“A Man for All Seasons” is a much celebrated play from the 1960s written by the British playwright Robert Bolt. It portrays Sir Thomas More, the Renaissance humanist and author of “Utopia”, the classical blueprint for a perfect world. Sir Thomas was known as man of principle who opposed King Henry VIII’s leaving one wife to marry another only to end his days by getting his own inspirational and oppositional head chopped off. All this five hundred years ago.
If a political play were to be written half a millennium from now into the future portraying the contemporary political situation in Norway, a champion nation of gender equality, the fifty per cent probability is that the author would be a woman and the no doubt higher probability is that the title would be “A Woman for All Seasons”. Having abolished capital punishment, and encouraging other nations to do the same, the one hundred per cent probability is that the woman of principle portrayed would not meet the sad fate of Sir Thomas More.
Who then would be that Norwegian “Woman for All Seasons”?
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland of course! An icon for gender equality conscious women. Not only that, an icon for environmentally conscious men and women around the world. Well-known in Japan and elsewhere, former Prime Minister as well as Environment Minister of Norway, former General Director of the World Health Organization, and not least the Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development.
It is almost a quarter of a Century since Dr. Brundtland presented the Commission’s report “Our Common Future” to the United Nations, a contemporary blueprint for a much better, if not perfect, world. It brought the concept of “sustainable development” forcefully into the vocabulary of international politics, where it has remained with greater and greater urgency. And today, she is still in the environmental forefront as Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations on Climate Change.
During a visit to Tokyo a couple of weeks ago, Dr. Brundtland highlighted gender equality and the political role of women in a “pep-talk” under very special circumstances.
The Embassy had joined hands with Member of the Diet House of Representatives Yorika Kawaguchi, who convened a special session of women Diet members across political party dividing lines. Kawaguchi-san herself a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Environment as well as Co-Chair of the Commission on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. The Commission, which included Dr. Brundtland as a member, presented its report and recommendations to the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May this year.
Great expectation was in the air, when women Diet members gathered for this “Special Session” in the Diet on 12 October. Dr. Brundtland shared generously her personal experiences from a long struggle for gender equality and enhancement of women participation in national and international politics.
And Dr. Brundtland’s inspirational message was quite clear!
“You are wasting your time by just sitting quietly at the end of the political table! If you want to be noticed and have influence, you have to overcome your shyness and speak up loudly and clearly!”
Dr. Brundtland further advised that women politicians should co-operate across party affiliations as long as they are under-represented in parliament as they are in Japan today. “You need female political role models, women that are visible in the political landscape and not least women in positions of power that have traditionally been held by men”.
Dr. Brundtland pointed out that the most productive societies are those with a high share of women participation in political and economic life. “And Japan’s share is not very high. What you see is a male dominated society. With low birth rate and aging population, declining population and a deficit economy, Japan can ill afford not making full use of the resource that women are”, Dr. Brundtland underscored and proudly added that in Norway half of the Cabinet ministers and forty per cent of the Members of Parliament are women.
Asked by one Diet member what opposition Dr. Brundtland had met in her struggle for gender equality, she admitted that in the 1970s there were many old men in high positions in Norway who created obstacles, very often behind the scenes, but that younger men were more supportive and realized which way the wind was blowing and what the future would bring.
At that stage Kawaguchi-san drew attention to my presence in the “Special Session” and explained to female Diet colleagues that I was in the room as “An honourary woman”. She called upon me nevertheless to tell what it was like as a man to work as an Adviser for Dr. Brundtland when she was Prime Minister.
I, of course, quickly agreed with everything Dr. Brundtland, my former boss, had said, not least what she said about old men at a time when I myself was among the younger ones. I was happy to add what an inspiring and educating experience it was to work for her. Dr. Brundtland had vision and clear objectives, her analyses were always thorough and through determined effort she accomplished so much, not least on the global stage, that many thought would be politically impossible.
A great pleasure to see Dr. Brundtland again, this time in inspirational dialogue with women members of the Diet.