Amrita’s Chancellor, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Amma has accepted to be the Chair of Civil 20 (C20), an official engagement group of the G20 as India becomes host country for 2023. The G20 is the premier intergovernmental forum for the world’s developed and emerging economies to address financial stability on a global basis. The C20 is its platform for civil society organisations (CSOs) to bring forth non-government and non-business voices to the G20 leaders.

The G20 members consist of 19 countries plus the European Union and C20 is its platform for civil-society organisations (CSOs) to bring forth non-government and non-business voices to the G20 leaders. The Govt of India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. The pinnacle of events is September 9-10, 2023 when the G20 Leaders’ Summit will take place in New Delhi at the level of Heads of State and Government. In advance of the summit, the C20 will collaborate with hundreds of CSOs from around the world to represent the concerns of the common people.

Upon accepting her role as chair of India’s C20 engagement group, Mata Amritanandamayi said she was grateful to the Indian government for arranging such a high-level representation of the voices of the common people. In the initial C20 online meeting that was held, Amma said that poverty in rural areas was a key issue to address while moving ahead as a society. Hunger, conflict, extinction of species, and environmental destruction are the most important issues facing the world today. We should put in sincere effort to develop solutions. If scientists of all fields—computer science, mathematics, physics, engineering and so on—would all work together, then we would be able to create more innovative methods of predicting environmental catastrophes, and thereby we would be able to save many lives. Often, we see a lack of multidisciplinary and integrated effort. This is the need of the hour”.

The G20 priorities for India include inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth; environmental sustainability; women’s empowerment; digital public infrastructure and tech-enabled development in areas ranging from health, agriculture and education to commerce, skill-mapping, culture and tourism; climate financing; circular economy; global food security; energy security; green hydrogen; disaster-risk reduction and resilience; developmental cooperation; fight against economic crime; and multilateral reforms.

“All the issues raised as a part of G20 priorities are vitally important. However, this should go beyond a mere physical meeting and become a true meeting—a meeting of hearts and minds. This is the only way to awaken ourselves and others,” Amma said.

India has been a member of G20 since its inception in 1999. Overall, the G20 accounts for about 80% of gross world product (GWP), 59-77% of international trade, two-thirds of the world’s population, and roughly half of its land area.

Under the auspices of the G20, C20 engages more than 800 civil societies, representatives, and networks of various countries, including organisations from countries which are not G20 members, to ensure that people of all strata of society are heard at the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Representation of CSOs among G20 member nations began in 2010 and was launched as an official G20 engagement group in 2013.