On the 13th, RENGO held its 2000 RENGO Central Women's Meeting with the main theme being "Let's Build a Workplace/Society Where Men and Women can Continue to Work Productively and Safely." Over 1000 people (20% of whom were men) gathered at Kudan Kaikan in Tokyo to greet this watershed year 2000 and together pledge to continue to make even greater movements for the equality of the sexes.

RENGO Vice President Sakakibara (President of NIKKYOSO: Japan Teachers' Union) gave an opening speech representing the sponsors. In his remarks he added, "Equality of the sexes is a topic that has not been a focal point in labor unions until now. First, it is important to move toward implementation. And it is also necessary that we change our perception of male/female roles." VP Sakakibara continues appealing to participants gathered from all over the country, "We hope that through this meeting, we will be able to unify our conceptions that women's participation on various levels will become the basis of gender equality."
Michiko Nakamura, International Year of the Woman -Communications Representative, passionately appealed in her speech that "gender discrimination has a long history. Things cannot change all at once, but we are continuing the movement encouraged by the progress pushing ahead little by little toward its realization. In order to build a gender-equal society, it is vital that opportunities be equal. Let us work toward that goal, and make the twenty-first century a Women's Century in the most positive sense of the word."

After speeches responding to issues raised by Assistant Secretary General Takashima's, we began subcommittee meetings (17 subcommittee meetings in total). Participants actively participated in these meetings and workshops divided by themes such as the tax systems, family care, pension systems, and so forth.
On the next day, the 14th, RENGO also held its "Support Child-Raising Across Society! A City Citizen's Gathering" in Tokyo at Ariake. After the meeting, the nearly 600 attendees took part in a walking appeal to Odaiba holding balloons with the slogan "Reform the Child and Family Care Leave Law to a Law That Better Supports Balance" written on them.