Our Research

Women20 South Africa (W20SA)

Our Research • Women20 South Africa (W20SA)

About Women20

Women 20 (W20) is an official engagement group of the Group of 20 dedicated to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, annually developing consensus-based recommendations to ensure that gender is mainstreamed and included in the G20 leaders discussions and ultimately the Leaders’ Declaration. The W20SA leadership is under the head of delegation and chair Prof Narnia Bohler-Muller with the support of the Human Sciences Research Council.

Women20 (W20) was founded by the G20 with the long term aim of reducing the gender employment gap by 25 percent by 2025 as agreed in the G20 2014 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, often referred to as the Brisbane Agreement. In October 2015 the first working group meeting was held in Turkey under the G20 Turkish Presidency year. The W20 provides specific recommendations for action, consolidated advocacy and expertise to the G20 Member States. These joint recommendations are drawn up by representatives of women’s and social organizations, women entrepreneurs and female economic experts from G20 countries and international organizations from around the world. The aim is to permanently mainstream women’s economic participation and empowerment in G20 objectives and to support existing political declarations, including the UN’s Agenda 2030.

Group of 20

On the 1st of December 2024, South Africa assumed the Presidency of the G20 group of countries. The Group of 20 (G20) is a forum of the twenty largest economies in the world that meet regularly to discuss the most pressing issues facing the global economy. Together, the G20 accounts for more than 80% of world GDP, 75% of global trade and 60% of the population of the planet. In 2023 the African Union (AU) joined the G20. The South African presidency has adopted the following themes for its global G20 Presidency: Sustainable Development, Solidarity, Equality South Africa is uniquely positioned as an inception member of the G20, founded in 1999, and the last of the four consecutive Global South G20 presidencies in a row namely Indonesia, India, and Brazil. The Global South will only take the Presidency 20 years from now. In 2025 the Troika will consist of Brazil, South Africa and the United States of America. South Africa will therefore prioritise the needs and aspirations of Africa and the Global South during its presidency while summoning all countries to take “practical steps that will resolve global challenges” and “(strengthen) international cooperation” in the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address to the UN.

Defining Value

UBUNTU: I am because you are, I am because we are.

The W20 theme for the South African Presidency is Women in Solidarity towards Sustainable Socio-Economic Development, which aligns with the G20 theme for the South African Presidency, Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability.

Key objectives

Guarantee the inclusion of W20 recommendations in the Leaders Declaration
Honour 10 years of W20
Promote people-centric advocacy through effective outreach and knowledge sharing
Strengthen the voices of the Global South
Develop 3-year recommendation-based implementation projects with partners for mid- and long-term impact for Africa and the Global South, which promotes inclusive economic recovery, climate change resilience, and health system strengthening.

Thematic Areas

Care Economy

Climate Justice and the Environment

Education, STEM and the Digital Divide

Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion

Gender-based Violence and Femicide

Health Equity for Women and Girls

Women, Land and Agriculture

Participants

The Women20 dialogue process is founded on the engagement of the appointed Women20 delegates from all G20 countries.

Each year, the respective Women20 Presidency or W20 Heads of Delegation (HODs) appoint any new delegates required to fill gaps in their delegation and these delegates participate on an unpaid and voluntary basis in work towards the Women20 dialogue, Communiqué writing, and advocacy to promote women's economic empowerment in the G20 and in their own countries. The process of appointment varies by Country.

View the chairs and co-chairs

View the delegates

W20SA Launch

The official Women20 South Africa launch event took place on 26 February 2025 in Pretoria at the National Research Foundation (NRF) Auditorium, Pretoria.

Organised by the HSRC in collaboration with the NRF and the inEquality Movement, the event featured a keynote address by Professor Bohler-Muller, as well as panel discussions and presentations by leading experts on gender and development. The co-chair and coordinator was Ms Sibulele Poswayo, founder and executive of the inEquality Movement.

WATCH THE LAUNCH EVENT

Inception Meeting - Women in Solidarity

Hosted by the HSRC and partners, the official W20 Inception Meeting will be held in Cape Town over 21 - 22 May 2025.

Unite with thought leaders, change-makers, and visionaries to explore solutions to pressing challenges women face today through high level interventions, impactful panels and discussions, including outreach with rural, township and business women in agriculture. Don't miss this moment to connect, learn and inspire action

Watch the proceedings here and here.

View the event report.

W20SA Summit

The Women 20 (W20) South Africa Summit, held from 12–14 October 2025 in Johannesburg, convened more than 200 global and regional experts, policymakers, women leaders, youth activists, civil society, academia, and private-sector actors from 30 countries to address the persistent and emerging challenges confronting women in pursuit of a just, inclusive, and prosperous future.

Grounded in the Summit theme, “I am because you are: Women shaping a just future,” the three-day gathering fostered intergenerational dialogue and collective reflection on the interconnected structural forces impacting women’s rights and gender equality, including the climate-care economy, technological transformation, inequitable access to health and education services, and exclusion from decision-making spaces. The programme brought together voices from across Southern Africa, the African continent, and global partners, reaffirming the centrality of women’s leadership in shaping economic, political, and social development. Across ministerial engagements, plenaries, technical dialogues, and artistic and cultural expressions, participants highlighted persistent inequalities alongside the wealth of innovation, resilience, and strategy demonstrated by women navigating—and reshaping—systems that marginalise them.

Key outputs

W20 South Africa Summit - Rapporteur Report

W20 Outreach Report | Women and the G20: Amplifying voices for gender equality and economic empowerment

W20 SA Communiqué 2025

W20 Summit Minister’s address

Historic first as W20 demands G20 action on modern slavery during South Africa’s host year issued by Walk Free

From Advocacy to Implementation: A Decade of Women20 Influence on Global Gender Policy (2015 - 2024) by the Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Alumni Network 2025

Policy Briefs

Accelerating justice, expanding prevention, and strengthening accountability: The need for G20 action to end gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF)

Closing the Gender Gap in Digital, Education, STEM and AI

Embedding Gender Equity in G20 Health Systems

Empowering Women in Small-Scale Aquaculture and Fisheries for Resilient Food Systems

Prioritising Care, Powering economies

Saving Lives, Reducing Loss

The Potential of Rural Women to tackle Climate Crisis and Food Security

Unlocking Just Energy Transition

W20SA in Review

From launch, to Inception Meeting, all the way through to the Summit, artist James Durno captured the essence of the vital discussions, recommendations and resolutions of the W20SA initiative 2025.

⬅️ Watch the video