W20 Argentina 2018 CommuniquéWe, the representatives of the Women20 (W20) 2018 network, strongly believe that gender equality isa key driver of sustainable and inclusive growth. This view is at the core of the G20 Argentina 2018agenda and is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 5, which aims to “achieve gender equality andempower all women and girls”.
Building on the strong foundation established during previous W20 consultations, the W20 identifies
the main challenges to be addressed and which are strategic for the G20.
INCREASE AND IMPROVE WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN THE LABOR FORCE BY:
1. Accelerating the pace of implementation of the 2014 Brisbane commitment to reduce the gender gap inlabour force participation by 25 percent by 2025 by developing and funding National Plans and reporting
the progress on an annual basis.
2. Investing public funds to ensure affordable, quality and professionalized universal care services forpeople with dependents, including those in the informal sector.
3. Implementing policies for mandatory paid parental leave schemes by 2025 that include non-transferable
entitlements for a second caregiver to promote shared responsibility of care work and a better work-lifebalance.
4. Eliminating all forms of discrimination against women, particularly in laws and regulations on accessto and control of land, assets and resources and promoting mechanisms to guarantee equal pay for workof equal value.
5. Strengthening and enforcing regulations, ensuring equal access to justice, as well as supporting international processes leading to setting standards on “ending violence and harassment in the world ofwork” in order to protect women from all forms of violence, including online violence.
6. Analyzing the Future of Work from a gender perspective and design policies to ensure equitable impact.
Major trends such as the gig economy, automation and machine learning should be addressed in terms of
their gender-specific impact, focusing on the social protection and labor rights of women workers.
GUARANTEE WOMEN’S FINANCIAL INCLUSION BY:
7. Ensuring equal access to credit, financial services, equity and markets for women, and designing initiatives
to improve women’s financial and legal literacy and entrepreneurial capacity.
8. Enhancing transparency and supporting measures for public procurement contracts awarded towomen-owned and women-led businesses and increasing their share by a minimum of 10 percent taking
into consideration the situation of each G20 country1.
9. Using and promoting alternative forms of credit scoring, including alternative data to evaluate MSMEs
credit worthiness in order to increase women's access to financial services.
1. By a minimum of 10% increase is an improvement for each country according to its own baseline.

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ENSURE WOMEN’S DIGITAL INCLUSION BY:
10. Developing holistic and cross-sectoral policies that abolish the barriers to women's access and use ofdigital technologies and the internet, especially in rural and remote areas. Improve access, affordability,safety and security of digital services, broadband and connectivity plans, and the availability of relevant
content and services, while taking into consideration women in all their diversity.
11. Guaranteeing inclusive educational programs through the promotion and investment in initiatives
that boost equal participation of women and girls in STEAM studies (Science, Technology, Engineering,Arts and Mathematics) and support women’s digital rights and citizenship. Training programs should
promote women’s life-long learning, and provide frequent updating of digital skills to increase opportunities
for both employment and entrepreneurship. G20 countries must also foster the equitable participation ofwomen in the development and governance of STEAM-related industries.
12. Ensuring women's participation in the development and modification of algorithms in artificial
intelligence in order to avoid gender bias.
FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL WOMEN BY:
13. Securing women’s access to comprehensive and gender responsive social services, including education,
health and legal services in rural areas.
14. Investing in infrastructure for rural development and ensuring the participation of women in all stagesof the process, taking into account their specific needs and work opportunities. Infrastructure projects
should also incorporate gender violence protocols.
15. Allocating or increasing funds for women living in rural areas to strengthen their cooperatives, entrepreneurships, organizations and value chains, promoting access to credit and training, enabling women’s
economic participation and inclusion in decision making and governance.
To ensure sustainable development, it is imperative to adopt a comprehensive human rights perspective
on gender equality and to develop evidence-based policies that recognize and address structuraldifferences. In this regard, G20 should support gender budgeting and together with international partnerorganizations and relevant national partners develop statistical systems based on indicators that aregender disaggregated and consider women in all their diversity.
To ensure continuity and efficiency of the W20, we urge G20’s Presidencies to engage with the W20
network by ensuring access to the G20 negotiation tracks and continue to mainstream gender in all theirengagement groups.
Recognizing that G20 leadership is paramount in realizing gender equality, the W20 urges the G20 to act
on these recommendations by developing implementation plans with timelines and targets, facilitating theparticipation and cooperation of women's organizations, measuring and monitoring progress and reporting
publicly on outcomes.

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