Comment Calling for Withdrawing Measures Against the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Such As Excluding the Committee from the UN Programs Designated by Japan to Receive Voluntary Contributions and Maintaining a Constructive Dialogue with the Committee
On January 27, 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that Japan will no longer designate the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (the "Committee") as one of the specific programs within the United Nations that are annually designated by Japan to receive its voluntary contributions and has terminated a program for a planned visit to Japan by members of the Commissioner in fiscal year 2025.
The Committee was established to ensure the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the "Convention"), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. The Committee has issued its concluding observations on the periodic reports of Japan on the implementation of the Convention since it was ratified in Japan in 1985, and the latest one was issued on October 30, 2024, based on a review of the ninth report submitted by the Japanese government. Japan has maintained a constructive dialogue with the Committee. Such dialogue and the Committee’s concluding observations serve as an opportunity for Japan to find and improve human rights issues that are hard to recognize on its own and provides an important element in facilitating the observance of international treaties by Japan toward guaranteeing fundamental human rights (Article 98, paragraph 2 of the Constitution).
Japan has a history of accepting the recommendations of the Committee, although this acceptance can take a long time, and amending laws in line with the recommendations, such as the elimination of discrimination against children born out of wedlock in their share in inheritance and the deletion of an article of the Civil Code prohibiting only women from remarrying for a certain period of time.
Despite such history, the measures taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs against the Committee, such as excluding the Committee from the specific programs within the U.N. that are designated by Japan to receive its voluntary contributions not only undermines the trust between Japan and the Committee but also adversely impacts the 40th anniversary of Japan’s ratification of the Convention and goes against the current social situation that calls for greater efforts to eliminate discrimination against women. Japan’s attitude toward the Committee could give the global community the impression that Japan is taking a passive stance against eliminating discrimination against women. Therefore, there is no choice but to say that the government’s attitude is extremely inappropriate.
Considering that both the Convention and the Committee aim to realize common principles that apply to all people across the world and that the Constitution stipulates the observance of international treaties by Japan, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (the "JFBA") calls on the Japanese government to immediately withdraw the above measures and maintain a constructive dialogue with the Committee. The JFBA will continue to work towards eliminating all forms of discrimination and disadvantages against women by means such as introducing a discretional separate-surname retaining system and realizing a gender-equal society.
March 3, 2025
Reiko Fuchigami
President, Japan Federation of Bar Associations