Susannah Hammond
Senior Regulatory Intelligence Expert
The 2025 Gender Equality Advisory Council's recommendations to the G7 urged action to achieve an equal, secure and prosperous future.
It expressed profound concern about the worldwide deterioration of women's and girls' rights, and the recommendations cited geopolitical upheaval and economic uncertainty as exacerbating the need for gender equality.
Recommendations
Women are significantly underrepresented in every sector on the G7 agenda, from artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology to critical minerals, private capital mobilisation for infrastructure and in peace talks supported by members, the Gender Equality Advisory Council said. That under-representation is worsened by the fact that women earn less than men, spend 250% more time on unpaid domestic and care work and have less access to capital and financial services.
There was a clear warning that if the G7 proceeds with adopting new initiatives without integrating gender perspectives, it will effectively reinforce existing inequalities. It will also miss a significant opportunity to build more secure and prosperous societies, as studies consistently demonstrate a link between gender equality, peace, security and economic growth.
To meet its commitments and achieve better outcomes for all, the recommendations featured several financial-services-related action areas, including:
Private capital mobilisation
- Invest in gender equality by supercharging development finance institutions with catalytic capital and matching funds to crowd private investment in gender-equitable infrastructure; scale up proven innovative investment vehicles, such as the Equality Fund, to provide sustainable funding for women's rights organisations; and apply a gender lens to infrastructure bonds, in partnership with multilateral development banks and institutional investors.
- Increase accountability by mandating gender-responsive investment criteria in infrastructure funds; establish a G7 gender-smart infrastructure certification that incentivises private developers to meet high standards on gender inclusion; and strengthen the collection, analysis and use of sex- and/or gender-disaggregated data, including in the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment progress report.
Emerging AI, quantum technology
- Remove gender bias in artificial intelligence training data; increase women's participation in AI and quantum technology design and governance, with a target of at least 30% women in executive, board and governance roles in these sectors by 2028; support AI adoption by women-led small and medium enterprises; launch programs for girls' education, including mentorship, scholarships, internships and career orientation; and create a $1 billion G7 Women-in-Tech Innovation Fund to seed capital and scale-up grants for women-founded AI and quantum technology companies.
- Protect women and girls from AI-facilitated violence and harassment, such as pornographic deepfakes, by promoting international standards, adopting legislation and enforcing human rights laws; establish support systems for victims of AI-facilitated violence; and increase awareness among girls and boys through online and in-school advocacy campaigns.
Investing in gender equality
- Ensure resources are allocated to G7 gender equality commitments.
- Introduce gender-responsive budgeting in all G7 member countries to address economic inequalities and secure the allocation of resources to address persistent gender gaps.
- Earmark funding in international development assistance and national budgets for women's rights organisations to improve results across all G7 policy areas.
Education
Set ambitious targets and revise school curricula to increase women's participation in AI, quantum technology and critical minerals production; enhance their financial literacy; and foster positive gender norms, including by supporting male allyship and preventing all forms of gender-based violence.
G7 collaboration
Despite the fact that the G7 has no legal existence, permanent secretariat or official members, it is internationally influential. It is a group for discussion and negotiation, which brings together the heads of state and government of seven of the most industrialised countries in the world, namely France, the United States, Canada, Japan, the UK, Italy and Germany. Leaders meet each year to identify common answers to significant international and economic challenges. The European Union is represented at the G7 by the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission.
The G7's rotating presidency, held by a different member country each year, provides the resources needed to advance the group's agenda.
Canada held the presidency in 2025, under which the Gender Equality Advisory Council made its recommendations. In 2026, France is the G7 president and has stated that its priority is to reduce international imbalances. France said its ambition is to restore the G7's original vocation of fostering dialogue among major economic powers, both within and beyond its membership.
The French G7 presidency will be organised around seven ministerial tracks: foreign affairs, development, trade, finance, the digital sector, the environment and home affairs. This structure will enable work on challenges, including:
- Resolving major geopolitical crises.
- Establishing a shared understanding of the causes behind excessive macroeconomic imbalances.
- Overhauling the worldwide solidarity system to form fairer and more effective international partnerships.
- Securing value chains.
- Developing reliable digital tools that are accessible to all.
- Combating illicit financial flows and organised crime.
- Women's groups and associated gender equality interests are reported as being represented through one or more underlying engagement groups.
International Women's Day
International Women's Day is on March 8 and highlights gender equality and other challenges affecting women and girls. The organisation U.N. Women has emphasised that progress on gender equality has reversed and is deteriorating.
"International Women's Day 2026 comes at a time when justice systems are under strain. Conflict, repression and political tensions are weakening the rule of law. The result — women and girls have just 64% of the legal rights of men. Women are turned away, not believed, revictimised or priced out of legal support. Equality never arrives," U.N. Women said.
Geopolitical upheaval is worsening, and conflict management will consume the attention and resources of the G7 and other supranational bodies. The challenge is that such disorder increases the need for structural change that advances gender equality.
The French G7 presidency and wider organisation will ideally seek to ensure that gender equality is hardwired into the initiatives and decisions made in 2026. In parallel, firms may choose to lobby their respective politicians to seek to ensure that gender equality remains on the agenda and does not further decline as a regulatory imperative.