COMMUNIQUE TO THE G7 LEADERS
The world is experiencing profound transformations which are particularly salient in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. At the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society, we are convinced that women should be the drivers to promote an inclusive and sustainable growth.
This is why in 2020, we were proud to launch the Women’s Forum Call to Action for an Inclusive Recovery, encouraging the G7 Leaders to develop and implement strategic policies in order to build a more inclusive economy and society.
Now, in this new context, we are reinforcing this Call to Action, addressing the G7 Leaders, both from the public and private sectors, on the occasion of the G7 Summit 2021 under the UK presidency, whose priorities are to shape the global recovery from Covid-19 by championing shared values.
The G7 Leaders should envision women’s economic empowerment as a key strategy. Indeed, women contribute to only 34% of worldwide wealth and the social and economic gender divide is still prevalent. According to the Women’s Forum Barometer 2021, 50% of the G7 population believes that women can’t have it all and, if they want to be good mothers, they have to accept to partly sacrifice their professional careers. It is also evident that inequalities are being exacerbated by this pandemic, which is disproportionately impacting women.
We call on the G7 Leaders to lead by example and collectively foster women’s leadership so that they can have the same opportunities as men to be at the heart of the world of tomorrow.
We focus on 7 key issues where women’s added value and contribution are paramount: Business, Future of Work, Tech4Good, Work-Life Balance, Governance, Climate and Health. These issues are strictly connected to each other. Therefore, the only way to strengthen the potential for women’s empowerment globally is to tackle them simultaneously.
We have to design a truthful She-Covery for All, uniting women and men’s perspectives and expertise to address global challenges.
We would like to truly thank all the Women’s Forum Community – and in particular the members of our Strategic Committee – for their contribution and their strong and continuous commitment to accelerating gender equality. !
Chiara Corazza
Special representative to the G7 and G20 for the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society