Sri Lanka participates at World Assembly for Women in Tokyo

Representative Rosy Senanayake addressing the panel titled ‘Girls and Education’ at the World Assembly for Women (WAW) in the presence of Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, and other panellists and delegates

Sri Lanka was represented by the Representative of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and former State Minister for Child Affairs Rosy Senanayake at the World Assembly for Women (WAW) held in Tokyo last week. 

Tokyo held this mega Assembly for the second consecutive year and was attended by over 2,000 delegates including that of political leaders, activists, academics, INGOs, media personalities, senior international and UN civil servants and diplomatic corps, among others, from a large number of countries.

The key objectives of this summit are to delve strategies and solutions to extend education to all females, to empower women in order to be more productive and to enhance the participation of women in decision-making processes both in governments and in corporates, thus increasing the participation of women in the workforce, among others.

The Chief Guest of the Assembly was the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. The two keynote addresses were delivered by the President of Liberia and Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson, and the Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin, the US based Aircraft manufacturing conglomerate. 

Further, the panel discussions at the opening ceremony were moderated by Akie Abe, wife of the Prime Minister of Japan; and the panellists were Cherie Blair, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair; Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UNESCO; Rula Ghani, First Lady of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; and Tina Tchen, Chief of Staff to the First Lady of the US. The Opening Session of the Assembly was addressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Fumio Kishida.

The Government of Japan, in particular, places a great degree of importance in proactive participation of women in the workforce, thus leading to the enhancement of the growth of the economy. The Abe Administration has described the potentiality of women as vital for development, not only in developing nations but also in developed nations. In this context, the Abe Administration has enacted a number of laws and regulations in order to have greater participation of women in the workforce.

Representative Senanayake was one of the three Lead Speakers in the panel discussion titled ‘Girls and Education; along with the Minister of Solidarity, Family, Women and Children of Cote d’Ivoire and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe too attended the said panel discussion. 

During the panel discussion titled ‘Girls and Education,’ Senanayake stated that Sri Lanka too confronts a number of challenges and obstacles in extending education to females. She further stated, in her address, that education for women is a fundamental right and unfortunately, in many countries, this fundamental right has been deprived from women. She added that in the decision making process, be it the Government or corporate, the contribution of women is minimal. 

She further expounded, in her address, that ‘Early Childhood Education’ is an imperative factor in human resource developmental process and most of the panelists and delegates recognised the vitality of the ‘Early Childhood Education’. Senanayake also had a brief meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan on the margins of the Assembly. 

In honour of the delegates and special invitees from many parts of the world as well as the dignitaries based in Japan, Prime Minister of Japan hosted a Dinner Reception and a Luncheon, which were attended by several Cabinet Ministers and political dignitaries both from Japan and from other countries; Heads of UN Organisations such as UNESCO, UN Women and UNDP; Diplomatic Corps; CEOs of corporates, and Donor Agencies such as Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), among others.

Representative Rosy Senanayake was accompanied by the Charge d’ Affaires and Ambassador designate to the Kingdom of Bahrain Dr. A. Saj U. Mendis and Second Secretary of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Japan G.N. Hasintha during the meetings and engagements associated with the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo.