In a video message to the Group of Twenty (G20) Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment, which is being held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the dignitary celebrated women’s potential to lead actions related to global warming and for the benefit of the economy and other sectors.

He favored working work from the G20 to remove barriers that restrict women’s access to markets, global value chains and affordable finance.

“When women prosper, the world prospers,” the prime minister commented, noting that their economic empowerment drives growth and their access to education drives global progress.

He added that their leadership fosters inclusion and their voices inspire positive change.

The prime minister stressed that the most effective way to empower women is through a women-led approach to development and India is taking positive steps in that direction.

In this regard, he acknowledged the work of Indian President Droupadi Murmu, whom he called an inspiring example as a leader of the country and commander-in-chief of the armed forces despite her humble background.

Modi noted that 46 percent of elected representatives in India’s rural local bodies are women, and expressed pride in the bravery shown by women nurses and birth attendants, more than 80 percent of the sector’s workers, during the frontline confrontation with the pandemic.

Nearly 43 percent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates in India are women, as well as about a quarter of India’s space scientists, he said.

India has one of the highest percentages of women pilots in civil aviation, they fly fighter jets and are being deployed as officers in operational roles and defense platforms in the armed forces, he added.

Moreover, women hold the key to finding innovative solutions to climate change and are trained, for example, in the manufacture of solar panels and lights, Modi stressed.

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