India is set to assume G20 presidency in December 2022. Its presidency comes at a time when the world is mired in numerous geopolitical conflicts, is dealing with climate change and a recession exacerbated by the pressures of pandemic and Russian invasion. For India, the task at hand is to ensure that all these challenges are addressed inclusively. This implies that groups traditionally marginalized from the G20 agenda such as women should be included in the deliberation process and find a space in the G20 leaders declaration.
As per Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Indian government plans to hold over 200 G20 meetings. Tentatively 100 official meetings will be held under Sherpa track and 40 meetings will be held under Finance track. India plans to invite Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE as Guest countries, as well as ISA (International Solar Alliance), CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure) and ADB (Asian Development Bank) as Guest International Organizations (MEA 2022).
Thematic areas for G20 2023
Much curiosity has been centred around the themes that India will take up during its G20 presidency. In the scholarly circles, researchers have highlighted the need to maintain policy continuity and suggested areas that demand India’s attention. There have been demands to ensure that fair tech regulations are conceived, new financing mechanisms are pioneered for ‘Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response’ and an efficient debt relief framework is delivered. Some of the thematic areas suggested include —
- digital transition;
- sustainable energy transition;
- food security and health (Jain 2022) (Saran and Thripathi 2022)
MEA has itself hinted that India will focus on sustainable growth, women’s empowerment, digital economy, food security, energy security, climate financing etc (MEA 2022). While it seems appealing to keeping adding on to the list of G20 priorities, India should keep its commitments precise and pragmatic. India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant also spoke on the need of:
- accelerating the pace of inclusive and sustainable growth;
- addressing climate change and;
- amping up financing towards developing countries for attaining SDGs and climate action (Kant 2022).
Why gender should matter within G20?
It should be made clear however that no reform of the international economic, environmental, health and digital systems can be made while ignoring gender. We live in a world marred by gender inequalities and unless India comes face to face with these inequalities, the hope of progress will remain elusive. Equal access to digital technology continues to be hindered by gender digital divide. Although progress has been made in closing this gender gap in the developed world, the gender digital divide in LCDs still remains wide (ITU 2020). Around 43% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries comprises of women yet they produce 20 to 30 % less than their male counterparts because of gender discrimination (Oxfam n.d.). The gendered division of labour and gender-bias in the labour market makes women more prone to economic insecurity (ILO n.d.). All these pain points tend to deepen during times of crisis. Hence, Climate change, Covid-19 and energy insecurity tend to have gendered implications. The message of this discussion is that a gender-neutral approach to global challenges has no relevance.
For India this means that regardless of the priorities that it chooses to finalize for its G20 presidency, it should ensure that gender remains contiguous to all its thematic areas. While focusing on women empowerment is great, India should realise that all gender problems cannot be clubbed in one category. Instead, gender should be mainstreamed into all G20 discussions — a good starting point for realizing inclusive growth.
References
ILO. n.d. “Fact Sheet No. 4: Women face more economic insecurity .” ILO. https://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/ses/download/docs/sheet_no4.pdf.
ITU. 2020. “The gender digital divide .” ITU. https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/2021/11/15/the-gender-digital-divide/.
Jain, Shruti. 2022. “Challenges for India’s upcoming G20 presidency .” ORF. May . https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/challenges-for-indias-upcoming-g20-presidency/.
Kant, Amitabh, interview by News on AIR Official. 2022. An Exclusive Interview with Amitabh Kant, G-20 Sherpa and Former CEO NITI Aayog.
MEA. 2022. “India’s forthcoming G20 presidency .” MEA. September.
Oxfam. n.d. “Empowering women farmers to end hunger and poverty.” Oxfam. https://www.oxfam.org/en/empowering-women-farmers-end-hunger-and-poverty.
Saran, S., and J. Thripathi. 2022. “What will India’s G20 presidency focus on?” ORF. 5 July . https://www.orfonline.org/research/what-will-indias-g20-presidency-focus-on/.
By Zainab Akhtar (Communication Intern – BRICS Feminist Watch and PWESCR) with inputs from Madhurima Das (Communication Officer – BRICS Feminist Watch and PWESCR)
