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G20 Meeting of Parliamentarians focuses on gender equality and youth

G20 Meeting of Parliamentarians focuses on gender equality and youth
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Both the P20 Meeting of Women Parliamentarians and P20 Young Parliamentarians Conference got underway in Kleinmond in the Western Cape ahead of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) on Wednesday.

The P20 Meeting of Women Parliamentarians is a platform for dialogue, focusing on gender equality Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) and reducing inequalities (SDG 10). The P20 Meeting of Young Parliamentarians ensures youth perspectives are included in discussions during the Summit.

Women and young parliamentarians from across the world, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), were in attendance at the conferences, as they have discussions which contribute towards the agenda points and outcome statements which will be adopted as part of the P20 Summit.

The IPU is a global organisation which facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.

The P20 Meeting of Women Parliamentarians include an address from the Director for Member Parliaments and External Relations at the IPU, Ambassador Anda Filip, and Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga.

“At a time of mounting crises, the need for solidarity and collective solutions is urgent. Parliamentary diplomacy offers a unique tool to strengthen cooperation across borders, to build trust, and to place citizens’ concerns at the heart of international dialogue,” Filip said.

“To succeed, we must face an undeniable truth: none of these challenges can be solved while inequality, especially gender inequality, persists.”

Filip said that despite progress, women account for only 27% of parliamentarians worldwide and just 22% of Speakers.

“Their perspectives remain largely absent from policy-making, and too many continue to face discrimination, harassment, and even violence. The IPU’s own research has shown that one in four women MPs has suffered physical attacks, and more than 80 per cent of those surveyed have endured psychological abuse during their term. Such realities are unacceptable,” Filip said.

“Parity must therefore become the norm rather than the exception. It is not simply a matter of fairness; it is a matter of legitimacy and effectiveness. Parliaments that reflect the full diversity of their societies are better equipped to respond to people’s needs, and policies shaped by equal participation are more inclusive, representative and sustainable.

Chikunga said that they were meeting under the timely theme of “Women’s Leadership in Climate and Energy Justice” as in both climate action and energy transitions, women leaders remain few and far between.

“Yes, representation matters, role models matter, but the issue here is bigger than representation. Both science and humanity suffer when women are excluded from all areas where decisions are made and power is exercised.”

She said that the flooding in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, and the well-documented impact of extreme heat on pregnant women, “should serve as urgent wake-up calls”.

She added that the 2024 SDGs Progress Report paint a grim picture, with the most concerning setbacks being clustered around four critical goals: SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

“Only 15.4% of SDG 5 indicators (on gender equality) are ‘on track’ to be met by 2030, with particular regression in women’s economic empowerment and political participation,” she said.

“For us to lead climate action and just energy transitions, we must foreground the intersectional nature of the crisis before us. Women’s vulnerability to climate change—across Africa and globally—is not uniform. Intersectionality reveals how factors such as age, disability, rural-urban location, and socio-economic status shape experiences.”

She added, “We have to focus on dismantling the very power structures that are perpetuating these disparities in decision-making structures. Only then can women’s leadership emerge as a force, not of piecemeal interventions, but of systemic change.”

Speaker Thoko Didiza addressed the P20 Young Parliamentarians Conference, where she said that as one of the younger nations, South Africa is still rebuilding its communities from a past that divided us.

“I am sure when you landed in Cape Town, you had already seen the schism in our country. On the one side, the much-acclaimed development in our country, and on the other side, what you’d call, representing one of the underdeveloped communities, but it is our commitment through our constitution, that we will ensure that we bridge that divide.

“We, as a member of the G20, and as its current chair, we chose to bring issues of solidarity, equality and sustainability to the fore as we believe that we cannot reflect on a global economy without acknowledging the inequality that still exists in our world,” Didiza said.

“To build sustainable economies also calls us to appreciate the need for protecting our infinite resource, the environment.”

Former IPU President of the Board of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, Dan Carden, also addressed the young parliamentarians, emphasising the role of young MPs, and that at their recent conference, they have made a call for gender parity.

“Much more work and action is needed to ensure meaningful youth participation in politics. The last 15 years have shown us the magnitude of the problem, but they have also revealed the solutions that we know can help us deliver results.”

Carden said that what is needed more than ever is the political urgency and determination “to make this issue a priority in each of our countries”.

“We need everyone working together, across the globe, and this is why this first meeting of P20 Young Parliamentarians is such an important step in that journey. It provides a new launchpad to mobilise change.”

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za





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