India hosts inception meeting of G20 EMPOWER Group to address rising need for women’s empowerment

India: The inception meeting of the G20 Empowerment and progression of the Women’s Economic Representation – EMPOWER group was held recently, keeping in view the rising need for women empowerment in India. The meeting took place under the Ministry of Women and Child Development of India.

On Saturday, Union Minister Smriti Irani highlighted the three focus areas under the G20 Presidency of India during the G20 Empower Inception meeting. Women’s rights and empowerment were the primary areas of discussion.

The three areas of focus included “Partnership for promoting women’s leadership at all levels including the grassroots”, “Women’s Entrepreneurship: A win-win for Equity & Economy”, and “Education, the key to women’s empowerment & equal workforce participation”.

The primary vision of G20 EMPOWER is to be the most inclusive & action-driven alliance among governments and businesses to accelerate women’s empowerment and leadership around the G20 nations.

The G20 Presidency of India is equitable, inclusive, decisive, ambitious and action-oriented, pushing forward transformative changes for women’s economic empowerment.

The G20 EMPOWER 2023 initiative under India’s President prioritises the shift from the development of women to women-led development. It strives to change challenges into opportunities accelerating the change towards women-led entrepreneurship & greater inclusion of women in the workforce.

The Indian Ministry of Women & Child Development is India’s nodal ministry for G20 EMPOWER. The Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd, Dr Sangita Reddy, is the Chair of EMPOWER 2023 during India’s G20 Presidency.

Furthermore, under India’s G20 Presidency, EMPOWER will be hosting three meetings in February, April and June this year at Agra, Thiruvananthapuram & Bhopal. The agreement that emerges from the thematic discussions during three meetings would make part of the Communique for the G20 EMPOWER 2023 and provide recommendations to the leaders of G20.

The initiative will concentrate on women’s entrepreneurship which will be a win-win for equity and the economy, making collaboration for promoting women’s leadership at the bottom levels and education a game-changing way for women’s empowerment.

The inception meeting held on February 11 and 12 at Agra, Uttar Pradesh, welcomed women leaders from G20 countries, guest nations, international organisations, as well as the private sector. The theme of the meeting was Empowerment of Women to lead around sectors: Role of Digital Skilling & Future Skills.