White House adviser Ivanka Trump will take center stage at the G-20 economic summit this weekend to make a global call for women’s financial empowerment and equal rights.
Officials said she was invited by host Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to make her case at a “women’s economic empowerment” session on Saturday. She is to be joined by Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
Her participation will put the global spotlight on the administration’s effort to help women in countries where they face discrimination. She heads President Trump’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, praised by conservative and liberals, including the Brookings Institution.
Today, President Trump held dynamic and productive meetings with many world leaders to discuss key security and economic issues. It is an honor to be a member of the U.S. delegation during an incredible first day of the #G20OsakaSummit! pic.twitter.com/h9FCZh7LcO
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) June 28, 2019
In November 2017, during another trip to Japan, she pushed for women’s rights. She said at the World Assembly for Women, “All too often, our workplace culture fails to treat women with appropriate respect. This takes many forms including harassment, which can never be tolerated.”
She is also the president’s champion of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, announced at the 2017 G-20. She and Queen Maxima have worked closely on the issue. Since it was announced, said the administration, We-Fi has mobilized $2.6 billion dollars for women-owned businesses.
Trump was in the Hague in June for the Global Entrepreneur Summit and praised the queen, saying, “Thanks to our shared interests and the fact that we are both committed to women’s economic independence, a great relationship arose. I admire her passion, courage and leaderships. And I appreciate our friendship.”
In her Saturday morning address, according to officials, she is expected to spell out the problems women face internationally and make the case for supporting them, including with the president’s $150 million fund set aside for the W-GDP initiative.
Among the key points she is to make:
- Global annual GDP could rise by an estimated $12 trillion by 2025 if women were allowed to “participate” in business like men.
- Armed conflicts might drop, because more than 80% of the lowest-scoring countries in the Index for Gender Discrimination have experienced war in the last two decades.
- Women in more than 100 countries still do not have equal rights to work, own land, get loans or run businesses. under the law, including opportunities to work in certain professions, purchase or inherit land, own businesses, or access capital.
Updated to correctly show W-GDP funding.
