JCIE launched a nonpartisan Diet Women’s Study Group to deepen women legislators’ understanding of critical policy challenges. In the initial year, 13 Diet members, chaired by Representative Seiko Noda, are meeting seven times through March 2020, once every month or two, for discussions with leading experts from Japan and abroad. Discussions will tackle such issues as the social impact of AI, global and regional security issues, Japan’s response to migration and refugee issues, international finance, and so on.

The first session featured former UN Under-Secretary-General Yukio Takasu, who spoke with the group about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), asking what Japan should do to ensure that nobody is left behind in the efforts to achieve the SDGs.