P20 lauds passage of women's bill; pushes for multilateralism

The G20 Parliamentary Speakers' summit, or P20, on Friday welcomed India's recently passed women reservation bill that allots 33% seats for female lawmakers in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, as global leaders expressed concern over the underrepresentation of women in national parliaments and focussed on steps to close the gender gap.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

Lok Sabha officials said parliamentary leaders from around the world also praised India for its new Parliament building.

"We note with concern that globally, women remain significantly underrepresented in national parliaments. As leaders in our parliaments, we commit to assessing and improving the level of gender sensitivity of our parliaments by taking steps to close any gaps identified through this process. In this context, we welcome the adoption of the Women's Reservation Bill 2023 by the Parliament of India in September 2023. We also thank the United Nations and the InterParliamentary Union (IPU) for their efforts and affirm that gender equality and youth participation are essential for achieving the 2030 agenda," the joint statement of the 9th P20 summit said.

The summit, held under the leadership of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, acknowledged and welcomed the women quota bill, which was passed by a special session of Parliament last month and was hailed by the government, even though many opposition leaders questioned the delay in its implementation.