G7 Gender Meetings | Road to the 2024 Apulia Summit

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Ministers' Statement

G7 Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment
Matera, Italy, 5 October 2024
[pdf]

Preamble

We, the G7 Gender Equality Ministers and the EU Commissioner for Equality, met in Matera on 5 October 2024 to reaffirm our collective commitment to protect, promote, and fulfill the rights of all women and girls, end all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and empower women and girls in all their diversity[1].
We reaffirm the commitments of the previous G7 Presidencies and Declarations, as well as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome documents of its Review Conferences, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular the achievement of SDG 5, as well as other relevant international frameworks.
We reaffirm the commitments on gender equality made in the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Communiqué on 14 June 2024.
We recall the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Communiqué on “Addressing Global Challenges, Fostering Partnerships”, done in Capri on 19 April 2024 and the G7 Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration “Towards an Inclusive Humanism for New Challenges in the World of work”, done in Cagliari on 13 September 2024.
We take into due consideration the results of the first G7 Gender Equality Implementation Report 2023, highlighting the importance of reliable gender-disaggregated data collection and monitoring, and welcome the annual updating of the G7 Dashboard on Gender Gaps by the OECD, both contributing to the accountability and monitoring of the G7 commitments to achieving gender equality concretely and effectively.
We express our appreciation to our knowledge partners OECD, ILO, and UN Women, the strengthened Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC), Women 7, Business 7, Youth 7 and all other relevant engagement groups for contributing their expertise and experience to support gender equality across all themes, and welcome continuous coordinated and targeted efforts to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls across all the G7 countries taking into account their age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We also welcome the interest expressed by new engagement groups such as Pride 7, as well as by other groups that are currently being established, and look forward to their future development.
We welcome and take into account the Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) Recommendations on “World needs women’s leadership and experience” and the Women 7 Communiqué on “Feminist Demands for Building an Equal, Just, Sustainable and Peaceful Future”.
We acknowledge that, despite the efforts and progress made by G7 members to advance gender equality, significant challenges and gaps still need to be addressed, as no country around the world has fully achieved gender equality so far.
We recognize that global challenges and emergencies, including those related to health, education, energy and food security, the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as natural and climate change-related disasters, demographic challenges, and geopolitical conflicts and wars, often leading to neglected humanitarian and socio-economic crises, disproportionately and negatively affect all women and girls.
We express our strong concern about the rollback of the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ persons around the world, including in time of crisis, and we strongly condemn all violations and abuses of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. We will continue promoting and protecting their rights in all spheres of society, including in economic, political, and social life, and consistently mainstreaming gender equality in all policy areas. We will work with global partners to advance gender equality in multilateral fora.
We express our deep concern for the disproportionate impact of conflicts on the realization of the human rights of women and girls and strongly condemn all violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms for women and girls around the world. We deplore all losses of lives in all conflicts with particular concern for the unique protection needs of women, children, and persons in vulnerable situations. We strongly denounce the use of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict situations and underline that such acts may constitute atrocity crimes, including crimes against humanity or war crimes.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, which has caused devastating impacts for women and girls, including mass displacement and severe humanitarian need, and remain seriously concerned about the armed conflicts still affecting many other countries, such as Sudan. We reiterate our strongest condemnation of the brutal terrorist attacks conducted by Hamas against Israel on 7 October 2023, including horrifying reports of sexual violence. We deplore all losses of civilian lives and are deeply concerned by the impact of the conflict on civilians in Gaza and in the region, in particular women, girls and children, who need effective humanitarian assistance and access to food, basic hygiene, health and dignity. We continue to press for the full investigation of all reports of sexual violence and for perpetrators to be held accountable, and call to ensure justice for victims and survivors and for all parties to take a survivor-centered approach.
We reaffirm our shared and steadfast commitment to advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, recognizing that the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women in all stages of peace and political processes, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding is one of the essential factors for the maintenance, advancement and promotion of international peace and security. We recognize the importance of applying the full Women, Peace and Security Agenda to disaster risk reduction, including through existing mechanisms such as National Action Plans and the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action.
We reaffirm the importance of working to ensure equal opportunities for all and the full promotion, protection, and fulfillment of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls, that are universal and essential for their empowerment and the advancement of peace, security and sustainable development.
We recognize that gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, their full, equal, safe and meaningful participation in all spheres of life, as well as the prevention and elimination of all forms of gender-based violence are essential factors for achieving just, inclusive and sustainable societies. In particular, we express concern for the dire situation in Afghanistan, which may amount to gender persecution, where a deliberate and systematic policy of gender-based segregation or discrimination against women and girls severely limits half the population’s ability to fully enjoy their human rights and to fully, equally, and meaningfully participate in society, including in education and employment and freedom of movement.
We condemn all forms of gender-based violence and acknowledge that such violence in all its forms and manifestations, both in public and private spheres, online and offline, including intimate partner violence, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, psychological violence, economic violence or abuse, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and cutting, forced sterilization, and child, early and forced marriage, undermine human rights and represent an impediment to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, including those in vulnerable situations.
We stress that women’s and girls’ empowerment is crucial, not only for the achievement of full gender equality, but also as a critical driver of peace and security as well as inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and acknowledge that a significant increase in the participation of women in all employment sectors, including in the most innovative and remunerative ones such as those linked to STEM and the green and digital transitions, and in decision-making positions, is key to ensuring their economic self-sufficiency and independence and contributes to the prosperity, competitiveness and well-being of societies.
We also stress the importance of full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of decision-making, including in the political, public, economic and private spheres.
We recognize that the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution disproportionately affect women and girls and that there is a persistent underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in the international, national and regional fora where decisions about environmental policies, strategies and related financing are made. We are determined to support gender equality in all multilateral fora and the need for gender-responsive policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change and address biodiversity loss, including by using gender-responsive budgeting.
We recognize that women and girls undertake a disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work over the lifecycle, as well as the undervaluation of care work, both limiting women’s and girls’ education, employment and career opportunities, and that it is therefore essential to reduce, redistribute and value such work by addressing gender stereotypes, promoting the equal sharing of care responsibilities within the household and work-life balance measures and tools, and by prioritizing the provision of accessible, affordable and quality care services, to concretely supporting parents and carers, including by promoting equal access to and reducing barriers to the use of maternity, paternity and parental leave and of family-friendly working time arrangements.
We reiterate our commitments in the Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué to universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services for women, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.
We reaffirm our determination to uphold previous G7 commitments to promoting gender equality as well as the empowerment of women and girls in and through education.
We reaffirm the commitment of the G7 to achieving full gender equality and protecting women and girls, LGBTQIA+ persons and all people against all forms of violence and discrimination, particularly people living at the intersection of multiple forms of discrimination, in order to create an inclusive society where human rights for all are respected, protected and fulfilled.
We acknowledge that gender equality will not be achieved without the full involvement of and active cooperation with women’s rights, feminist, LGBTQIA+ civil society and non-governmental organizations, youth leaders, and the private sector.

