Post date: Jun 17, 2013 5:30:43 PM
The Girls 20 Summit gathered young girls from the world's leading economies inMoscow ahead of September's G20 Summit.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JUNE 17, 2013) ( REUTERS) - The Girls 20 Summit in Moscow has gathered on Monday (June 17) 20 young female delegates from the world's leading economies ahead of the G20Summit that will take place in Russia in September.
Delegates from Japan and South Korea to U.S. and Brazil have arrived to Moscowto participate in the 4th Annual Girls 20 Summit that takes place in Moscow on June 15-19.With many global issues on the agenda, the girls aged between 18 and 20 came together to develop their leadership potential and present their ideas and recommendations to the G20 leaders who will be meeting in Russia later this year.
President of the Girls 20 Summit Farah Mohamed said that women represent an economically important part of the human resources, adding that their ideas can not be simply neglected and may prove valuable for the G20 leaders in their decision making process.
"If you're serious about jobs, growth, and investment you have to look at all of your resources. Fifty percent of your resources in terms of human resources are girls and women. How can you not put them in the equation? If you want companies to be stronger, if you want countries to be stronger, if you want communities to be relevant you have to use all of your resources. That is a huge resource you cannot afford to ignore," Mohamed said.
"It's up to the G20 leaders to see the logic of what these girls are suggesting. I have worked in politics for many years, and some of the best solutions came from people that were not necessarily in politics. So I would encourage them to look very seriously at these recommendations and where it makes sense - to put them into place," she said.
During the summit the girls will discuss women rights abuse and female leadership issues as well as wider economic problems, such as high jobless rates and growth issues.
Speaking via video link, president of the Huffington Post Arianna Huffingtonaddressed young summit participants highlighting that the main recommendation she would give to the G20 leaders is that words should be followed by actions.
"Well, the G20 leaders have already made a declaration in favour of all these women's rights, equal pay, equal access to the education and etc., so I think the request should be to move from declarations to action," Huffington said.
Summit participants, despite their young age, also had a strong message to send to their country leaders.
"My advice to the G20 leaders, especially my own G20 leader Barack Obama, I would say that you need to provide programmes, like social programmes, that groom and develop women as top business leaders. Because, yes women are entering politics, yes women are entering business, but very managerial positions, they are not at the very top. We need to make space for women at the very top,"summit participant Jenni Lee from California in the United States said.
The Girls 20 Summit was launched in 2010 at the Clinton Global Initiative foundation meeting and has since focused on offering solutions to different problems at all the level ranging from community and country to global.