Ministers’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

03/10/2024

The Italian G7 Presidency has placed gender equality and the protection and promotion of women’s rights at the core of its political agenda. Capitalizing on former G7 outcomes, the Presidency has organized the G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, which will take place on 4-6 October 2024, in Matera. The Ministerial Meeting will represent a paramount opportunity to advance the dialogue and reaffirm the G7 leadership in shaping concrete solutions for the advancement of gender equality and the protection of the rights of all women and girls, including the most vulnerable groups, as well as the rights of LGBTQIA+ persons. Despite significant progress over the last decades, women and girls around the world still face systemic discrimination, unequal opportunities, and pervasive violence.

Effective strategies need to be developed and agreed upon among the G7 to promote the empowerment of women, their full participation in all employment sectors, business and public life, with a view to building a more inclusive and cohesive society. Furthermore, the declining birth rate affecting all G7 members, while threatening social stability and long-term development prospects, indicates how urgent and necessary it is to work on work-life balance policies that do not penalize parental choices, thus shaping a future in which personal, family and professional fulfillment can coexist.

Against this backdrop, two areas will be prioritized by the Presidency for the Ministerial discussions:

• ending gender-based violence and strengthening support for victims;
• empowering women, empowering Nations: a collective effort to promote gender equality.

The Italian G7 Presidency is committed to promoting gender equality through outreach initiatives and will continue to foster partnerships with African countries on gender equality and women’s empowerment.