Hamburg. “At last, the most pressing needs of women around the world with regard to equality and economic empowerment have been placed firmly in the centre of the G20 agenda. This is a great success for the German G20 presidency and for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And it is a great success for W20, too!” The organizers of this year’s W20 dialogue are delighted with the outcome of the G20 summit in Hamburg and the final statement issued by the heads of government and state.
Women20 (W20) brings together the needs and interests of civil-society women’s organizations, businesswomen’s organizations, and female scientists and academics around the world. W20 is the official G20 dialogue process focusing on the economic participation and empowerment of women. Under the German G20 presidency, the W20 is jointly organized by the National Council of German Women’s Organizations (Deutscher Frauenrat) and the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs (Verband deutscher Unternehmerinnen − VdU).
Topics of intense debate at the W20 Summit in Berlin in late April 2017 included access for women to employment and financial resources, women’s entrepreneurship, and digitization. High-ranking women such as Chancellor Merkel, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, IMF Director Christine Lagarde, and Ivanka Trump participated in the Event.
The delegates to the summit summarized their key demands in a communiqué, which they passed on to Chancellor Merkel, as this year’s G20 president. “Now our three core targets have been incorporated into the final statement of this year’s G20 Summit,” said Mona Küppers, chairwoman of the Frauenrat. “The agreements the G20 have reached are very satisfactory. We now call on the G20 member states to install measures towards achieving these goals at national level and to make them binding.” Stephanie Bschorr, president of the VdU, also regards the G20 agreements as impressive progress: “Equal participation and economic empowerment of women are essential prerequisites for stable and peaceful societies and for a prosperous and sustainable economy. We need to position the economic empowerment of women as a cross-sectional task across all policy areas. We welcome the establishment of tangible new tools such as the Women Entrepreneurs Financing Initiative (We-Fi) and the Business Women Leaders’ Taskforce, and are particularly pleased about Women20’s participation in these initiatives.
As the umbrella organization of 60 nation-wide women’s associations and organizations, the National Council of German Women’s Organizations (Deutscher Frauenrat) is the biggest women’s lobby group in Germany.
The Association of German Women Entrepreneurs (Verband deutscher Unternehmerinnen − VdU) is a cross-sectoral business organization with strong international links. For over 60 years, it has represented the economic, social and political interests of women entrepreneurs.
The W20 dialogue process is supported by the Federal Ministry for family, senior citizens, women and youth. In addition, EMSD (Emerging Market Sustainability Dialogues) supports the project as Implementation partner.
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