Women included or excluded in G20: Implications on Gender Equality

Register at: https://forms.gle/fLpfgkeTo9bSHo5G6

The Group of Twenty (G20) made up of 19 countries and the European Union is the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies and is an important agenda-setter. G20 members account for more than 80% of world GDP, 75% of global trade and 60% of the population of the planet. Despite claiming to be a significant player for gender equality, G20 has not translated to action-oriented commitments or high-level compliance with gender equality commitments.[1] The G20 bloc must take steps to ensure women are central to the more equitable and inclusive recovery that it seeks, the world’s women need, and the global economy demands.

From rampant protectionism to pandemics and climate change – the global economy is facing a multitude of challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the economic well-being of people, more so of women—worsening gender inequality by crippling women’s employment and earning opportunities. Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, violence and digital gender gap has increased exponentially entrenching intersecting and structural discrimination on women in G20 countries.[2] This has further exacerbated women’s increased care work and increased domestic violence, women continue to face many challenges such as job losses, increased poverty of the household and themselves being overburdened with multiple work to support themselves and the family at any cost.

The G20 Leaders’ Summit 2021 under the Italian Presidency will convene on 30-31 October 2021 in Rome, Italy.[3]  It will focus on three broad, interconnected pillars of action: People, Planet, Prosperity.[4] Within these pillars, the G20 aims to take the lead in ensuring a swift international response to the COVID-19 pandemic – able to provide equitable, worldwide access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines – while building up resilience to future health-related shocks. G20 still operates like G7—west dominates and women are excluded from its processes.

Online seminar: Women included or excluded in G20: Implications on Gender

In the context of shrinking democratic spaces, economic crisis and pandemic, BRICs Feminist Watch intends to play a critical role in making noise evaluating G20 spaces from feminist perspective from the global South. BRICs Feminist Watch is organizing an online seminar Women included or excluded in G20: Implications on Gender Equality.

The aim of the Seminar will be:

1. To take stock of how gender inclusive are G20 spaces
2. How have these countries included women’s input in their Summit discussion and outcomes?
3. What has been our shared observations and experiences?
4. How can we as feminists engage with G20 from gender perspective and what it means in practice?
5. What would be our collective recommendations and way forward?

The Seminar will be divided into two parts:

• 1st Panel: Context setting: The first part will highlight feminist leaders’ experiences and analysis of G20/W20 spaces.
• 2nd Panel: The second part will capture what can G20 be from feminist perspective and our recommendations.

Online Seminar will examine following questions:

1. Has G20 been an open, transparent and gender inclusive space for CSOs from the global South, especially for feminists?
2. What has been the experience of participation of feminist delegates and what are their reflections?
3. What does this space really mean as opportunities, challenges and limitations for gender equality?
4. How to capture the larger discussions around generational equality and link it to G20?
5. How can feminist politics in feminist movement(s) be incorporated into G20 discourse?

The Seminar will draw on experts from different parts of the world. It will be pitched at the level of those who are interested in G20/W20. The experiences of participation in W20 spaces will be used to disrupt and explore the entry points. The outcome from the Online Seminar will help in developing feminist statement for G20 and inform a position paper.

PWESCR on behalf of BRICS Feminist Watch and in partnership with, The Inequality Movement, Gen Dev Centre for Research and Innovation, Espaço Feminista, FEIM and Feminist Land Platform will host an Online- Seminar – Women included or excluded in G20: Implications for Gender Equality—on

Monday, August 2nd, 2021 from 5 PM to 7 PM IST (1:30 PM CEST).

Register at: https://forms.gle/fLpfgkeTo9bSHo5G6

The Seminar will be a mix of a panel and an interactive session. The Seminar will continue to be available as a resource after the event. The Online Seminar will be in English. If you have any difficulties in registering, please send an email to Kripa Basnyat at kripabasnyat1@gmail.com and she will be happy to assist you.

The event is organized by the financial support from Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Regional Office, New Delhi.

[1] Kuliik, J (2020). G20 Performance on Gender Equality, Accessed at: https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/g20-performance-gender-equality/?fbclid=IwAR0U0LIg63cJQpj96fzJEUUkdKSmYv_2xtyhZdphhs7oj4MEQBTQqpWAuRM

[2] Sabbadini, L. L. (2021), The five strategical points women20 would like to underline as civil society, Accessed at: https://w20italia.it/2021/04/10/the-five-strategical-points-women20-would-like-to-underline-as-civil-society/

[3] G20 Leaders’ Summit 2021, IISD/SDG Knowledge Hub, Accessed at: http://sdg.iisd.org/events/g20-leaders-summit-2021/

[4] Italian G20 Presidency Priorities, Accessed at: https://www.g20.org/italian-g20-presidency/priorities.html