The Indonesian G20 (Group of Twenty) Presidency hosted the G20 Ministerial Conference on Women's Empowerment, on August 24-25, 2022, in Nusa Dua-Bali, Indonesia. Huang Xiaowei, Vice-Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), was invited to deliver a video message during the conference.

Huang noted Chinese President Xi Jinping had advanced the Global Development Initiative during the United Nations General Assembly in 2021. President Xi proposed to "put development front and center on the international agenda," and to "foster a development paradigm featuring benefits for all, balance, coordination, inclusiveness, win-win cooperation and common prosperity," when he chaired the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in June. President Xi's proposals highly corresponded with G20's goals and priority of promoting global development, Huang said.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government have always attached great importance to the development of women's undertakings. The enhancement of gender equality and women's overall development have been included in the country's economic and social development plans, and the national programs on women's development (of four successive phases) have been issued and implemented. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, held in 2012, China has persisted in safeguarding women's rights and interests in development, provided women with targeted poverty alleviation, implemented the employment-priority strategy, promoted good practices in women and men's equal participation in employment, and made contributions to women's progress worldwide, Huang noted.

Development is a timeless theme for humanity. Regardless of the different State conditions and stages of development among the G20 countries, women share a common pursuit for peace, development and cooperation, Huang said. She sincerely hopes all countries will adhere to the priority of development, take concrete measures to support women's entrepreneurship and innovation, help shield women from the impacts of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and advance an inclusive recovery of social economy.

Huang called for adherence to exchanges, mutual learning and strengthened cooperation, make women-related targets early harvest results of the UN 2030 Agenda, and make new strides in the development of the global women's cause.

Huang added the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress (in mid-October) will draw a new blueprint for China's future development, and will provide new opportunities for China to deepen cooperation with women from other countries. Huang called on G20 members to work together to accelerate the realization of gender equality, make greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humankind, and a new era of prosperity and development.

The G20 Ministerial Conference on Women's Empowerment is an important conference under the G20 framework. Given the importance attached to the conference, 19 of the G20 member sent delegations, and 17 of those delegations were headed by ministerial officials in charge of women's affairs. In addition, Indonesia invited officials in charge of women's affairs from six invitee countries, including Cambodia, Singapore and Fiji, to attend the conference. Representatives from private sector, academia, international organizations and civil society also attended the conference. Participants gathered to discuss three main topics: Care Economy Post-Covid-19: The Missing Opportunity in the Labor Market; Closing Digital Gender Gap: Women’s Participation in the Digital Economy and Future Work; and, Women's Entrepreneurship: Accelerating Equality, Accelerating Recovery.

(Women of China English Monthly)