Key Takeaways From G20 India Panel On Women's Access To Education And Technology

On March 13, G20 India hosted a panel discussion on ‘Leveraging Public-Private Commitment for Women’s Greater Access to Technology and Education’.

The target of this session was to assess the conducive environment built by public and private spheres in India toward women's access to technology. This session was moderated by Susan Ferguson who is the representative of UN Women India.

This panel discussion is said to be a part of the ongoing discussion that was taking place at the Commission On the Status of Women.

This session was joined by panellists Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, Anita Bhatia, Dr Sangita Reddy, and Ms Melissa Selcher.

Ms Selcher is the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and Senior Vice President of LinkedIn. Dr Reddy is the Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals. Ms Bhatia is the Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary-General of UN Women. Ms Kamboj is India's Permanent Representative to the UN.

G20 India UN Panel Discussion Aims 

This panel discussion shared good experiences of women in India toward digital empowerment. It shared the strategic partnership that UN Women have with the private sector.

The discussion also put forward their relationship with the Business Sector Advisory Council for creating conducive environments for women to access partnerships of both public and private nature. The gender digital divide that India faces was addressed along with scalable digital innovations.

The outcome of this discussion involved identifying areas lacking gender equality in education and technology that the private sector could work on. The good practices and experiences in certain areas towards gender equality in technology and education serve as examples for other nations to replicate.

Adding to the Commission Of Status Of Women discussions India plans to co-host a Roundtable on 'Grassroots Leadership and Transformation: Charting the path of empowerment through technology and skill development’. A briefing will also be conducted on the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting and the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting.

The theme for the 67th Commission Of The Status Of Women (CSW) is ‘Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls’. The review theme is ‘Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.’

Suggested reading: How India’s Support Of Women-Led Start-Ups Is Strengthening G20 Action