The G20 Leaders' Declaration, signed at the Rio de Janeiro Leaders summit (18-19 November 2024), includes significant commitments to further the appointment of women to senior positions within the UN. This demand is a core focus of the 1 for 8 Billion campaign.
The breakthrough follows a concerted advocacy push by the 1 for 8 Billion Steering Committee. Through strategic briefings shared with diplomatic missions, public campaigning and informal meetings, the campaign successfully advocated for language supporting women's appointments to be incorporated into the final text. The resulting commitment to a more geographically and gender representative UN builds on the Pact for the Future and the G20 Call to Action adopted in September 2024 at the UN.
Click here to read the Declaration
Paragraph 63 of the Declaration affirms G20 leaders’ commitment to the renewal of the UN General Assembly and emphasises the need to increase the number of women elected as President of the Assembly:
"We commit to revitalizing the General Assembly, strengthening its role as the chief deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the United Nations, to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including matters related to the maintenance of international peace and security, through enhanced and intensified interaction with the Security Council. We also commit to revitalizing the Assembly through transformative procedures and practices that recognize its authority and enhance its effectiveness and efficiency, in line with the UN Charter, and to increasing the appointment of women candidates for the Presidency of the General Assembly."
Paragraph 67 goes further by advocating for transparency, geographic equity, and gender parity in senior positions, with a focus on appointing women to the role of Secretary-General:
"We will work towards a more representative UN Secretariat through transparency, equitable geographic distribution, rotation of nationalities, merit, and gender balance in appointments, while increasing the nomination of women for senior positions, including the Secretary-General, reaffirming that no post should be considered the exclusive preserve of any member state or group of states."
Perhaps most significantly, the focus on strengthening the UN, and in particular, the commitment to addressing problems in UN appointments, is new terrain for the G20. Previous declarations tend to limit mention of the UN to specific thematic programmes and propose little by way of tangible changes to strengthen the organisation. 1 for 8 Billion welcomes the new direction taken by the G20 and hopes it represents an injection of political capital for more inclusive, fairer appointment processes which will support increased women's participation in key decision-making spaces within the UN. It is well evidenced that, in turn, this makes the UN more effective.
As is usual, the declaration lacks concrete measures to implement the commitments. Upcoming UN General Assembly negotiations present an opportunity for G20 Leaders to put their words into action - 1 for 8 Billion will be monitoring states’ positions and advocating for the recommendations contained in our policy platform. As a first step, we are calling for all states in their national capacity to announce their support for a woman SG, and, in pursuit of this aim, state that their Government will only consider nominating and supporting women candidates.
Read 1 for 8 Billion’s Policy Platform.
Read 1 for 8 Billion’s readout of the recent General Assembly debate
Read 1 for 8 Billion’s statement on CEDAW’s adoption of new guidance on women’s participation in multilateralism
Image: President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during the Opening Session of the G20 Ministerial Meeting - United Nations Headquarters, Social Economic Council Room – New York | Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / PR