The G20 under the Indian presidency and women’s rights

2023-04-30 07:42:50

This year the presidency of the G20 is held by India, a country with well-known feminist women, but at the level of women’s rights it is quite unequal. The G20 is seen primarily as a mechanism for economic issues that serves the interests of the great powers of the global North. That is why some civil society organizations and especially feminists have reservations and objections. However, it is not known that linkage groups exist that are constituted by civil society independent of governments, although some may be branches of governments, as in China. But in the other countries, although they may have governmental influence, they represent civil society and, in the case of the W20 –Mujeres20–, they are feminists and even have divergent positions with those of their governments. The best example was the W20 delegation from the United States, which in 2021, during the government of President Trump, had clear positions in terms of recognizing the rights of women and girls and all their diversity, unlike the government. This is something that has been strengthened in the case of recent presidencies. Now India, although it has the presidency and generated a new group from its W20 delegation, the work of the delegations of the other countries that are mainly made up of feminists and the incorporation of groups of Hindu women from academia and universities allowed achieve a statement that includes feminist positions. This is key at a time when, at the United Nations level, there are countries that promote a setback in the rights achieved. For example, recently at the meeting of the UN Commission on Population and Development, in which the action plan approved in Cairo in 1994 was considered, a document might not be achieved due to lack of consensus on the issue of education, specifically in references to Comprehensive Sexual Education.

The interaction of the W20 delegations of the countries that make up the G20 in their face-to-face and online meetings with the women of the country is very important, in this case Hindu women from the various sectors and groups who interact and know directly the opinions and positions with strong feminist content of the members of the different delegations. At the recent meeting in Jaipur, India, we were able to interact with a large group of students from the Indian National University School of Medicine on a difficult issue such as access to safe, legal and free abortion. It was important to share the experience of the struggle in Argentina and its impact on the health of women and girls.

The government of India together with those of Brazil, South Africa, China and Russia are proposing, through the Brics, a different development model and even a more egalitarian management of the world economy. This at a time when this change is being suggested for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the world. Visiting India, what impressed us the most was the strength of this largely poor population, but which is making great efforts at the level of its citizens to improve itself, and for this it privileges education and investment in it for its children and citizens, independent of the government of the day. Along with this, technological development is also promoted. We must raise it for our country and those of the region, where education suffered an accelerated deterioration due to the covid pandemic that mainly affects the poorest sectors and those residing in rural areas with the greatest impact on girls. This together with a low technological development that generates a strong dependence on the countries of the global North. To overcome it we need to improve the quality of education and increase technological development.

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