India’s G20 Presidency: Two-day W20 Inception Meet in Aurangabad

Beginning on Monday, the two-day W20 (Women 20) inception conference will be held in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, as part of India’s presidency of the G20 forum.

About 150 female dignitaries representing member countries, guest countries, and special invitees will attend the meeting.

During the Turkish presidency in 2015, the G20’s formal interaction group, the W20, was founded.

According to a previous press release, its principal goal is to guarantee that gender concerns are mainstreamed into G20 debates and translated into the G20 Leaders’ Declaration as policies and commitments that support gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

On 12 December 2022, India displaced Indonesia as the presidency of the W20.

W20 Chair Sandhya Purecha, Founder Chair Gulden Tuktan, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Karad, and W20 Chief Coordinator Dharitri Patnaik will all be present at the inception meeting in a private hotel in Aurangabad, according to an official.

There will be roundtable discussions on topics like building an ecosystem for grassroots women leaders, the role of women as changemakers in climate resilience action, and empowering women in nano, micro, and start-up businesses.

The source added that women-led development in India and other topics related to opening doors for women through education and training would be on the agenda.

According to the official, the delegates will participate in the Aurangabad history tour on Tuesday, during which they will see the city’s medieval gates, the Aurangabad Caves, and the Bibi Ka Maqbara.

Unconventional women’s narratives, women-led development, policy, and legal frameworks will be discussed.

The source also confirmed that the delegation would be visiting the Ellora Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Almost a thousand women from all walks of life, including anganwadi workers, representatives of various NGOs, and many other grass-roots workers, attended a ‘jan bhagidari’ (people’s participation) event in the city on Sunday evening.

A number of delegates from different countries took part in the discussion, including the leader of the Indonesian delegation, Dr. Farahdibha Tenrilemba, Elena Myakotnikova of the Russian delegation, Angela Joo-Hyun Kang of South Korea, Sibulele Poswayo of South Africa, and Satoko Kono of Japan.