Pretoria, Monday, 17 February 2025 — Women20 South Africa (W20SA) will be launched on 26 February 2025 at the National Research Foundation (NRF) Auditorium, Pretoria. Women20 (W20) is an official engagement group of the Group of 20 (G20) over which South Africa presides this year. The W20 was established by the G20 in 2015 to promote gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

As an engagement group in the social track of the G20, W20 works annually under the respective G20 presidencies to develop consensus-based recommendations to ensure that gender is mainstreamed and included in the G20 leaders’ discussions and, ultimately, the Leaders’ Declaration.

The theme for W20SA, aligning with the South African presidency’s themes of solidarity, equality and sustainable development is, Women in Solidarity towards Sustainable Socio-Economic Development.

The W20SA is headed by Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller, the head of delegation and chair. She also serves as a divisional executive at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Professor Bohler-Muller is a renowned expert on gender and development, and she has a long history of advocating for gender equality, women’s rights and empowerment.

The launch of the W20SA is a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. This provides a platform for women from diverse backgrounds to come together and advocate for policies and programmes that promote women’s economic empowerment and social justice.

“We are excited to launch the W20SA, which will provide a powerful platform for women’s voices to be heard in G20 decision-making processes,” said Professor Bohler-Muller. “We look forward to working with women from across the country and across the G20, AU and EU to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.”

The launch event, which is organised by the HSRC in collaboration with the NRF and the inEquality Movement, will feature 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 is Ms Sibulele Poswayo, founder and executive of the inEquality Movement.

Thematic areas

W20SA will focus on addressing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by tackling key challenges through carefully selected priority thematic areas. These areas will be further developed by working groups with expert support, ensuring alignment with national, continental, and global needs and agendas.

The core composition of each task team integrates chairs and co-chairs from the Global South and North as well as a South African delegate. The ultimate objectives are to amplify the voices of African women and women of the Global South and to lobby for the inclusion of W20 recommendations in the Leaders’ Declaration.

The thematic areas for task teams for W20SA-2025 are:

• Entrepreneurship and financial inclusion
• The care economy
• Gender-based violence and femicide
• Climate justice and the environment
• Education, STEM and the digital divide
• Health equity for women and girls
• Women, land and agriculture

The defining value for W20SA, drawing from the essence of the African way of being, is “UBUNTU: I am because you are, I am because we are”. This philosophy is reflected in the guiding principles of W20SA, which are rooted in unity, multilateralism, mutual respect, and inclusivity.

The key objectives are to:

• Guarantee the inclusion of W20 recommendations reached by consensus in the Leaders Declaration
• Honour 10 years of W20
• Promote people-centric advocacy through effective outreach and knowledge sharing
• Strengthen the voices of Africa and the Global South

The W20 was first launched in 2015 in Turkey, to provide a platform for women’s voices to be heard in G20 decision-making processes. Over the past decade, the W20 has become a powerful force for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment globally.

For more information see https://women20.org/,

ENDS.

Details of the event

Date:                26 February 2025

Time:               14h00 – 15h30

Venues:           NRF Auditorium, NRF Building, South Gate CSIR Complex, Meiring Naude Road, Brummeria, Pretoria

Link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/Xrbmt1S1TQOPmDwp1bVKLQ#/registration

For media enquiries:

Dr Lucky Ditaunyane Cell: +27 83 227 6074 Email: lditaunyane@hsrc.ac.za

Adziliwi Nematandani Cell: +27 82 765 9191 Email: anematandani@hsrc.ac.za

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