The W20, an engagement group of female leaders under the auspices of the G20, was launched on Sunday 6th September 2015 in Ankara (Turkey), where Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the G20 were meeting for discussions on the global economy. The group of female leaders aims to work toward empowering women and ensuring their participation in economic growth.
The W20 engagement group will have 20 women leaders coming from G20 nations. The group will host its first summit on 7-8 October in Istanbul, after all member countries have appointed their representatives. W20’s newly appointed President Gulden Turktan said that this new group will work as an outreach group and pursue to support gender inclusiveness in economic growth process by empowering women.
At the official launch event, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women and Member of the WIP Advisory Board Lakshmi Puri highlighted that the “W20 is a key vehicle for building on commitments made in the G20 and centering gender equality and women’s empowerment in all larger agendas of the international community, international financial and economic system and formations for cooperation and governance”.
The OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurria, the International Trade Center’s Executive Director, Arancha Gonzalez, and the IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, were also among the speakers at the launch event.
