The Women 20 (W20) engagement group under G20 held its inception meeting on 27th -28th February 2023 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), Maharashtra. During the meeting, Union Minister Smriti Irani reiterated the Prime Minister’s vision of reimagining women’s role as the core architect of society rather than limiting themselves to the sidelines of the decision-making process. She further emphasized that W20 India should work to carve out an inclusive, decisive and action-oriented agenda.
Taking forward the takeaways from the inception meeting, the second meeting of the engagement group will be hosted by Jaipur, Rajasthan on 13th-14th April 2023. The meeting will further deliberate on the 5 priority areas of W20, which are:
1. Women in Entrepreneurship
2. Women Leadership at Grassroots
3. Bridging the Gender Digital Divide
4. Education & Skill Development
5. Women & Girls as change makers in Climate Resilience Action
W20 activities under India’s Presidency:
India has witnessed a rapid transition from women’s development to women-led development. In the vision for new India, women are equal partners in the journey to the sustainable development of the country. W20 meetings are envisaged to play a pivotal role in driving collaboration and providing further impetus to gender equity.
Since taking over from W20 Indonesia, W20 India has signed more than 15 MoUs with various organizations as knowledge and network partners. The group has conducted more than 50 Jan Bhagidari programs with thousands of women across different states in India. Recently, as part of Jan Bhagidari, the Surat Saree Walkathon was organised in Surat, Gujarat. Largescale participation by women could be seen at the Walkathon. The Walkathon was aimed to drive awareness on issues of health, women empowerment, and Fit India among others.
https://twitter.com/PBNS_India/status/1644991036459225089
Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi is the chair of W20. Other eminent Indian Delegates of the group include, Dr.Jyoti Kiran Shukla, ex-chairperson of the 5th Rajasthan Finance Commission, Prof. Shamika Ravi, Member Economic Council of Prime Minister of India, Bharati Ghosh IPS (Retd.), Raveena Tandon, Actor, Bansuri Swaraj, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Dharitri Patnaik, Entrepreneur & Philanthropist as Chief Coordinator of W20 Secretariat.
W20 has approximately 100 delegates representing 19 countries and the EU. They all work collaboratively on the five task forces, the policy recommendations and for the drafting of the Communique.