Interview with an international symposium panelist Part 2: Voices of Female Experts

What I wanted to communicate most was the balance of work and family life. When I was working for a foreign-capitalized company, my French supervisor constantly told me to achieve a good balance between the two. Working for my own company, I still follow his advice to 'review every decision made in the evening on the morning after.' He told me to strike a good balance, saying that excessively long working hours would reduce work efficiency. Poor work - life balance stems from the employment system, which can be changed. Looking at many in the audience nodding with intrigue, I was very happy to see my message getting across.

I once visited Iran back in 1975. This is my second visit after 41 years. In my youth, I used to love reading poems by the Iranian poet, Omar Khayyam (* 11th - 12th century Persian philosopher and poet. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, popular in the late 19th-century Europe, is a collection of quatrains about drinking and his in-depth insight into life). Upon arriving in Iran and sensing the smell of local nature and plants, I felt a strange sensation of suddenly being transported back to my young poetry-loving days.

Our everyday life is a series of self-fulfillment. If you give your all to each challenge you face, there will come time when your opportunity in life ripens, just as fruit on a tree ripens when the right season comes. Be it in Iran or Japan, there is always a way for women to make active social participation while tending to family life.

My presentation used the perspective of comparing Iranian and Japanese societies to point out that both countries need to adopt legislations for enhancing the parenting leave system, for example, in order to encourage active female participation in the labor market. About ten women, all of whom were highly accomplished, approached me after my session to ask questions. Some asked me what Iran should do now for women's empowerment, while others passionately talked about wanting to go to Japan for research. Iran seems to have an abundance of highly-educated, high-achieving women.

Keynote speeches by the two female Vice Presidents stressed the fact that Iran has maintained the stance of exercising internal politics and diplomacy in line with the international standards despite having been subject to economic sanctions.

H.E. Mr. Hasan Rowhani, President of Iran, is pointing to the need to encourage women's active participation in politics and support their workforce participation in order to achieve economic development. Having traveled to about 40 countries for my work, I feel that the ratio of people with high level of political and international awareness is very high in Iran. This country is filled with human resources of excellent potential.

My work involves planning and managing the activities of individual teams of healthcare professionals in order to ensure their effective operations in emergency-stricken communities. I tell junior doctors to 'draw up a scenario.' Rather than merely treating patients at hand, they must observe the entire community to plan and draw up a scenario as to what they should do to restore the community quickly to the extent that their work is no longer needed.

At the symposium, I shared my own experiences to explain that, when both men and women exercise leadership, we can meet the needs of both genders. I saw everyone in the audience smiling. It was as if all the women were saying, with their smile, that they were ready to exert leadership. My life history and experiences in emergency relief activities may have given some inspiration to young women.

Iran and Japan share many similarities in the way of people's living. Both countries have the custom of giving cash gifts to children and displaying specific decorations as part of New Year celebrations. There are numerous other Iranian customs that you find equivalents in Japan. The Japanese phrase 'Otsukaresama,' often used among colleagues for appreciating each other's hard work at the end of a work day, has no direct English equivalent. Yet, there is a perfect Persian equivalent, 'Khastenabashi' The people of Iran and Japan seem to share a similar perception of the world.

The Middle East is currently facing a number of difficult issues, such as the emergence of extremism and protraction of armed conflicts. Iran is expected to play a key role in restoring peace and stability in the region. This symposium should be followed on with multi-faceted networking activities for building even greater trusting ties between Iran and Japan.

All the female experts from Japan engaged in active discussions, offered their insight and energetically networked with the Iranian audience despite the tough 5-day schedule including two nights sleeping on the plane. We wish for their continued achievements in their respective fields, and request greater contribution to our program for 'Building Relationships between Iran and the International Society.'