Women 20 (W20) is an official engagement group of the G20 dedicated to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, annually developing consensus-based recommendations to ensure that gender is mainstreamed and included in the G20 leaders’ discussions and ultimately the Leaders’ Declaration. W20 continues to reaffirm its commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (S DGs) particularly SDG 5 and advancing women’s economic empowerment as a catalyst for sustainable development.
During South Africa’s G20 Presidency in 2025, W20 is celebrating 10-years of engagement at the G20. W20SA will honour this historic milestone with consolidated, data-based records of the W20 recommendations from the past 10 years, which document successes in promoting actionable policy recommendations, especially from the Global South as well as guidelines for areas for further development to support the U nited States of America Presidency 2025.
W20 South Africa (W20SA)
The theme for W20SA, aligning with the global South Africa presidency theme of Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability is: Women in Solidarity towards Sustainable Socio-Economic Development. The defining value for W20SA, drawing from the essence of the African way of being, is UBUNTU: I am because you are, I am because we are.
The guiding principles for W20SA are unity, multilateralism, mutual respect and inclusivity.
The key objectives are to:
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- Guarantee the inclusion of W20 recommendations in the Leaders Declaration
- Honour 10 years of W20
- Strengthen the voices of the Global South
- Develop 3-year recommendation-based implementation projects with partners for mid- and long-term impact for Africa and the Global South which promotes inclusive economic recovery, climate change resilience, and health system strengthening.
Thematic areas
W20SA, through select priority thematic areas which will be further developed by working groups with support from sector experts, will focus on practically resolving challenges for gender equality and women’s economic empowerment that address national, continental and global needs and agendas.
The core composition of the task teams is an integration of Chairs and Co-Chairs from the Global South and North as well as a South African delegate. The thematic areas for task teams for W20SA-2025 are:
• Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion
• The Care Economy
• Gender-Based Violence and Femicide
• Climate Justice and the Environment
• Education, STEM and the Digital Divide
• Health Equity for women and girls
• Women, Land and Agriculture
For more information on W20 South Africa go to [LINKSHIELD PROTECTED]
