summary
In conjunction with the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), the Office for the Promotion of Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction conducted two side event disseminations in New York.
Details
Panelist at side event “Seeds of Justice: Securing women farmers’ economic and land rights and climate justice
Date, time and venue
March 12, 12:30-14:00, Delegation of the African Union to the United Nations
organizer
FAO, UN Women, ILC, JICA, Government of Sierra Leone, etc.
Event and Dissemination Overview
This event will focus on land ownership rights of women farmers. Land ownership cannot be simply put away as a matter of property ownership. With their own land, women can for the first time decide “how to farm,” can invest in long-term land improvements, and have better access to bank loans and technology extension services. Despite the important role women farmers play in food production around the world, especially in the Global South, they remain structurally disadvantaged in terms of access to resources, land ownership and decision-making.
At this event, which was conducted in light of the above, Ms. Hirose, Director of the Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction Promotion Office, JICA, took the stage. She introduced examples of JICA’s support for women to ensure that their rights are not merely legal provisions, but that they can protect and exercise their own rights. Specifically, first of all, JICA has been working to create an environment that facilitates women’s access to justice through support for the operation of bar associations, community mediation, and legal aid hotlines in each country. Furthermore, in the context of agriculture, he introduced the Sustainable Land Management (SLP) project in Ethiopia. In order to address serious land degradation issues such as soil erosion, JICA has been providing support in collaboration with research institutions. In this context, he introduced a case study in which women’s participation in the project was promoted and livelihood improvement in poultry and dairy farming was implemented.
Group photo of speakers (Far left: Mr. Hirose, Director, Office of Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction)
Panelist at side event “Women must be at the table: A simple suggestion to improve meaningful access to justice for all women
Date, time and venue
March 12, United Nations Headquarters
organizer
Japanese Government Delegation, 3 Japanese NGO representatives
Event and Dissemination Overview
This event is to share experiences and knowledge of Japan and other countries in line with the priority theme of CSW 70, “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls”. At the beginning of the session, Ambassador Mikama, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, mentioned Japan’s international contributions, including its support for victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, based on a human security approach. After that, Maiko Miyashita (Surugadai University) presented the results of her research on poverty and unpaid child support for single-parent families in Japan, and Hitomi Takemura (Hitotsubashi University) introduced the difficulties in prosecuting post-conflict sexual violence in the International Criminal Court and the importance of incorporating women’s participation in the design of post-conflict judicial frameworks. Professor Hitomi Takemura (Hitotsubashi University) introduced the difficulties in prosecuting post-conflict sexual violence at the International Criminal Court and the importance of incorporating women’s participation in designing post-conflict judicial frameworks.
The speaker from JICA was Belgrade Okwiry, a legal practitioner herself and project assistant for the Individual Expert Project “Advisor for the Promotion of Local Government Capacity for the Elimination of Gender Based Violence” in Kenya. While Kenya has a progressive constitution and laws, 43% of women experience Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). She explained that the male-dominated local dispute resolution system, the economic dependence of many women on their husbands, and the physical distance to the courts (about 200 km) are barriers to accessing justice. In light of this situation, JICA’s efforts included strengthening the capacity of national judicial officials, establishing a GBV case registry office in a court in Qaziad province, ensuring two days a week for GBV cases, and sharing good practices such as establishing a legal aid room for free legal assistance at a GBV recovery center.
Scene at the podium (center: Mr. Okwiry)
Reference: About CSW70
© Source JICA