Gender perspectives should be “mainstreamed” in government and business decision-making in every field, be it environment, energy, finance or security, participants in a high-profile international women’s conference in Tokyo said Saturday.

At the World Assembly for Women (WAW!) 2022, organized by the Japanese government, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stressed the importance of putting issues faced by women at the top of policy agendas, especially now, when the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have taken a particularly tough toll on them.

“During the coronavirus pandemic, we have heard reports of increased violence against women in many countries, to the extent that it’s now called ‘the shadow pandemic,’’’ Kishida said in his opening speech.

“Most of the essential workers offering health and nursing care are women, who were forced to work long hours facing a high risk of infection," Kishida added. "Ninety percent of evacuees of the war in Ukraine are women and children, and many barbaric acts of sexual violence by Russian soldiers have been reported.”

Women’s perspectives need to be incorporated not only to bring them justice, but also to drive economic growth, the prime minister said, noting that his administration was aiming to put women’s issues — including economic independence — at the core of his “new capitalism" policy push, which seeks to create a virtuous circle of growth and redistribution through economic and social reform.

Gender equality in Japan, despite advances in recent years, remains elusive. The nation ranked 116th among 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index this year, the lowest among Group of Seven industrialized nations. This has been due, in large part, to the low representation of women in high-level positions in the political and business arenas.

To change the status quo, governments and businesses should employ all tools available, including gender quotas, Sima Bahous, executive director of U.N. Women, said in delivering the conference's keynote speech.

“We must use all tactics at our disposal, including special measures like quotas, to guarantee a seat at the table for women in decision-making and leadership positions,” she said.

Luminaries from countries with far better equality rankings also shared their experiences, saying it hasn't been smooth sailing for them either.

From Iceland, which is ranked No. 1 in the global gender gap index for 13 years running, President Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson cited a recent children’s book set in 1980, where girls are depicted as fighting for a chance to practice soccer like boys. That was the same year when the nation elected Vigdis Finnbogadottir, the world’s first democratically elected female president.

“(The story) shows how much things can change for the better in a very short time, just half a century, less than that,” he said during his speech. “All that is needed is the will for change.”

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that in her country gender quotas certainly worked to bring equality and justice closer to women. Through a landmark law passed in 2016, Moldova now mandates that women make up a minimum of 40% of every political party’s candidates and of Cabinet nominees.

“Since we have managed to considerably increase the representation of women in the position of power, it is also of course easier to deal with the other problems faced by women,” such as violence against women and the low ratio of females pursuing careers in IT, she said.

Sandu also encouraged more women to be unafraid to venture into politics.

“This is the shortest way to getting the issues on the agenda and having efficient solutions for gender mainstreaming," she said. "This is what we did. ... It is not easy, but it pays off.”

Saturday's conference, the first after a two-year break due to the pandemic, brought together 250 speakers from around the world and featured 12 sessions, with themes ranging from wage gaps, entrepreneurship and education to issues concerning youths and women in rural areas.

Several officials also contributed video messages from abroad, including former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.