G20 Leaders’ Declaration, November 2020

Key Highlights for CanWaCH Members and the International Development Sector

The 2020 G20 Leaders’ Summit was hosted virtually by Saudi Arabia November 21-22, 2020. The official G20 Leaders’ Declaration sends a clear message that world leaders are united in the “conviction that coordinated global action, solidarity, and multilateral cooperation are more necessary today than ever.” 

The Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) welcomes the renewed commitments from G20 Leaders to meaningfully include the advancement of the health and rights of women and girls across the globe in their efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Highlights of the 2020 G20 Leaders’ Declaration:

Health

• “We express our gratitude to and support for health and other frontline workers as we continue to fight this pandemic. We remain determined to support all developing and least developed countries as they face the intertwined health, economic, and social effects of COVID-19, recognizing the specific challenges in Africa and small island developing states.” [#2]
• Recognizing the role of extensive immunization as a global public good, “we fully support all collaborative efforts, especially the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) initiative and its COVAX facility.”  [#3]
• “Well-functioning, value-based, inclusive, and resilient health systems are critical to move towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). We reconfirm the importance of UHC financing in developing countries.” [#11]
• “We commit to advancing global pandemic preparedness, prevention, detection, and response [… in part] through supporting capacities of countries in need, and to the continued sharing of timely, transparent, and standardized data and information.” [#10]

Gender Equality

• “This crisis continues to have disproportionate economic and social impact on the most vulnerable segments of society, reinforcing the need to enhance access to opportunities for all.” [#2]
• “As many women have been disproportionately affected by the crisis, we will work to ensure that the pandemic does not widen gender inequalities and undermine the progress made in recent decades. Recalling relevant UN declarations, processes, and calls to action to empower women and girls, we reaffirm the importance of women’s and girls’ empowerment as a cross-cutting issue in all aspects of our policies and recognize that women are a key driver of economic growth. We will continue to promote gender equality, as well as combat stereotypes, reduce pay gaps, and address the unequal distribution of unpaid work and care responsibilities between men and women.” [#25]
• “We have taken actions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education [recognizing that] inclusive, equitable and quality education for all, especially for girls, remains key to unlocking a brighter future and fighting inequalities.” [#26]

Sustainable Development

• “Building on the benefits of our interconnectedness, we will address the vulnerabilities revealed by this crisis, take the necessary steps to recover stronger, and work to ensure that future generations are safer than we have been.” [#9]
• “The social and economic impact of the pandemic makes it even more urgent to accelerate efforts to end poverty and tackle inequalities and work to ensure that no-one is left behind…We remain resolved to play a leading role in contributing to the timely implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.” [#22]
• “We are determined to support African countries in overcoming the crisis, including by exploring more sustainable financing options for growth in Africa.” [#22]
• “As we recover from the pandemic, we are committed to safeguarding our planet and building a more environmentally sustainable and inclusive future for all people.” [#29]

Read the full declaration here.