‘Build back better’ for women and girls after pandemic, G7 leaders told

Boris Johnson decries ‘world’s continued failure’ to unleash talent and potential of females

Council members want more aid for girls’ education (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

G7 leaders must take concrete steps to “build back better” for women and girls form after the pandemic, say international gender-equality experts.

A report by the Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) proposes a “robust monitoring and accountability mechanism” to hold G7 governments to account on gender equality commitments.

In a foreword to the report, Boris Johnson writes: “Few of us would relish the challenge of scaling a vertiginous peak with one hand tied behind our back. Yet that is exactly what the G7 will be attempting to do if we fail to act on the world’s continued failure to unleash the talent and potential of women and girls.”

The document expands on recommendations the panel made to G7 leaders who met in Cornwall earlier this year.

They warned then that women have faced a disproportionate burden during the Covid outbreak, calling for more funding to tackle the “shadow pandemic” of violence against women and girls.

They also recommended greater investment in domestic and international social care infrastructure, and access to affordable quality care.

Other action recommended included equal access to capital and labour markets, and tackling online harassment and abuse of women and girls.

The council, an independent group of experts convened by Mr Johnson under the UK’s G7 presidency, aims to “champion freedom, opportunity, individual humanity and dignity” for women and girls around the world.

Several of  the council’s initial recommendations in June were turned into pledges, including action on girls’ education and strengthening the international response to conflict-related sexual violence.

The authors of the new report call on the G7 to show leadership and demonstrate what can be achieved in justice, education, science, health, the workplace, and our economies.

Alice P Albright, a council member and chief executive of the Global Partnership for Education, an organisation that coordinates funding for schooling, said: “One of the core issues raised by the GEAC is a call for 12 years of quality education for all.

“The G7 has shown unprecedented political will around girls’ education, and this is a powerful first step. If the G7 want to meet their policy priorities - whether around trade, climate change, diplomacy or peace - universal girls’ education is the proven answer.

“But this means urgently implementing existing targets and commitments, investing greater proportions of aid into global education and making girls’ education a permanent feature of all future G7 presidencies to secure sustainable change."