G7 Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality
Declaration of the Ministers

We, the Gender Equality Ministers and Authorities of Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European
Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, gathered at the G7
Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality, held in Taormina on 15 and 16 November
2017,-REAFFIRMING the commitments of the previous G7 and G20 Presidencies andDeclarations, as well as the relevant international framework, notably the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome documents of its review
conferences, the global call to action of the UN Secretary General’s High Level
Panel for Women’s Economic Empowerment, and the 2030 Agenda for SustainableDevelopment;-STRESSING the principles and priorities expressed in the G7 Roadmap for a Gender­
Responsive Economic Environment, adopted by the G7 Leaders on the occasion ofthe Taormina Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the G7, held on 26
and 27 May 2017;-RECOGNIZING the importance of the set of concrete qualitative and quantitative
targets agreed in the abovementioned Roadmap in order to achieve measurable
and sustainable progress on gender equality in our countries;-WELCOMING the outcomes related to gender equality of the other Ministerial
Meetings under the current Italian G7 Presidency, including the G7 Health
Ministers’ Meeting, and RECOGNIZING that the right to the enjoyment of thehighest attainable standard of physical and mental health is critical to women’s andgirls’ social, political and economic empowerment;

-RECOGNIZING the efforts and progress made by our countries to advance genderequality, as well as the challenges that lie ahead and the gaps that still need to be
filled, as no country has achieved de facto gender equality yet;

-REAFFIRMING the importance of ensuring equal opportunities for both women andmen and the full promotion, protection, and fulfillment of the human rights andfundamental freedoms of women and girls, which are universal and essential for
their empowerment and the advancement of peace, security and sustainable
development;-ACKNOWLEDGING that equal opportunities are vital for economic growth,prosperity and competitiveness and that gender equality and the empowerment of
women are essential preconditions for equitable and inclusive sustainabledevelopment, as well as important values and indispensable objectives inthemselves;-RECOGNIZING that structural barriers to women’s empowerment throughout theirlife cycle can be compounded by various forms of discrimination in the private andpublic spheres, gender stereotypes, negative social norms, attitudes and behaviors;-EXPRESSING CONCERN about unequal working conditions between women andmen, limited opportunities for the career advancement of women and the growing
incidence of informal and non­standard forms of employment;-RECOGNIZING that women’s full, equal and effective participation and access toleadership and high level positions in economic and political decision­making are
essential for the economic growth and sustainable development of our countries;-RECOGNIZING that violence against women and girls is a violation and abuse ofhuman rights and a clear barrier to their empowerment, that it is rooted inhistorical and structural inequality in power relations between women and menand persists in all our countries with significant direct and indirect costs for all
society, including on countries’ GDP;

2-ACKNOWLEDGING that gender equality will not be achieved without the full
involvement of and active cooperation with civil society actors and non­governmental organizations;-WELCOMING AND TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the outputs arisen from the discussions
held during this G7 Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality;

REASSERT OUR COMMITMENT TO IMPLEMENTING AND MONITORING THE MEASURESAND ACTIONS AGREED UPON IN THE G7 ROADMAP FOR A GENDER­RESPONSIVEECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, and in particular to-Increasing women’s participation and promoting equal opportunities and fair
selection processes for leadership at all levels of decision­making in all aspects ofsocial, economic and political life;-

Consider adopting concrete sustainable measures to promote and facilitate
women’s entrepreneurship and reaffirming its contribution to innovation, job
creation and economic growth;-Reducing the gap in labour force participation rates between women and men
through boosting female participation, improving the quality of employment andenhancing gender equity;-

Increasing public awareness of and value unpaid care and domestic work, and its
estimated contribution to the economy, and promoting the fair distribution of care
responsibilities between women and men;-

Investing in social infrastructure to support household’s care for children and otherdependents in order to ease the burden of unpaid work and enable women to bepart of the formal labour market;-

Developing comprehensive work­life balance and equal pay policies and measures,combating precarious employment, upgrading the conditions of work, and3

encouraging companies to endorse flexible working arrangements over lifetimes
and family­friendly measures in the workplace for both women and men;-

Promoting the participation of women and girls in Science, Technology,Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) education and careers, as wellas in all sectors, including high­skilled and higher paying sectors, and especiallythose in which they are under­represented;-Take all the necessary steps and enforce appropriate measures to prevent all formsof violence against women and girls and harassment in both the public and private
spheres, including harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages andfemale genital mutilation, as well domestic and intimate partner violence andhuman trafficking for both sexual and labour exploitation, protect and re­integrate
its victims, and effectively investigate crime and prosecute perpetrators, including
by adopting domestic strategies and/or national action plans on violence against
women and girls supported with human and financial resources;

AND REMAIN COMMITTED TO MAKING ALL THE NECESSARY EFFORTS TO MEET THE
RESPECTIVE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE TARGETS AND DEADLINES SET OUT IN
THE G7 ROADMAP FOR A GENDER­RESPONSIVE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, WITH A
VIEW TO BRINGING ABOUT THE SHIFTS IN MINDSETS, POLICIES AND CULTURE THATARE NECESSARY TO CLOSE THE EXISTING GENDER GAPS, ERADICATE ALL FORMS OFVIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS, AND FINALLYACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY IN OUR COUNTRIES.

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