Japan Revises Corporate Human Rights Action Plan

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government has revamped its action plan aimed at preventing human rights violations linked to corporate activities. The revised action plan, announced Wednesday, includes eight priority areas, such as human rights due diligence procedures, in which companies identify risks of human rights violations and make efforts to prevent and reduced damage. Regarding a study on a system related to surnames for married couples, meanwhile, the phrase “including a selective dual surname system,” which appeared in a draft of the revised action plan, was not included in the finalized version. In the process of collecting opinions about the action plan overhaul, the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, the country’s biggest organization of employers, called for the addition of a phrase seeking “a prompt study on a concrete system regarding surnames for married couples, including a selective dual surname system.” In contrast, there was an opinion that “surnames should not be changed lightly, and a selective dual surname system is therefore unnecessary.” The action plan calls for efforts by the government and companies to prevent corporate activity-linked human rights violations, such as discrimination against women, foreign workers, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, children and elderly people. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]