G(irls)20 Summit: 3.5 Billion Ways to Change the World

In advance of the G20 Leaders’ summit scheduled for June in Mexico, 21 young women representing the G20 nations and the African Union will gather in Mexico City from May 23^rd to 31^st, for the third annual G(irls)20 Summit.

Launched in 2010 at the Clinton Global Initiative, the G(irls)20 Summit highlights ways in which girls and women can play a leading role in global economic development and progress and generates tangible, practical recommendations for the G20 leaders to act upon.

“If G20 leaders are serious about economic growth, political stability and social innovation, they have in the G(irls)20 Summit, a unique source for finding solutions to global challenges. There are 3.5 billion girls and women in the world and therefore 3.5 billion ways to change the world,” said Farah Mohamed, President & CEO of the G(irls)20 Summit.

The Summit will feature an array of guest speakers from the realms of economics, business, not for profit organizations, foundations, communications and politics. Some of the featured speakers and panelists at the G(irls)20 Summit will include:

• Maria Bello, Activist & Actress and founder, WEADVANCE
• Representatives from the World Economic Forum, World Bank, Norton Rose, Google, Scotiabank, TransCanada, Nissan, FAO, ILO, Masagro and Landesa.

The two key themes for this year's Summit will be the opportunity gained by empowering women in agriculture; and the opportunity lost as a result of violence against women. Workshops and field visits will provide for in-depth explorations of the two themes as well as a range of skills development.  Previous G(irls)20 Summit delegates have gone home from the summit to establish a wide variety of initiatives in their home countries that are advancing the economic potential of girls and women in their own backyard. 

Jeni Klugman, World Bank Director of Gender and Development states, "This is an exciting and important initiative -- drawing attention to the enormous payoffs to investing in girls' opportunities -- and doing so by bringing together girls themselves to discuss and debate key issues, linked to a key global forum."