO 2050 is concerned about global issues such as population, poverty, women's status, and the environment and their potential impact on the quality of life by the year 2050. For more information, click here. www.npo2050.org/Eng/top.html