UN Women welcomes G20 Delhi Declaration’s stress on Gender Equality and women’s Empowerment

On September 9, 2023, world leaders met at the Indian capital of New Delhi for the annual G20 summit and agreed unanimously on the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, covering issues ranging from gender equality to climate change to countering terrorism.

We thank Indian Prime Minister Hon’ble Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Smt Smriti Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development, and the G20 Sherpa Shri Amitabh Kant as well as all the G20 leaders, delegates, speakers and representatives from G20 members and guest countries viz., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, Bangladesh, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Singapore, Spain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, who participated actively through the course of the Indian Presidency, and supported all efforts to mainstream gender across the various groups.

We extend our congratulations to Dr Sangita Reddy, Chair of G20 Empower and Dr Sandhya Purecha, Chair of Women 20, for their exemplary leadership in advocating for women’s empowerment across all sectors and establishing the Techequity platform as India’s immediate contribution to women’s empowerment. Likewise, we congratulate all members of Women 20 and G20 EMPOWER for the successful outcomes under their respective engagements, which were duly reflected in their communiques and which in turn, have found place in the 'G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration 2023’.

UN Women was honoured to support the Government of India, in their work shaping the Women-led Development agenda.

We congratulate the Indian government for securing strong commitment to advancing gender equality across G20 nations, that accounts for around 80 per cent of gross world product (GWP), 75 per cent of international trade, two-thirds of the global population, and 60 per cent of the world's land area and acknowledging the profound impact of empowering women and girls across various societal domains, including the economy and social development.

We welcome the inclusive and visionary nature of the Delhi Declaration and its commitment to closing gender gaps, promoting women's participation in the economy, as well as investing in social protection and care infrastructure to reduce and redistribute women’s unpaid care work. This will allow women more time for participation in educational, economic and social activities.

The creation of a working group on Women's Empowerment to support gender equality initiatives is an extremely promising development. We hope this working group will be able to take forward the commitments made during India’s G20 Presidency. These include more job creation in STEM and green sectors; better access to financial and digital assets; increased leadership opportunities; investment in the care economy; food and nutrition security for women and children; better health outcomes; and more voice in disaster risk recovery and resilience building.

We look forward to The Gender Working Group’s first meeting during the Brazilian G20 Presidency and hope future Presidencies will continue to build on it.