GS10 AP

GS10 Tokyo Recommendation: BRIDGE

Better Research and Innovation through Diversity and Gender Equality

  1. The Tokyo Recommendations: BRIDGE - Better Research and Innovation through Diversity and Gender Equality - represent the core purpose of the Gender Summit 10 - Asia Pacific, held at Hitotsubashi Hall, Tokyo, Japan, on May 25-26, 2017, to advance understanding how actions to improve gender equality in science and society can produce more effective solutions to national and global societal challenges .
  2. Historically, various actions to overcome gender prejudices and inequality, socially and scientifically, have been adopted around the world, but still many serious gender issues remain that influence outcomes of research and innovation and slow down socio-economic development.
  3. The Gender Summit 10 - Asia Pacific recognizes the importance of reaching the targets of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and endorses the need and ambitions of SDG 5 to "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls".
  4. The Gender Summit 10 - Asia Pacific proposes a new concept of Gender Equality 2.0 in recognition that "gender equality" actions should also respect related sources of divergent needs in society such as age, sex, social position, economic status, education, ethnicity, race and ability. This proposal reflects the UN decision that "Systematic mainstreaming of gender perspective in the implementation of the Agenda is crucial".
  5. The Gender Summit community believes that all 17 SDGs can benefit from solutions that incorporate Gender Equality 2.0 objectives and are based on scientific research and socio-technological innovations. This has been already pointed out at the Gender Summit 6 - Asia Pacific, 26-28 August 2015 in Seoul, Republic of Korea, through the expert report on The Role of Gender-based Innovations for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, supported by the Seoul Declaration to Advance Gender-based Research, Innovation and Socio-economic Development in the Asia Pacific, which recommends nine, evidence-based criteria for effective multi-stakeholder collaboration.
  6. Today, the Gender Summit 10 - Asia Pacific urges the United Nations, the Japanese Government, as well as industry and other stakeholders in science endeavours to adopt three recommendations on gender equality as necessary conditions to accelerate progress and BRIDGE many gaps towards achieving the ambitions of the SDG targets:
  1. Gender equality is an essential determinant of societal sustainability and wellbeing and affects how science, technology and innovation can improve people's lives. It is realized through interventions to create equal opportunities between women and men; and implementing scientific understanding of gender, and of related differences, as important and intersecting factors in creating societal benefits for all.
  2. Gender equality should be integrated into the implementation of all 17 SDGs, because gender equality within science, technology and innovation provides a BRIDGE through which targets of all 17 SDGs can be connected to enhance implementation success of the UN SDG agenda.
  3. Gender equality in the context of SDG targets must recognize the influence of human and societal diversities, and, in particular, how science and societies define and BRIDGE the roles and attitudes to women, girls, men, boys, ethnicity, race, cultures etc. Gender Equality 2.0 should be adopted by all stakeholders, including industry when planning and implementing actions to achieve sustainability.
    4. Tokyo, May 26th, 2017

The following international collaborative members have been involved in preparing the statements of the Tokyo recommendations and are producing a report to show how they can improve delivery of SDGs:

  • Tateo Arimoto (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan)
  • Roseanne Diab (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), South Africa)
  • Ryoichi Fujii (Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), Japan)
  • Heide Hackmann (International Council for Science (ICSU), France)
  • Michinari Hamaguchi (Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Japan)
  • Yuko Harayama (Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI), Japan)
  • Botaro Hirosaki (NEC Corporation, Japan)
  • Kumie Inose (Konan University, Japan)
  • Norichika Kanie (Keio University, Japan and United Nations University, Japan)
  • Mitsunobu R. Kano (Okayama University, Japan)
  • Seema Kurmar (‎Johnson & Johnson, USA)
  • Elizabeth Pollitzer (Portia, UK)
  • Londa Schiebinger (Stanford University, USA)
  • Sandra Sharman (UNESCO Office Montevideo, Uruguay)
  • Yutaka Shikano (The University of Tokyo, Japan and Chapman University, USA)
  • Felycia Edi Soetaredjo (Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Indonesia)
  • Lucilla Spini (International Council for Science (ICSU), France)
  • Kazuo Tase (UN Forum, Japan)
  • Kinlay Tshering (Ministry of Agriculture & Forests, Bhutan)
  • Yoshiko Tsuji (The University of Tokyo, Japan)
  • Miyoko O. Watanabe (Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Japan)