「セルビア共和国における女性のエンパワメント」と題してセルビア共和国特命全権大使が講演

5月28日に、2025年度第1回目の「聖心未来プロジェクト」および「国際化推進のための公開講座」（英語文化コミュニケーション学科?大学院英語英文学専攻主催）として、アレクサンドラ?コヴァチュ　セルビア共和国特命全権大使をお招きし、「セルビア共和国における女性のエンパワメント」（Women’s Empowerment in Serbia）と題した講演会が開催されました。多様性の根付くセルビアを「道の真ん中に立つ家」と例えながら、セルビアにおける女性進出の現状と今後の課題についてお話し頂きました。講演に続きDavid McNeill教授（英語文化コミュニケーション学科）の司会により、学生との活発な質疑応答が行われました。「人生の5分の1を日本で過ごしている」と話され日本文化への造詣も深い大使には、本学にある重要文化財 旧久邇宮邸 （聖心女子大学パレス）もご見学いただきました。

（英語文化コミュニケーション学科准教授　濱口壽子）

McNeill教授による講演の報告はこちらをご覧ください。

On May 28th, the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo welcomed the Ambassador of Serbia to Japan, Ms. Aleksandra Kova?, who came to discuss her career and give advice to our students. Ms. Kova? has held her ambassadorial post since 2021 but explained that she has a long association with Japan, because she was herself a student in Osaka in 2001 and again in 2004-2005. Before her current post she was Third Secretary for Consular and Cultural Affairs at the Serbian Embassy. “I’ve spent a fifth of my life in Japan,” she said.

Despite being caught up in the traumatic and violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Serbia has since recovered to become an open, multicultural and democratic society, where women have made great strides, said the ambassador. In a talk entitled “Women’s Empowerment in Serbia,” she pointed out that about 37% of lawmakers in the National Assembly are female, and the governor of the bank of Serbia and the president of the constitutional court are women, too. Serbia ranked 26th out of 146 countries in the 2024 Global Gap Index (Japan ranked 118th).

One reason for Serbia’s relative high gender ranking is the use of quotas, said Ambassador Kova?. The country mandates that at least 40 percent of all electoral candidates in local and national elections must be female, she explained. Serbia also endorses gender equality, mandates equal opportunity policies and prohibits direct and indirect discrimination. There were several questions from students about whether Japan might benefit from a similar system, and how much public support it had in Serbia.

The ambassador said that the participation of women in politics and business was crucial for sustainable economic growth and social progress. She pointed out that about a third of Serbian entrepreneurs are women, and that females outnumber men at all levels in Serbia’s education system – 57% of university students are women, and in science occupations the percentage of females was higher than in most EU states or the US. The key to these successes, she added, was “solidarity among women and alliances with men.”

Many of the students’ questions related to Serbia’s progress and how Japan might match it. “Japanese women still seem to be held back. How can women build a safe and stronger society in Japan?” asked one. The ambassador advised women to lead by example, “and be a voice not an echo.” She had a simple set of codes for students: “We achieve consciousness when we choose. We achieve confidence when we stop to fear. We gain courage when we let to be seen. We gain optimism when we have faith in the achievement.”

And with that the ambassador said Hvala! (Thank you!). Thank *you* ambassador.

（英語文化コミュニケーション学科教授　David McNeill）