Civil society at the G20: a week full of engagement group meetings

Meetings of the engagement groups Parliament 20, Oceans 20, Civil 20, Think Tanks 20, Science 20 and Startup 20 are scheduled for the week, during which civil society, through the G20 Social, will meet with the G20 countries’ Sherpas to present proposals in different areas.

July begins with a week of meetings for the G20 engagement groups. On Monday (01), the 1st Meeting of Women Parliamentarians of the P20 began at the Ruth Cardoso Cultural and Exhibition Center in Maceió, one of the G20's host cities. The meeting will debate the group's priority themes: promoting climate justice, sustainable development and combating inequalities. The program also includes a debate on increasing female representation.

The general coordinator of the 1st P20 Meeting of Women Parliamentarians, Brazilian federal deputy Benedita da Silva, recalled that female representation in Brasil's Chamber of Deputies is 18% and in the Senate 15%. Therefore, in order to have more strength within parliament, it is necessary to reach 50%.

According to Benedita da Silva, the meeting is an important initiative at a time when Brasil is a reference point in the world debate due to its presidency of the G20. "We know how important it is for parliamentarians to be at the G20 discussions so that we can also be there to monitor the agreements that are made and the policies that have affected the majority of women in the world," said da Silva.

Five international organizations are taking part in the meeting: the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the European Union, the UN, UN Women and Mercosur. As well as 26 countries, with a total of 171 parliamentarians.

Oceans 20

The Oceans 20 engagement group also held the second meeting dedicated to presenting, selecting and consolidating civil society proposals for the ocean.

According to Janice Trotte Duhá, director of infrastructure and operations at the National Institute for Ocean Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Oceânicas), Brasil's presidency is completely dedicated to creating an engagement group that strengthens the role of civil society within the G20. "Brasil is committed itself to empowering the engagement groups, of which we are here, in the area of oceans, working hard on issues that imply knowledge of this great, big, body that is the ocean," said Duhá.

Experts analyzed recent progress, proposed innovative solutions and explored new avenues for collaboration. All this work will result in a document with recommendations for the heads of state of the G20, which brings together the 21 largest global economies.

As for Think Tanks 20, it meets until Wednesday (03) to review the progress made throughout the year and present new ideas for collaboration for the G20 Summit in November. The aim is to strengthen the participation of think tanks and academic institutions in the group's process. For the first time, the Midterm Conference will present the T20 Communiqué in advance to the leaders of the G20 Brasil tracks. The document summarizes the work of the task force with objective and concrete proposals.

At the end of its meeting on Tuesday, Civil 20 will make recommendations to the G20 on issues such as combating hunger, a just energy transition, gender equality, inclusive economies and anti-racism initiatives, with the aim of responding to economic, social and climate crises, promoting sustainable development and guaranteeing human rights. In short, the engagement group seeks to ensure that the voices of civil society are heard by heads of state.

The Science 20 and Startup 20 engagement groups will meet later this week. Science 20 be broadcast live, and Startup 20 will take place in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

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