In the past decade, nations have rushed to acknowledge the disadvantages women face concerning workplace participation, equal wage, reproductive health, and stigmatised gender roles. Yet, whilst many have acknowledged these contingencies, the policies and courses of action differ vastly from society to society. To the dismay of many activists and scholars, a popular trend in recent years is the erasure of women from the debate. Instead of uplifting women by specifically targeting their social disadvantages through guided dialogue and real-time policy, many have resorted to rendering women invisible through so-called gender-neutral policies.
Due to these developments, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s (KAS) regional economic program SOPAS, in cooperation with TalentNomics India, launched a two-day conference titled “Enabling an Equiverse: 4W’s- Equal access to Work, Wealth, Wellbeing and Welfare” to specifically discuss the issues women face in regard to their work, wealth, wellbeing, and welfare. With the goal of not only nurturing discussions, the conference also aimed to uplift and bring forth inspiration to talented, young women in India and encourage them to become the next generation of women in leadership roles.
Read the event report for more details.
On November 16, the Japan Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, in cooperation with Minoru Kiuchi, Member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) / Secretary-General of the Japan-German Parliamentary Friendship League, held the second party dialogue between the Christian Democratic/Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the LDP in the National Diet of Japan. The topics discussed by the CDU/CSU members of the German Bundestag and the LDP members of the National Diet are summarised in the event report.
On November 14, 2022, Konrad Adenauer Foundation Japan Office, Japan-Germany Center Berlin, the Japan Institute of International Affairs, the Foreign Office of Germany, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan jointly held the German-Japanese 1.5 Track Security Dialogue in light of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and its repercussions, in Tokyo as an in-person event for the first in three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the open symposium, Dr. Claudia Major (German Institute for International Security Affairs – SWP), Dr. Alexandra Sakaki (SWP), Ambassador Kimitake Nakamura (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan) and Associate Professor Michito Tsuruoka (Keio University) held a panel discussion on the German-Japanese cooperation at Shufu-Kaikan in Tokyo. Prof. Ken Endo (University of Tokyo) moderated the symposium. Progress on strengthening German-Japanese cooperation in the security sector and the sense of crisis was shared by the speakers. The discussions also covered how sound democracy can be nurtured and made more resilient.
Prior to the public event, a closed workshop hosted by the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) was held earlier the same day on Chatham House rules. Ms. Rabea Brauer, Country Representative of Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation Japan Office, moderated the first session on the Russian Aggression against Ukraine and its Impact on Security Circumstances in Europe.
Mr. Paul Measer, Senior Manager, Research, Industrial and Economic Policy, BDI – Federation of German Industries, on KAS’s invitation, participated in the session on cooperation between Japan and Germany on Economic Security.
The event alternates between Germany and Japan every year.
The youth are particularly vulnerable to the disruptive changes taking place in the global economy,education, and in the job market. Pre-pandemic trends such as automation, digitalisation, and globalisation have changed the way people live and work. However, COVID19 has further complicated young people’s lives by affecting them deeply and disproportionately.
Given these circumstances, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s (KAS) Regional Economic Programme Asia(SOPAS) and the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) organised on November 4, 2022 the online conference ‘A Better (Re)Start: The Future of Work for Young People’, which discussed in depth the trends and patterns within the global youth education and labour environment.
The conference report is now available. Please scroll down in the report for more detailed notes of the keynote as well as the first and second panels.
You can find the video recording of the webinar below:
On October 26, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Japan Office held an experts’ roundtable on “The War in Ukraine: Europe’s response and implications for the Indo-Pacific” at the organisation’s Tokyo office. Rabea Brauer, Country Representative, KAS Japan, welcomed the participation of experts from the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) at the Brussels School of Governance and various Japanese organisations.