Ending Gender-Based Violence and Strengthening Support for Victims and Survivors

We, the G7 Gender Equality Ministers, commit to strive to:

Acknowledging that gender-based violence is a violation or abuse of human rights and a form of discrimination based on structural and historical unequal power relations between women and men that can be perpetuated through and be consequence of harmful gender stereotypes.
Ending all forms of gender-based violence through a multidimensional approach to prevention, protection, support and prosecution, and coordinated policies. To achieve this, we will, inter alia, promote children’s education from an early age and public awareness initiatives on gender equality, consent, and right to bodily integrity and mutual respect within schools to establish the groundwork for healthy relationships, fostering an environment where gender stereotypes, violence, discrimination, and abuse are prevented.
Encouraging the use of a more adequate language and survivor-centered reporting on gender-based violence, in particular technology-facilitated gender-based violence, within the media to foster a responsible public discourse on the topic, thus recognizing that the media can contribute to a more nuanced and accurate understanding of the different manifestations of gender-based violence and raise awareness of individuals’ rights and support services.
Ensuring the systematic collection of reliable and comparable data disaggregated by sex and other characteristics on all forms of gender-based violence (including physical, sexual, psychological, technology-facilitated, aid-related sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and economic violence and abuse, and economic violence and abuse, as well as information on the existing relationship between victims, survivors and perpetrators) both at the national and international level.
Improving the training for professionals across various sectors, that come into contact with the victims and survivors, including, inter alia, healthcare and care professionals, law enforcement, educators, teaching staff, workers interacting with children in extra-curricular contexts, social workers, and the judiciary, adopting a victim and survivor-centered approach, to ensure the early recognition of gender-based violence in all its forms, and to strengthen prevention and response policies and procedures.
Increasing investments in accessible and inclusive one-stop anti-violence centers and shelters, and women’s support services, and addressing barriers and challenges that survivors face in accessing support systems, while strengthening local and national support networks, social services, and NGOs working on ending gender-based violence and supporting victims and survivors and their families, to ensure they have adequate resources to provide immediate and long-term assistance.
Improving actions for the economic empowerment of victims and survivors, including financial support, legal aid where available, vocational training, workforce reintegration courses, entrepreneurship support, and financial literacy to break the chains of dependency that may accompany gender-based violence, and increase awareness of the various manifestations of economic violence and abuse against women.
Advancing policies and taking other meaningful action to effectively prevent and respond to technology-facilitated gender-based violence and gendered disinformation, as well as standards for technology companies, in the design, productions, and monitoring of tools, including AI tools, and promoting digital, media, and information literacy initiatives, bridging the data gaps on the phenomenon and strengthening essential support services for victims and survivors.
Improving actions aimed at protecting women and girls as well as LGBTQIA+ persons from gender-based violence in public life and leadership positions, including in politics, journalism, sports, the media, whether committed offline or in the digital environment.
Increasing efforts to ending all forms of gender-based violence, by advancing the existing mechanisms for early detecting and eliminating harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and cutting, forced sterilization, child, early and forced marriage, including by considering supporting the Spotlight Initiative, the UNFPA/UNICEF Joint Programme on the “Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation: Accelerating the elimination of an extreme form of violence against girls” and the UNFPA/UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage as well as civil society organizations including women’s rights organizations working on these issues.
Reinforcing the international and cross-border cooperation and the collaboration with international organizations to prevent human trafficking, support and protect victims and survivors, in particular women, girls, children, and LGBTQIA+ persons, as well as their families, and prosecute perpetrators.
Firmly condemning all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in conflicts, which are human rights violations and abuses and may amount to atrocity crimes including crimes against humanity and war crimes; expressing concern over the displacement of women and girls during conflicts, which significantly increases the risk of gender-based violence; supporting the implementation of international commitments including through a robust legal framework and effective law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable; calling for access to comprehensive services for survivors.
Promoting women’s full, equal, safe and meaningful participation and leadership in all stages of peace and security processes, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding; enhancing the implementation of all pillars of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and the related regional and national action plans, through further accountability and coordination mechanisms, such as, inter alia, the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action and promoting systematic effort such as inclusion of women’s advisory boards and committees into conflict remediation processes.

Empowering Women and Girls, Empowering Nations: A Collective Effort to Advance Gender Equality

We, the G7 Gender Equality Ministers, commit to strive to:

