Women at G20 Social Summit call on govts to restore humanity in their policies

BOKSBURG - Women at the G20 Social Summit are calling on governments to restore humanity in their policies, and say they want to be seen as leaders and not only followers.

Head of the W20 delegation, Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller, says women who have been attending the G20 gatherings over the past year have not been trying to compete for attention but have been converging with a common purpose. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the social summit in Boksburg on Tuesday afternoon, Bohler-Muller said the platform presented an opportunity to reshape the global order.

At a time of compounding crises facing the world, including climate collapse, the erosion of democracy, declining human rights and grave inequality, women at the G20 say they represent the conscience of the G20. 

Bohler-Muller said the health of the planet was inseparable from human well-being. 

"We carry stories that do not fit neatly into communiques. We bring the fire of youth and intergenerational justice. A demand that the future be co-designed, and not inherited in a crisis."

Bohler-Muller said women carried with them grassroots wisdom and the voice of workers who were often excluded from the benefits of the economy. 

"We bring evidence, integrity, and the courage to speak truth to power. We bring innovation and strategy to translate vision into action."

She said that governance without values was one without legitimacy.