World Assembly for Women Discusses Need to Reduce Gender Gaps

The World Assembly for Women, which was organized jointly with the Women 20 (W20), was held in Tokyo on 22–24 March 2019. Roscongress Deputy CEO, Director for the Socio-Economic Agenda Elena Marinina, who is a member of theEurasian Women’s Forum Council, was part of the Russian delegation at the W20summit.

The W20 is one of the most innovative outreach formats of the G20 and was created in May 2015 as part of the Turkish presidency of the group. In September 2018, an open session of the W20 meeting was held for the first time in Russia as part of theSecond Eurasian Women’s Forum, which was run by the Roscongress Foundation.

At the W20 Summit in Tokyo, proposals were drawn up for inclusion in acommuniqué as part of preparations for the G20 Summit that is to be held in Japan in2019. W20 representatives expressed support for the statement contained in the G20Buenos Aires Declaration that “gender equality is crucial for economic growth and fairand sustainable development”, and reiterated the need to address the gender gap inorder to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

During Japan’s presidency of the G20, the W20 pays particular attention to theinclusive and responsible use of all new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), due to their critical impact on all segments of society, ensuring no woman is left behind.

As a result, the W20 representatives have called on G20 leaders to accelerate the pace at which they fulfil their past commitments, promote a gender-sensitive approach on the G20 agenda, and act in accordance with the following recommendations:

1. Request their labour and employment ministers to present a mid-term report on the 2014 Brisbane commitment to reduce the gender gap in labour force participation by 25% by 2025 during the 2020 G20.
2. Remove systemic legal and social barriers in the labour market and provide solutions for achieving gender equality.
   
   • Enact and implement legal measures to achieve gender equality in all aspects
     of employment practices. In particular, take further action to close gender
     income gaps such as wages, pensions and other earnings in line with the SDGs.
   • Invest public funds in quality, accessible and affordable care infrastructure for children and elderly, and put in place mandatory paid parental leave to promote
     shared responsibility.
   • Incentivize employers in the public and private sectors to implement evidence-
     based policies and publicize progress on gender equality, leading to more women in decent and quality work and in leadership positions.
3. Close the digital gender gap and ensure that women can exercise their digital rights.

• Take urgent measures to promote equal participation of women in the design and development of digital technologies with due consideration to ethics, and prevent amplification of gender discriminations by biased data-sets, models,
and algorithms in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

• Boost equal participation of girls and women of all ages in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).

• Provide women in urban and rural areas with affordable, reliable, and safe internet and mobile services.

4. Ensure financial inclusion, promote women’s entrepreneurship, and accelerateaccess to investment and markets.

• Ensure women’s equal rights to economic resources and access to ownershipand control over land and other forms of property, financial services, and natural resources.
• Develop a policy framework and action plan to strengthen the business,financial and digital capacity of women’s enterprises, including e-commerce.
• Create conditions for public procurement contracts awarded to women-owned and women-led businesses to increase their share by a minimum of 10%, taking into consideration national circumstances.
• Incentivize investors to proactively incorporate gender factors into investment analysis and decision-making.

5. Promote life-long learning, and education on gender equality in schools and workplaces, to eliminate gender stereotypes and unconscious bias.
6. End all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including social media.
   
   • Establish effective legal frameworks, ensure access to justice, and strengthen law enforcement to end all forms of violence against women and girls in all spheres.
   • Support the adoption of the ILO’s proposed convention and a recommendationconcerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work, as well as ratify international conventions related to violence against womenю
7. Establish effective and transparent governance and accountability mechanisms for achieving gender equality.
   
   • Develop mechanisms to monitor the implementation of G20 commitments on gender equality, together with international organizations, relevant national partners and in collaboration with the W20, and report progress on a regular basis.
   • Jointly review progress, within G20, for achieving gender parity in leadership and all levels of decision-making in the public and private sectors by 2030.
   • Strengthen the mandate and capacity of national gender machinery to ensure that gender impact assessments are conducted on legislation, standards, and policies.
     “The activities of the W20 aim to consolidate the efforts of the women of G20 countriesat a global level in order to achieve equal gender opportunities. The Roscongress Foundation took part in the W20 for the first time. This is certainly a landmark eventas well as the continuation of work to further the women’s agenda, eliminate gender inequality, promote women's leadership, and strengthen cooperation with internationalwomen’s communities”, Advisor to the Russian President Anton Kobyakov said.

“At the W20 Summit and the World Assembly for Women in Japan, we discussed such themes as creating innovative women’s groups and women’s more active involvementin the digital economy, among other things. For the Roscongress Foundation, one of the priorities that we certainly plan on strengthening is the creation and developmentof a social agenda using its platforms, the promotion of women’s leadership, and assistance in building the women’s community”, Roscongress Deputy CEO, Director for the Socio-Economic Agenda Elena Marinina, said.

The Roscongress Foundation is a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer of international conventions, exhibitions, and public events.

The Roscongress Foundation was founded in 2007 with the aim of facilitating the development ofRussia’s economic potential, promoting its national interests, and strengthening the country’s image.One of the roles of the Foundation is to comprehensively evaluate, analyse, and cover issues on the Russian and global economic agendas. It also offers administrative services, provides promotional support for business projects and attracting investment, and helps foster social entrepreneurship and charitable initiatives.

The Foundation’s events draw more than 80,000 participants each year from 195 countries, with morethan 10,000 media representatives working on-site at Roscongress’ various venues. The Foundationbenefits from analytical and professional expertise provided by 2,500 people working in Russia and abroad. In addition, it works in close cooperation with economic partners from 75 countries worldwide.

www.roscongress.org

The Social Platform is a strategic initiative of the Roscongress Foundation that aims to establish and maintain a stable dialogue between the business, government and civil society structures. We create feedback tools within the framework of existing forums, continuously promote the social agenda, andfacilitate the development of a healthy social environment and philanthropy in Russia. The platform’smission is to facilitate the consolidation, establishment of a dialogue, and cooperation between the entities involved in the social ecosystem and also promote socially significant projects and the development of a culture of social inclusion in Russia.

In February 2019 the INNOSOCIUM Foundation for Social Development Aid was established. TheFoundation’s main objectives are to provide practical support for priority areas of social development, create and promote the social agenda at the communication platforms of the Roscongress Foundation, implement socially significant and charitable initiatives, facilitate the development and enhance the effectiveness of NPOs and corporate social responsibility in addition to international cooperation within the sustainable development agenda, and strengthen the positive image of Russia. The key focuses of INNOSOCIUM are social issues, culture, education, the environment, social communications, andwomen’s leadership. One key aspect of the INNOSOCIUM Foundation’s activities is to participate inbusiness programme events organized by the Roscongress Foundation as well as organize sessions using its own platform.

Contacts:
Tel: +7 (495) 640 4440, ext. 148
Email: social.platform@roscongress.org