Brasil presents agendas of the Women's Empowerment Working Group at the UN Women's Conference

The Brazilian committee, headed by Women's Minister Cida Gonçalves and accompanied by First Lady Janja Lula da Silva, dialogued about the G20's priorities with various countries and took part in two events within the framework of the group.

Brazil took to the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) the agendas that will be discussed with the G20 Working Group on Women's Empowerment, coordinated by the Ministry of Women's. The Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, and the First Lady, Janja Lula da Silva, as well as the Brazilian delegation, discussed Brasil's priority issues for women in bilateral talks and meetings during the CSW program week.

The theme of Brasil's presidency at this year's G20 meeting is "Building a just world and a sustainable planet", representing the commitment to more equitable governance, which places the combat against inequalities and social inclusion as a priority for countries. 2024 is the first year of the G20 Working Group on Women's Empowerment, which will reinforce the Brazilian government's commitment to tackling gender inequality.

Created to support the Ministries responsible for conducting gender equality policies in the G20 countries, the institutionalization of a WG on Women's Empowerment represents the commitment made by member States with the empowerment of girls and women. 

For the coordinator of the G20 Working Group on Women's Empowerment, Ísis Táboas, gender inequality remains one of the deepest around the world, and the Brazilian government recognizes that promoting equality plays a fundamental role in building a sustainable and fair future.

“It is a privilege for Brasil to host the first meeting of the Working Group on Women's Empowerment at G20, reinforcing our unwavering commitment to tackling the widespread challenge of gender inequality. Furthermore, within the G20, the creation of this Working Group represents continuity in the G20's commitment to gender equality, which began in 2015 with the creation of the W20 and was reinforced in 2019 with the creation of Empower”, highlighted the advisor of the Ministry of Women, referring to the two groups that contemplate the participation of civil society. Her talk took place at the event "Gender equality, disparities in women's health and the care economy: the voice of the W20 Brasil at the G20 2024", which occurred in New York last Wednesday (13).

Aligned with the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration about Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls, Brasil proposed that the Working Group focus on women's equality and economic empowerment, which includes health and the care economy; tackling gender-based violence and discrimination; and promoting climate justice for women.

Climate justice

In the panel "Philanthropy for Gender Justice: how foundations can help fulfill the G20 priorities in Brasil", which also took place on Wednesday (13) in parallel to the 68th CSW, Ísis Táboas reaffirmed the Brazilian government's commitment to developing and building lasting economic support mechanisms for social transformation processes aimed at promoting equality, human rights and democracy.

"Brasil's Ministry of Women recognizes the magnitude of the financial challenge for gender equality and is committed to planning and building public financing mechanisms that can improve and expand support for the changes needed to build and enforce women's human rights," she affirmed.

According to Táboas, in the context of climate justice, girls and women suffer disproportionate impacts from changes in the environment, which makes it essential to discuss the allocation of financial resources to address these gender-related disparities, considering their intersectional nature. “It is also essential to increase women's participation in local and global decision-making spaces related to climate justice," she added.

Pedro Martins Simões, from the G20 coordination team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also accompanied the events.

Bilaterals with G20

During the week in which the Brazilian delegation took part in bilateral meetings, Minister Cida Gonçalves spoke with her peers and other authorities from other countries about the G20 summit in Brasil.

On the second day of the CSW, the head of the Brazilian delegation met with Australia's Minister for Women and Finance, Katy Gallagher, and talked about the G20's priority agendas and how the two nations can work together to tackle gender inequality. Minister Cida Gonçalves said that she is waiting for her Australian colleague in Brasil, at the meeting of the G20 high authorities, which will occur in the country in the second semester.

The forum was also the subject in the meeting with Canada's Minister of Women, Gender Equality and Youth, Marci Ien. Minister Cida Gonçalves and Janja Lula da Silva explained the main axes proposed by the G20 Women's Empowerment Working Group and how the federal government has been working on gender issues in a transversal way.

On Wednesday (13), in bilateral talks with the United States, the Casa Branca team present at the meeting pointed out that online violence against women is a challenge within the G20, both in the Digital Economy and Women's Empowerment Groups. And that there is a great expectation with Brasil's presidency to work to achieve the commitments signed in previous mandates of the group on this and other issues.

Cida Gonçalves also received the German Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Lisa Paus, at the Permanent Mission of Brasil to the UN, on Thursday (14), and debated in particularly about public policies aimed at the care economy and climate justice, two priority themes of Brasil at the G20 within the framework of the Women's WG, the implementation of the Law on Equal Pay for Women and Men in Brasil and the public budget with a gender perspective.

During bilateral talks with the Minister of Social Development of South Africa, Lindiwe Zulu, who will assume the presidency of the G20 in November, following Brasil, the Minister of Women highlighted at the start of the conversation the importance of exchanging experiences between the two countries on the issue of political parity, given that Brasil is only 142nd in the international ranking of women in politics and South Africa is 12th out of the 193 countries analyzed by the UN in terms of gender parity in Parliament. The authorities of the two countries consolidated their support for working together on the transition of the G20 presidency.

G20 in Brasil

The G20 Women's Empowerment Working Group was created during India's presidency in 2023 and will meet for the first time under Brasil's presidency in 2024, coordinated by the Ministry of Women's Affairs. The purpose of the WG is to support countries in addressing gender inequality and boosting women's empowerment in its different dimensions.

The main objective is to strengthen the gender debate and the dissemination of good practices and public policies in favor of women's and girls' rights among the G20 countries.

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