The ACDP welcomes the P20’s focus on fostering inclusive and sustainable futures through global cooperation. We affirm the urgent need to ensure an equitable participation of women and youth in development, both as beneficiaries and as architects of change.
South Africa’s hosting of the 2025 G20 and P20 platforms, presents a unique opportunity to champion women and youth employment strategies, responsive budgeting and inclusive governance. Yet, as noted by the Financial and Fiscal Commission, our national budget still lacks embedded gender redistribution mechanisms and women remain disproportionately burdened by economic exclusion. The ACDP asserts that we must confront the reality that many young South Africans, especially women, face intersecting barriers of poverty, violence, and exclusion.
We agree with Professor Jantjies, Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office, who urged G20 states to commit to increased public and private investment in affordable, quality child and elderly care, and other services that disproportionately burden women.
The ACDP has consistently called for targeted investment in youth entrepreneurship, skills development, and rural inclusion. We urge the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities to increase funding for mainstreaming women, but caution that without measurable outcomes and accountability, these measures risk becoming symbolic.
The ACDP affirms that employment and promotion must be based on merit; yet we recognise that unlocking the full potential of women and youth requires a whole-of-government approach.
What’s needed now is the political will to open doors and remove barriers integrating equity wherever possible. South Africa is not short of talent in either demographic; what is lacking is education, opportunity and structural inclusion.
As Kingdom builders, the ACDP calls for this P20 moment, to be more than a summit. Let it be a turning point, igniting a shift in global conscience, a pivot toward justice, and real opportunity for every woman and young person, in fostering inclusive and sustainable futures through global cooperation, from the dusty streets of Mthatha to the corridors of Geneva.
I thank you.
