A key takeaway from the World Economic Forum 2024 as it came to an end on January 19 at Davos, Switzerland, was the announcement of the launch of a Global Good Alliance for Gender Equity and Equality with the support and endorsement by the Forum and the government of India. The Alliance aims to bring together global best practices, foster knowledge sharing, and attract investments in areas like women’s health, education, and enterprise.

The idea of the alliance emerged from the G20 Leaders’ Declaration and India’s commitment to the cause of women-led development. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Women-led Development’ echoed at the WEF 2024, with the global community expressing committed support. WEF Founder and Chairman Klaus Schwab offered to partner the initiative with full support. “We will not only support this alliance but will be a strong partner,” he said.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the WEF will be its ‘Network Partner’, and Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of the Indian government, will be its “Institutional Partner”. Industry leaders, including Mastercard, Uber, Tata, TVS, Bayer, Godrej, Serum Institute of India, IMD Lausanne, and over 10,000 partners, have already expressed their support for the Alliance.

India’s Minister of Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs, Smriti Zubin Irani led the Indian delegation. Irani met Bahrain’s Minister for Sustainable Development Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, among other leaders attending the WEF. The Alliance will take forward the commitments of G20 for the benefit of the larger global community, the minister said.

“The primary objective of this new Alliance is to bring together global best practices, knowledge sharing and investments in the identified areas of women’s health, education, and enterprise,” the Ministry said in a launch announcement.

“India has moved from women-centric development to women-led development”, said India’s Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri who also attended the event.