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	<< Back "DAWN" Newsletter of The DAWN CENTER The Activity of "Women's Association for a Better Aging Society/Osaka" Masuko Tashiro: Public Information Section, Women's Association for a Better Aging Society/Osaka "Women's Association for a Better Aging Society/Osaka" is a civic group (NPO) inaugurated by the people wishing for a rich aging society. It is a sister group of the "Women's Association for a Better Aging Society in Tokyo" whose representative is Ms. Keiko Higuchi. 1. Mission Women's Association for a Better Aging Society/Osaka is striving for the realization of a better aging society through the activities of offering information and policy recommendations. At the opening ceremony, held on May 15, 1993, many more people gathered than the hall's capacity of 368 people could hold. Every participant, imagining that an aging society would come in the near future, was looking forward to the inauguration of such an organization. The time was accelerating toward an unprecedented aging society. In the ten years since that initial meeting, the members' enthusiasm has not diminished in the least. On the contrary, from a human rights and gender perspective, Women's Association for a Better Aging Society/Osaka has always been conscious of and investigated problems concerning the aging society. One of the initial activities, "Socialization of nursing care," bore fruit with the introduction of Public Nursing Care Insurance System. Ms. Emiko Takenaka, the incumbent executive director of the Dawn Center, who was our representative for almost eight years (from 1994 to 2002), laid the foundations of our group, leading it with her wisdom and clear vision, setting high goals for the association. 2. Administration of the association There are about 250 members (including 10 male members) currently involved in the group. The money needed for the activities is provided through membership fees (4,000 yen), supportive fees, and contributions. The association has actively applied for the funds offered by the state or local governments, and widened the area of activities. One of the characteristics of the association is the way it is administered. Any member can run for the steering committee (a 2-year term) and join the administration. At present, 32 committee members belong to sections such as general affairs, project planning, and public information. They enthusiastically work in line with the annual principles adopted at the annual general assembly. Most members have full-time jobs, so meetings are held on weekday nights or Saturdays. The association’s activity base is the Dawn Center. 3. Activities *Regular meetings: open to nonmembers. (See the list below for last year's activities.) *Newsletters: issued four times a year. These contain a wide range of articles including timely commentaries, activity reports, interviews, diverse information, and so on. Newsletters are sent to the group members, related institutions and organizations, and mass media. The association is planning to open a homepage on the internet as a new means of public relations, and recently formed a project team to undertake the design of this project. *Publications: books posing questions from a human rights perspective and survey reports, listed below. Create our town's welfare Introductory guidebook to nursing care insurance Consciousness survey report among members on 'life and death' Questionnaire investigation survey report toward the enforcement of the nursing care insurance system 4. Study sessions Any member can voluntarily set up study sessions when she/he has some theme to investigate. One of the study sessions, "Nursing care labor study group," recently published a survey report (170 pages, A4 size) titled "Users and Home Helpers under the Nursing Care Insurance," with funding from the Osaka Prefectural Government's Jump Program. The association also had an opportunity to provide an opinion report summarizing the issues it has brought to light through investigations and questionnaires to Mr. Chikara Sakaguchi, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, for utilization in the ministry’s review of the nursing care insurance system. The review, however, failed to meet the association’s proposal to unify nursing care payment. Still, the government amended the three sections and unified them into two: "living support" and "physical care." In this way, the association is fulfilling one of its main goals, to connect our investigation results with policy proposals. One of the most active areas for the association is the acting troupe "Silver Moon," shown in the cover photo. This troupe, which began as one of the study sessions, has a seven-year history. The troupe members (all members of the association) pose questions to the audience by performing comically about issues of concern in an aged society such as nursing care and struggles between couples or families based upon the consciousness differences. After the show, they talk with the audience while still in costume. Compliments such as "The performance is beyond Yoshimoto,*" and "really funny," or "It has woken me up," encourage the performers time after time. The troupe members do everything, including writing scripts, making props, performing, and stage setup. It is often the case that they are requested to perform on demand. The troupe has performed more than 30 times. One member after another in the association has become lawmakers in local governments, taking the step to put investigation activities into practice. (Currently, one is a local head and 15 are lawmakers.) Additionally, some members take part in the preparations for measures aimed at aiding women and elderly citizens in local governments. It was unimaginable for women decades age to undertake studies of issues directly related to various social concerns with others. Today, through the association, members act vividly, finding joy in working with people who share common interests and aspirations, studying persistently, and empowering themselves. They pose a new image of elders quite different from the past. We are living in a rapidly aging society with no model. We have to create this by ourselves. The Women's Association for Better Aging Society/Osaka intends to serve as the forerunners in enacting this model by steadily continuing our activities. We hope that future generations will look at our activities and say, "I would like to be an active elder, too." (*A well-known commercial comic group in Osaka) Page Top Copyright (C) DawnCenter. All Rights Reserved.