Women’s Empowerment

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

About the WG

The institutionalization of a Working Group on this subject represents a great achievement for women and a leap forward in the commitment made by member countries to the effective realization of the rights of women and girls. This way, during the Brazilian presidency, the central themes will be:

Equality: the theme will be discussed along two axes:

The first, Equality and Autonomy, in which the sexual division of labor figures as the basis that perpetuates inequality between men and women through the guarantee of jobs and higher salaries for men and domestic work for women.

The second, Work and Care Policies, deals with the reality of undervalued and unpaid work in the care economy, which, despite being essential for building societies, burdens women all over the world.

Combating misogyny and violence: despite feminist achievements in recent decades, violence against women continues at alarming proportions. Furthermore, there is a distinction among white, black, and indigenous women regarding different levels of exposure to violence, as they have unequal power mechanisms to confront them.

Climate Justice: women are the protagonists of territorial actions aimed at curbing the worsening climate crisis and its consequences for their peoples and territories. Despite this, they are under-represented in spaces of power and global decision-making on these issues.

History of the WG

In 2015, Women20 (W20) was launched, an engagement group created during the Turkish presidency that concentrates on 'gender inclusive economic growth'. In parallel, the G20 Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women's Economic Representation (G20 EMPOWER) was created in 2019, with the objective of promoting a more wide-ranging and action-oriented alliance between companies and governments.

All this discussion culminated, in 2023, under the presidency of India, in the creation of this new working group, Women's Empowerment, to support countries in addressing gender inequality in the different dimensions.

See also