By Shereen Bhan
India has taken its women empowerment agenda up a notch by giving it a global footprint. On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2024 at Davos, it has established the “Alliance for Global Good – Gender Equity and Equality,” a global alliance that will work to build on the commitments of the G20 leaders in areas of women empowerment and gender equality. It aims to do this in a manner that will reach and benefit the larger global community.
The aim of the alliance is to bring together global good practices, knowledge sharing, and investments in the field of women’s health, education, and enterprise. The alliance will follow up on the activities of the Engagement Group and initiatives under the G20 framework, including the Business 20, Women 20, and G20 EMPOWER.
The alliance has garnered support from global corporate houses like Mastercard, Uber, and Microsoft to domestic industry leaders like Tata, TVS, Godrej, and Serum Institute of India. It has also roped in over 10,000 partners from the industry through the Indian industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Some of the other partners who have been onboarded to support the alliance include Stride Ventures, Industree Foundation, SAP, AWE Foundation, Bankers Without Borders, AVPN, Women in Global Health, Frontier Markets, Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA), US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, European Investment Bank, Zoom, Bayer, Novartis, and IMD Laussane.
Announcing the establishment of the alliance on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meet at Davos, the Indian statement said, “this initiative marks a significant stride toward achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality and empowerment, and global partnerships for development… We hope to reinforce India’s position as a proactive force in the pursuit of a more inclusive and sustainable world.”
The alliance will also be supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with the World Economic Forum serving as a ‘Network Partner’ and Invest India playing the role of ‘Institutional Partner’.
Archna Vyas, Director of Policy and Communications at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said, “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is thrilled to partner with India, the Center for Women Leadership at CII and many public, private, development partners and WEF at the launch of the Alliance for Global Good on Gender Equity and Equality, led by India. It is a very timely and commendable initiative that has successfully focused attention on the issue of gender empowerment and women-led development on the world stage, to inspire all to take action for ensuring gender equity and equality faster.”