The call was made during the first panel discussion of the 35th International Council of Women (ICW) General Assembly and the National Gathering of One Thousand Indonesian Women`s Organizations at the Grand Inna Malioboro here Thursday.
"Today`s challenge is how to maintain peace around you, and how to make a balance in our lives as individuals and society. We are women and each of us is a strong mother!" Yamanaka said.
According to Yamanaka, who is a visiting professor at Harvard University, the world has never needed women`s contribution more than now. Recently, the world is very vulnerable to geopolitical situations, trade wars and global warming.
Yamanaka described her experience as a special adviser to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who first coined the concept of "Womenomics" in the UN General Assembly in 2013. The statement became Abe`s commitment to improving gender equality in male-dominated Japanese society.
Although most Japanese women are highly educated, their role in society is still overshadowed by the stereotypes of domestic obligations that sometimes force them to leave works to take care of children and households.
This fact puts Japan at number 158th in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) index and ranks 122nd in the Gender Equality Index in 2017.
However, women have proven better than men in withstanding crises. For example, Yamanaka said that after the big earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan in 2011, there was one group of women in Fukushima, the most severely affected area, whose members were mostly housewives that took responsibility to lift people spirits.
When all people are discouraged by tragedy, without hope for the future, and do not know how to rise, the women opened a makeshift restaurant that sold rice and miso soup.
Their restaurant became a center of community activities, where residents, workers who helped the reconstruction process and volunteers gathered and mingled with each other. They in the long-run helped each other to overcome grief.
The similar thing occurred in the Miyagi and Iwate regions which were also badly affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
"In the midst of a downturn due to disaster, we witness the role of `kimotamakaasan` (tough mothers) who are able to survive and save their cities and communities," Yamanaka said.
The first panel also presented three other speakers, namely Chairman of the Philippine Higher Education Commission Patricia Licuanan, President of the Malaysian National Council of Women`s Organizations (NCWO) Dr. Sharifah Hapsah, and Chair of the Philippine Women`s National Commission (PCW) Remedios Rikken.
The event is held by the ICW and the Kowani, in cooperation with the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises, in which 35 state owned companies are involved in supporting the event, including Antara News Agency.
Reporting by Azizah Fitriyanti
Editing by Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani/Rahmad Nasution
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Bustanuddin
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
