G7 Declaration of the Ministers on Gender Equality

G7 Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality:
Declaration of the Ministers

November 16, 2017, Taormina, Italy
[pdf]

We, the Gender Equality Ministers and Authorities of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, gathered at the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality, held in Taormina on 15 and 16 November 2017,

REAFFIRMING the commitments of the previous G7 and G20 Presidencies and Declarations, as well as the relevant international framework, notably the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome documents of its review conferences, the global call to action of the UN Secretary General's High Level Panel for Women's Economic Empowerment, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
STRESSING the principles and priorities expressed in the G7 Roadmap for a Gender- Responsive Economic Environment, adopted by the G7 Leaders on the occasion of the Taormina Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the G7, held on 26 and 27 May 2017;
RECOGNIZING the importance of the set of concrete qualitative and quantitative targets agreed in the abovementioned Roadmap in order to achieve measurable and sustainable progress on gender equality in our countries;
WELCOMING the outcomes related to gender equality of the other Ministerial Meetings under the current Italian G7 Presidency, including the G7 Health Ministers' Meeting, and RECOGNIZING that the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is critical to women's and girls' social, political and economic empowerment;
RECOGNIZING the efforts and progress made by our countries to advance gender equality, as well as the challenges that lie ahead and the gaps that still need to be filled, as no country has achieved de facto gender equality yet;
REAFFIRMING the importance of ensuring equal opportunities for both women and men and the full promotion, protection, and fulfillment of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls, which are universal and essential for their empowerment and the advancement of peace, security and sustainable development;
ACKNOWLEDGING that equal opportunities are vital for economic growth, prosperity and competitiveness and that gender equality and the empowerment of women are essential preconditions for equitable and inclusive sustainable development, as well as important values and indispensable objectives in themselves;
RECOGNIZING that structural barriers to women's empowerment throughout their life cycle can be compounded by various forms of discrimination in the private and public spheres, gender stereotypes, negative social norms, attitudes and behaviors;
EXPRESSING CONCERN about unequal working conditions between women and men, limited opportunities for the career advancement of women and the growing incidence of informal and non-standard forms of employment;
RECOGNIZING that women's full, equal and effective participation and access to leadership and high level positions in economic and political decision-making are essential for the economic growth and sustainable development of our countries;
RECOGNIZING that violence against women and girls is a violation and abuse of human rights and a clear barrier to their empowerment, that it is rooted in historical and structural inequality in power relations between women and men and persists in all our countries with significant direct and indirect costs for all society, including on countries' GDP;
ACKNOWLEDGING that gender equality will not be achieved without the full involvement of and active cooperation with civil society actors and non-governmental organizations;
WELCOMING AND TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the outputs arisen from the discussions held during this G7 Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality;

REASSERT OUR COMMITMENT TO IMPLEMENTING AND MONITORING THE MEASURES AND ACTIONS AGREED UPON IN THE G7 ROADMAP FOR A GENDER-RESPONSIVE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, and in particular to

Increasing women's participation and promoting equal opportunities and fair selection processes for leadership at all levels of decision-making in all aspects of social, economic and political life;
Consider adopting concrete sustainable measures to promote and facilitate women's entrepreneurship and reaffirming its contribution to innovation, job creation and economic growth;
Reducing the gap in labour force participation rates between women and men through boosting female participation, improving the quality of employment and enhancing gender equity;
Increasing public awareness of and value unpaid care and domestic work, and its estimated contribution to the economy, and promoting the fair distribution of care responsibilities between women and men;
Investing in social infrastructure to support household's care for children and other dependents in order to ease the burden of unpaid work and enable women to be part of the formal labour market;
Developing comprehensive work-life balance and equal pay policies and measures, combating precarious employment, upgrading the conditions of work, and encouraging companies to endorse flexible working arrangements over lifetimes and family-friendly measures in the workplace for both women and men;
Promoting the participation of women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) education and careers, as well as in all sectors, including high-skilled and higher paying sectors, and especially those in which they are under-represented;
Take all the necessary steps and enforce appropriate measures to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls and harassment in both the public and private spheres, including harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages and female genital mutilation, as well domestic and intimate partner violence and human trafficking for both sexual and labour exploitation, protect and re-integrate its victims, and effectively investigate crime and prosecute perpetrators, including by adopting domestic strategies and/or national action plans on violence against women and girls supported with human and financial resources;

AND REMAIN COMMITTED TO MAKING ALL THE NECESSARY EFFORTS TO MEET THE RESPECTIVE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE TARGETS AND DEADLINES SET OUT IN THE G7 ROADMAP FOR A GENDER-RESPONSIVE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, WITH A VIEW TO BRINGING ABOUT THE SHIFTS IN MINDSETS, POLICIES AND CULTURE THAT ARE NECESSARY TO CLOSE THE EXISTING GENDER GAPS, ERADICATE ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS, AND FINALLY ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY IN OUR COUNTRIES.

Source: Official Website of the Italian G7 Presidency

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	Please send comments to: g7@utoronto.ca This page was last updated November 16, 2017.