WASHINGTON — The G-7 development and finance ministerial kicks off with events Wednesday in Whistler, British Columbia, where representatives from the world’s seven largest economies will gather to discuss increasing global economic stability and enhancing women’s empowerment.
The meeting, “Investing in Growth that Works for Everyone,” will be hosted by Canada’s Minister of International Development and La Francophonie Marie-Claude Bibeau, and Canada’s Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, along with Stephen Poloz, the Bank of Canada’s governor. It will be the first time G-7 development and finance ministers sit down together for conversations on innovative financing and women’s economic empowerment. It’s also the first time since 2010 that the country holding the G-7 presidency has chosen to convene a development ministerial.
As this year’s president of the G-7, Canada is taking the opportunity to showcase its international development priorities and shine the spotlight on its feminist foreign policy agenda. The policy, the result of a two-year consultation that involved 15,000 people in more than 65 countries, aims to put women and girls at the center of everything it does to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and eradicate poverty.