G20 leader's reaffirmation on gender equality to have a multiplier effect: ILO DG

The International Labour Organisation, on Sunday, said the G20 Leaders’ reaffirmation of gender equality and meaningful participation of women in the workforce will have a multiplier effect in implementing the 2030 Agenda.

The G20 Leaders Declaration agreed to create a new working group on the empowerment of women while pledging to support progress on the implementation of the UN Global Accelerator.

The UN Global Accelerator is a UN initiative led by the ILO that aims to bring together UN member states and a wide range of public and private sector partners to help create 400 million decent jobs and extend social protection coverage to the 4 billion people currently excluded.


According to ILO, the leaders have reaffirmed the importance of gender equality and the promotion of full, equal, effective and meaningful participation of women in the economy as decision-makers. “Such investment “has a multiplier effect in implementing the 2030 Agenda”, it said.

“I heartily welcome the G20’s endorsement of the Global Accelerator and its potential to deliver change and better working lives for hundreds of millions of people,” ILO director-general, Gilbert F Houngbo said, adding that the creation of the working group on women’s empowerment is also an historic step forward.

“The G20 leadership has made progress on some of the most crucial future of work issues facing us if we are to build a sustainable and equitable future. We must build on this momentum, particularly at the UN SDG Summit later this month,” he added.

At the two-day G20 Summit which concluded in New Delhi on Sunday, the leaders committed themselves to promote sustainable, quality, healthy, safe and gainful employment, address skill gaps, and ensure inclusive, adequate and sustainably financed social protection policies, the ILO said.

“They endorsed a set of policy priorities for adequate and sustainable social protection and decent work for gig and platform workers,” it added.