Thiruvananthapuram, October 27 (BPNS)
With India set to assume the presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1st, it has activated Civil 20 (C20), an official engagement group of the G20. It will be Mata Amritanandamayi who will chair the country’s C20.
The G20 is the premier intergovernmental forum for the world’s developed and emerging economies to address financial stability on a global basis. The C20 is its platform for civil society organizations (CSOs) to bring forth non-government and non-business voices to the G20 leaders.
While thanking the Union Government for arranging such a high-level representation of the voices of the common people, Amritanandamayi in her initial C20 online meeting said that poverty in rural areas is a key issue to address in terms of moving ahead as a society overall, especially since it is the people there who grow most of our food.
“Hunger, conflict, extinction of species, and environmental destruction are the most important issues facing the world today. We should put in a sincere effort to develop solutions. If scientists of all fields—computer science, mathematics, physics, engineers, etc—would all work together, then we would be able to create more innovative methods of predicting environmental catastrophes, and thereby we would be able to save so many lives. Often, we see a lack of multidisciplinary and integrated effort. This is the need of the hour,” said her.
According to her, one of the fundamental causes of conflict is hunger.
“The issue of hunger is very complex. When we go into impoverished villages, we see that often the addictions of men lead to poverty. This poverty in turn prevents women from getting proper nutrition during the vital stages of pregnancy. As a result of malnourishment or even absorbing toxins from contaminated food, their children die at birth. People need to be made aware of the need for nourishing women, especially pregnant women,” added her.
The G20 priorities for India include inclusive, equitable, and sustainable growth; environmental sustainability; women’s empowerment; digital public infrastructure and tech-enabled development in areas ranging from health, agriculture, and education to commerce and others.
The G20’s members consist of 19 countries plus the European Union, and India has been a member since its inception in 1999. Overall, the G20 accounts for about 80% of gross world product (GWP), 59-77% of international trade, two-thirds of the world’s population, and roughly half of its land area.
Under the auspices of the G20, C20 engages more than 800 civil societies, representatives, and networks of various countries, including organizations from countries that are not G20 members, to ensure that people of all strata of society are heard at the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Representation of CSOs among G20 member nations began in 2010 and was launched as an official G20 engagement group in 2013.
India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023. The pinnacle of events is September 9-10, 2023 when the G20 Leaders’ Summit will take place in New Delhi at the level of Heads of State and Government. But in advance, India will host more than 200 meetings across the country, an endeavor that involves intense work by ministerial meetings, working groups, and engagement groups.
Along with Amritanandamayi, the government appointed Sri M, the Satsang Foundation as a participant; Sudha Murthy, chair, Infosys Foundation as a participant; Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini as secretariat; and the Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari as an institutional partner.
ENDS
