Trying to Solve the World’s Problems

By Jennifer Hollet, G(irls)20 Summit Russia Moderator

Waiting in line at the Kremlin with all of the G(irls)20 delegates wearing their official t-shirts, a man who spoke English asked me if we were an organization.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Are you trying to solve the world’s problems?” he inquired.

“Actually, we are” I said. He quickly pointed out, “there’s a lot of problems.”

I laughed. “Yes, we have a lot of work to do.”

I’ve had the honour of working with the G(irls)20 Summit since its debut in Toronto in 2010, and travelling to Paris, Mexico City, and recently Moscow. The force behind the summit is the belief that investing in girls and women is not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do. Economically, it will yield strong returns for villages and countries, business and government. Girls and women are an overlooked source of new ideas and new leaders.

This year, the summit themes were jobs, growth and investment, and child marriage. Throughout the summit’s workshops, panels, and brief moments of downtime, the delegates were busy developing ideas for their final communiqué including policies addressing parental leave, small business training for women, maternal health (especially how it connects to girls forced into marriage), and including boys and men in gender policy recommendations.

The girls also had a special opportunity to meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Yurievna Golodets. Ms. Golodets said she could see that the delegates’ “eyes are shining.” She reminded the delegates just 100 years separates us from a time when women didn’t even have the right to vote. While acknowledging the different tempos of economic development around the world, Ms. Golodets said that countries that are leaders in education and women’s rights, also score higher on the happiness index.

So while yes, the world has a lot of problems and there’s a lot of work to be done, we have an opportunity to look at girls’ and women as no longer just problems, but larger solutions. For an idea of what those solutions looks like, do take a moment and read the delegate’s final communiqué.

Jennifer Hollett is the G(irls)20 Summit Moderator. She is an award winning journalist and the co-founder of Super PAC App, a mobile app that brings transparency to political TV ads. @jenniferhollett