Key points made by the CSDS speakers concerned the following:
• Impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine from both a Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific perspective and the conflict’s indirect link to both regions through the U.S. military presence;
• Evaluation of Japan and Taiwan as partners sharing common values with Europe. Shift by Eastern European states from pro to anti-China following China’s show of support for Russia;
• EU’s endeavour to seek tighter and more robust defense cooperation as a part of an effort to secure the strategic autonomy of the bloc;
• Development of stronger defense cooperation between the EU and NATO.
The subsequent discussions centered around topics such as future Japan-NATO cooperation in new domains, the prospect of a Taiwan contingency, solidarity amongst like-minded countries, and weapon systems. The whole session was moderated by Michito Tsuruoka, Associate Professor of Keio University.
On 13 July 2022, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Japan held its third Women in Japan webinar series, ‘Women in Japan: Breakthroughs in Female Business Leadership’, which focused on the business aspects of the gender situation in Japan. We looked at Germany, a country whose views on gender roles are historically similar to those of Japan, particularly the view on the gender division of labour, but at the same time, is more advanced in terms of gender equality than Japan. This webinar aimed to gain insights for Japan and learn how the country can improve the current situation for future female business leaders.
This conference report summarises the key take-aways and recommendations from the International Leadership Conference ‘Universe to Equiverse: Start the Ripple’, jointly organised with TalentNomics India. The event was held virtually on December 9th and 10th, 2021 and brought together more than 35 Global Leaders as speakers and panellists, with over 800 participants.
The main objective of the conference was to share unique and impactful best practices; and deliberate upon actions that can be taken to create a gender-equal world – an ‘Equiverse’. Global leaders and experts discussed how to enable women to reap an equal share in global prosperity without bearing the disproportionate burden of the challenges. This was visualised in the backdrop of huge and persistent gender gaps, which reflect various facets of the inequality faced by women in all walks of life and have been widened by the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, women’s economic inclusion is critical to economic growth and prosperity; and women’s leadership is vital for creating a ripple effect for restoring balance in the world. The Conference provided a platform to share and learn from the journeys and insights of leaders across sectors and regions, who are engaged in empowering and enabling women. The speakers and panellists acknowledged the need to take a multi-dimensional approach to address the gender issue and provided actionable insights that each of the stakeholders in the ecosystem can take towards building an Equiverse.
On 4th April, 2022, KAS Japan held ‘Women in Japan: Updating Gender Roles in Society,’ focusing on the societal and cultural aspects of the gender situation in Japan, and its history. For this webinar, we looked at Norway to learn how they have achieved their current gender situation by comparing it with the present state in Japan.
You can also find the recording of the webinar below:
The KAS German-Japanese Economic Policy Exchange aims to provide an open platform of exchange on economic policy. Important Japanese and German/EU actors in economic policy, from policymakers to representatives of the business sectors, will be regularly invited to openly discuss the challenges and perspectives of their respective economies, achieve a better understanding of each other and enrich the quality of policymaking. The speakers of the event on 10 February included representatives of the two leading business associations of Germany and Japan—Federation of German Industries (BDI) and Japan Business Federation (Keidanren)—a Member of the European Parliament, as well as a high-ranking functionary of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. They candidly discussed the challenges and perspectives of both economies while contributing to a better understanding between the two countries and their respective policy-making.
You can find the webinar recording below:
In today’s business environment where going digital is a necessity, all business owners must be equipped to become part of the digital economy to stay relevant. In particular, women-owned small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) can and want to thrive in the digital age. However, support from policymakers and private stakeholders is necessary to set inclusive digital transformation agendas that can unleash their dormant potential. Organised in cooperation with Woomentum and in partnership with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, the webinar, ‘Path to Digitalisation for WSMEs- Policy Breakthroughs from Vietnam, South Korea and Singapore’, had policy experts from Vietnam, South Korea, and Singapore share breakthroughs and learnings from digital transformation policies in their countries as well as discussed the next steps to crafting a path to digitalisation for WSMEs. The webinar took place on Tuesday, 14 December 2021, from 17:00 JST.