Promoting the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in the labor market and decision-making positions across all sectors by implementing policies and initiatives aimed at addressing and eliminating structural barriers, promoting gender equality, and ending occupational and sectoral segregation and all forms of employment discrimination against women, including those related to maternity.
Addressing the persisting gender gaps which undermine women’s equal opportunities on the labour market. These include the gender employment gap, the gender pay gap, the gender care gap and the gender pension gap. Moreover, we acknowledge that those gaps are particularly pronounced for certain groups of women, for example single mothers and women with disabilities. We will also work, including with developing countries and emerging economies, towards closing digital divides, including the gender digital divide, and achieving digital inclusion.
Pursuing our efforts to break down gender-related barriers and underlying discriminatory social norms from pre-primary through higher education and lifelong learning for more resilient and inclusive education.
We commit to ensuring equal opportunities for women and girls in sport activities in all areas, such as access, coaching, training, competition, remuneration and prizes, and recognize the importance of sport competitions for all women and girls based on shared transparent, relevant scientifically and evidence-based standards, independently governed by sports institutions, in order to avoid discrimination and advance gender equality.
Encouraging women and girls to engage in STEM education and careers and working to close the gender gap in the STEM sectors and education by removing gender stereotypes and biases, including in AI, increasing the visibility of women in this sector, and supporting women and girls by strengthening cooperation among schools, universities, and businesses while taking concrete steps to address the underrepresentation of women in the ICT sector, including AI development, and in the green transition.
Reinforcing the collaboration with the business sector to shape workplace cultures that prioritize gender equality and inclusion, through company welfare measures enhancing work-life balance and flexible working arrangements, while creating or improving decent work opportunities and the working conditions of women also in terms of quality, pay and career advancements, including leadership positions, advancing equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, and ensuring the re-entry of mothers into workplace without negative consequences on their career.
Measuring and reporting gender pay gaps in the private and public sector and taking affirmative actions, as appropriate, to sanction unjustified pay gaps as well actions to promote women’s access to leadership positions.
Considering the opportunity to devise specific tools aimed at encouraging businesses to implement measures for gender equality and women’s empowerment at all levels within the workplace, including by supporting the adoption of gender equality certification systems and standards for enterprises.
Increasing efforts and investments to support women’s entrepreneurship while reaffirming that greater levels of women’s participation in entrepreneurship ultimately contribute to innovation, job creation and economic growth in our countries.
Promoting the equal sharing of care responsibilities and exploring opportunities to increase investments in accessible, affordable, inclusive and quality care services and social protection, including childcare and long-term care for older persons, persons with disabilities and dependents, with a view to improving balance between work and private life, thus also concretely supporting parents and addressing the challenges linked to demographic transitions, such as ageing societies, pressure on services and social protection systems, reduced family networks, care responsibilities throughout the life course, new health needs, new jobs, rural regions’ depopulation, land abandonment and desertification.
Building on the G7 Action Plan for improving working conditions in the care sector, strengthening our efforts to address the persistent challenges in the paid care sector, including childcare and long-term care, such as gender gaps, also by ensuring decent work in the care economy including through adequately rewarding care work and guaranteeing care workers’ representation, social dialogue and collective bargaining. In these efforts we will be guided by the ILO 5R Framework for Decent Care Work.
Raising awareness about the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and girls, and recognizing their critical role as agents of change, particularly within agrifood systems, by meaningfully engaging and partnering with local and rural communities, and promoting action to increase the representation and leadership of all women at all levels of decision making in climate and environmental action, and to improve equal access to land tenure, productive resources, climate-smart technology, and inclusive financial services to increase women’s resilience, including by considering supporting the NEPAD Gender Climate Change and Agriculture Support Programme (GCCASP) or the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) Initiative.
Continuing to promote gender equality also through partnerships with African countries, as well as developing and emerging countries, on equal opportunities and women’s economic empowerment, including by calling upon public and private actors to mobilize gender-lens investments joining the next 2X Challenge.
Consider promoting broader support for the successful implementation of strategies and initiatives such as the World Bank Gender Strategy (2024-2030) and, the UN Women TransformCare Initiative, the Global Alliance for Care, and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi),including the commitment made in the Apulia Leaders Communique by 2035 to aim to support 200 million more women to join the workforce by investing in efforts to close the global gap in the availability of childcare, including through the World Bank Invest in Childcare Initiative.
We are grateful for the valuable contributions from the African Union, that joined us in Matera.
In pursuing these commitments, we confirm our continued leadership to make concrete and full progress on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls across the G7 members.

Note

[1] Throughout this Ministerial Statement the expression ‘women and girls’ refers to women and girls in all their diversity. ↩

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Source: Official website of Italy's G7 Presidency

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