G(irls)20 Summit

G(irls)20 Summit

In many parts of the world, women are routinely beaten, raped or sold into prostitution. They are denied access to medical care and education. Sadly, only 43 per cent of girls in developing regions attend secondary school and in sub-Saharan Africa only 83 girls are enrolled in school for every 100 boys.

According to the World Bank, an extra year of school can increase a girl's future earnings by 10 to 20 per cent and girls who attend secondary school have the power to make $2000 more per year than those who only attend primary school - now multiply that by all of the out of school girls and the impact on development is enormous.
GirlsandWomen.com is home to the G(irls)20 Summit and a movement for empowering girls and women around the world.

Founded in 2008, The Belinda Stronach Foundation (TBSF) along with over 70 partners are working with the private sector and a number of national and international organizations to encourage G8 and G20 leaders to elevate the importance of political empowerment and economic freedom for girls and women in developed and developing nations. At the Clinton Global Initiative in September of 2009, TBSF made a commitment to Promoting Development in the G8/G20 Summit Process. TBSF committed to create a platform that aims to provide greater coordination of global advocacy efforts for the 2010 G8/G20 Summits and to promote and educate the Canadian public on development issues. As an engaged Canadian charitable organization with a track record on global development issues and a strong capacity in policy management and public communications, we are working with strategic partners to champion key issues affecting girls and women and provide opportunities for the public to lend their support to their advancement worldwide.

The G(irls)20 Summit brings together one delegate from each G20 country, plus a representative from the chair country of the African Union. The delegates debate, discuss and design innovative ideas necessary to empower girls and women globally. While the agenda is the same as the G20 leaders and focuses on economic innovation - the participants are all girls, aged 18-20.

The delegates participate in panel discussions, attend workshops (media relations, social media, business planning) and caucus to discuss and promote tangible, scalable solutions toward economic prosperity, culminating with a communiqué that provides a blueprint on how to utilize and engage one of the best resources in the world - girls and women.
The first G(irls) 20 Summit took place in Toronto, June 2010. It was a great success! The delegates, debated, discussed and designed ideas and spoke with political, corporate and non-profit leaders from around the world. Last year's themes focused on education, leadership and maternal health. At the end of the Summit, the delegates drafted a communique that was delivered in a press conference and to all the G20 Summit Leaders.

In our inaugural year (2010), we were overwhelmed with the calibre of the delegates and the debate. Our partners included Google, Dove, MasterCard Foundation, Aeroplan, Veritas Communications, MacroBlu, the Globe and Mail and more than 40 national and international NGOs. The summit garnered more than 128 million global media impressions in 160 countries and kick started a global conversation that highlighted to the G20 leaders the prowess of the 3.3 billion girls and women around the world. To review last year's campaign, please visit the G(irls) Summit Toronto 2010 page.

To learn more about this Summit please check out the link: http://www.girlsandwomen.com or email girls20summit@tbsf.ca