Malala Yousafzai To Give Keynote Speech At W20 Japan 2019

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai will be one of the keynote speakers at Women20 Japan 2019 (W20), to run in Tokyo from 23 to 24 March.

Established in 2008, W20 is an official G20 engagement group that promotes women’s inclusion and empowerment. The W20 Summit, to be hosted by Japan for the first time, will be held in tandem with the Japanese government’s World Assembly for Women in Tokyo (WAW!). Past WAW! keynote speakers have included Kristalina Georgieva, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank, and Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women. W20 Japan 2019 is expected to receive delegates from G20 countries, as well as top women leaders from across the globe.

This year’s W20 Summit will focus on four main topics: labour, financial, and digital equity, and governance. The first three areas are in line with previous W20 summits held in Argentina and Germany. ‘Governance’ has been introduced in 2019 to ensure that the W20 advances discussions initiated in previous summits while also operating in line with the annual G20 agenda. Next year’s W20 Summit will take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, marking the first time it is held in the Middle East.