The G7’s Gender Equality Advisory Council has produced a set of recommendations for the forthcoming G7 summit to advance women’s equality.
The G7, comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA, will meet this weekend in Biarritz, France. In anticipation of the summit, the Gender Equality Advisory Council – which was established by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during Canada’s presidency of the G7 in 2018 and renewed by Emmanuel Macron, President of France, during France’s 2019 presidency – has produced a report identifying 79 examples of good practice in ensuring legislative and societal gender equality; and calling on the G7 to implement progressive frameworks to support the empowerment of women.
The Gender Equality Advisory Council will present its recommendations to Macron on 23 August, before delivering the document to the G7 during a session of the summit focusing on inequalities. The recommendations are divided into four primary categories:
- Ending gender-based violence;
- Promoting inclusivity and equality in education and healthcare;
- Empowering women economically; and
- Ensuring gender equality in the formation of public policy.
In a call to action, the report says: “Girls and women are powerful agents of change but cannot realise their full potential due to the discrimination and violence they face worldwide. The Council expresses great concern about the persistent, and even growing, threats and backlash against girls’ and women’s rights in many countries and condemns the serious responsibility of some political leaders in this step backwards.
“At the same time, the action of brave girls and women has broken the silence and highlighted the urgent need for strong and determined action. G7 countries have a particular responsibility and the capacity to use the power of influence to advance girls’ and women’s rights in the interest of humankind. This is not a women’s issue; it is everyone’s issue. The Council urges G7 Leaders to be as brave as girls and women are every day.”
