Fumiyasu Akegawa, Chair & CEO DEVNET International/Japan
Empowering Women and the SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations include 17 goals to solve global issues by 2030, such as eradicating poverty and protecting the global environment. One of the most notable of these goals is “gender equality,” which is positioned as an important goal that aims to improve the status of women and girls, protect their rights, and realize equal opportunities.
International Women’s Day was first proposed by the United Nations on March 8, 1975, the International Women’s Year, and subsequently adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1977. In Japan, the Japanese Minister of State for Women’s Affairs issues a message on International Women’s Day every year on March 8. March 8 is also known as “Mimosa Day,” and the yellow mimosa flower is a well-known symbol of the day.
WIINNER: Women Into a New Network for Entrepreneurial Reinforcement 1999-2009
In 1999, DEVNET launched a program to support women entrepreneurs around the world in eight countries, which has benefited 17,000 women entrepreneurs until the convergence of the 2009 plan. Ultimately, more than 40,000 small and medium-sized enterprises owned or managed by women entrepreneurs gained access to global supply chains using e-commerce, and continue today. It is estimated that the impact of the project has increased more than tenfold.
Now, DEVNET will be the starting point for a new WINNER project to support women entrepreneurs around the world in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Pacific island countries, China, and Japan. It will be an educational program for multiple sustainable businesses that can be started with small amount of money.
This time, DEVNET has launched an educational program (“NEW WINNER”) for approximately 100,000 women entrepreneurs in China with a signing ceremony held in Nanjing, China in March. The project has just gained a foothold.
Toward the Revival of “Hometowns” in Each Country
China has made great economic progress. Although many women have achieved a materially affluent lifestyle, they have yet to catch up internally. Their hearts are connected to the “hometown” they left behind, and they cannot shake off the sense of loss.
In common with developing countries, the various strains of living alone in urban areas away from rural areas are falling on the elderly and women who are economically weak. In Japan, local villages are on the decline with no effective measures being taken to help them. They are becoming increasingly exhausted. We need to start taking steps now to revitalize our “hometowns” in developing countries. DEVNET is ready to take measures that can be applied in developing countries, such as the OVOP (One Village One Product) Movement that started in Oita Prefecture, Japan, together with the agricultural mutual aid programs. We expect that women’s entrepreneurial power can be utilized to a great extent in the revitalization of their “hometowns.
Today, business is possible even in the countryside as long as there is an internet environment. There is great potential for businesses that rediscover the richness of rural lifestyles and promote the beauty of traditional lifestyles to the world.
This is common to developing countries that are rapidly urbanizing. Women will play an important role in creating a lifestyle that blends modern high-tech with traditional lifestyles. DEVNET will continue to develop various entrepreneurship programs to improve the status of women, while flexibly responding to situations in different countries with different cultural backgrounds.
DEVNET will also highlight successful cases of women entrepreneurs from all over the world and transmit their achievements as well as the know-how for success worldwidethrough award system and other programs.