Press Release Biarritz, August 27, 2019
This G7 summit was an opportunity for President Macron to translate his announcement to make gender equality a major global cause into action. Several financial commitments were made, but the feminist associations of Women 7 (W7) consider that the contract has not been fully fulfilled. The feminist diplomacy sought by France struggled to materialize at this G7 summit, and several key issues on the subject were absent from the discussions.
French feminist diplomacy still far too timid
By publicly positioning himself in favor of feminist diplomacy, President Emmanuel Macron had a historic responsibility at this G7 summit to make concrete political and financial commitments on women's and girls' rights, in line with the Canadian G7 summit.
Women 7 therefore expected President Macron to loudly and clearly reaffirm France's position on these issues, particularly during the joint press conference with President Trump, whose administration had recently declared that women's rights were a "niche" issue. The Women 7 points out that, on the contrary, women's rights to control their own bodies and take part in decision-making are eminently political issues that must be at the heart of the fight against inequality. In a complicated multilateral context, President Emmanuel Macron has chosen to seek consensus.
More generally, states must systematically adopt a feminist lens for all issues. It is impossible to discuss economic or political issues without taking into account respect for the rights of half the world's population. G7 leaders must stop designing and implementing national and international policies and initiatives without including women and girls.
Interesting progress on women's and girls' rights, but still insufficient
The G7 countries and several countries invited to the summit have committed to adopting new legislation or public policy on women's rights at the national level, based on the report of the Advisory Council for Gender Equality. These future legislative advances are crucial to having a positive and lasting impact on the lives of women and girls, but they are not enough. The Women 7 group stresses that any law or public policy adopted must be accompanied by funding, an implementation timetable, and genuine consultation with feminist organizations.
France has also committed to two other initiatives: supporting Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad's fund for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in times of conflict with €6.2 million, and adopting an initiative for female entrepreneurship in Africa. Women 7 welcomes the adoption of these two key initiatives for the respect of women's rights. These initiatives must go hand in hand with the strengthening of other rights in order for a feminist approach to truly emerge: in order to become entrepreneurs, women must already have access to health and education, issues that were not raised at this G7 summit.
Several topics overlooked in the negotiations
The W7 believes that the G7 presidency could have done much better: beyond putting the issue on the agenda, many topics were dismissed or addressed only superficially during the G7 leaders' discussions.
The various commitments made by the G7 for the Sahel do not prioritize the urgent need to improve access to quality basic services for women and girls in terms of access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health, or education.
The lack of substantial funding for women's rights within the G7 countries themselves is regrettable. While no country has achieved gender equality, it is essential that the G7 countries set an example on this issue. In France, the host country of the G7, the budget of the State Secretariat is one of the smallest government budgets, 1,000 times smaller than the budget of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. It is time to align funding with stated priorities.
For several months now, the government has been demonstrating its commitment to promoting what it calls feminist diplomacy. For the moment, President Emmanuel Macron has yet to embody this feminist ambition. He has asked us to wait several months before judging the results of this G7 summit. Civil society organizations must be involved in these future accountability mechanisms. In the meantime, we call on him to embrace a resolutely feminist agenda, especially since 2020 will see France host the Generation Equality Forum, a decisive forum for the rights of women and girls.
The W7 movement
The W7 (Women 7) movement brings together feminist organizations and associations from G7 countries and around the world. Its main mission is to ensure that G7 countries make financial and political commitments in 2019 and beyond that will have a concrete and lasting impact on the lives of women and girls around the world. For more information: www.feministscount.org
Press contact
● Louis Guinamard – louis.guinamard@equipop.org – +33 (0)6 25 83 95 23
