#AccelerateEquality #BRICSWomen #GenderEqualWorld #WomenInLeadership #TrailblazersForChange
The BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Women’s Empowerment vertical
(BRICS CCI WE) has officially unveiled its Whitepaper titled “Accelerate Action for a
Gender Equal World”. The document presents a bold roadmap of actionable
recommendations to close the gender gap across sectors – from business and
governance to media and culture.
Key proposals include global acceleration programs for women entrepreneurs, a
mandated 33% representation of women in boardrooms, judiciary, and cultural
institutions, election funds for women candidates, and ISO certification standards for
women-led organizations. The whitepaper also calls for gender-segregated data
collection, financial literacy and skilling programs, state-supported maternity benefits,
and the establishment of dispute resolution councils.
Some of the recommendations were – “Fruitful global acceleration programmes for
women entrepreneurs, making gender part of mainstream media discourse, mandating
33% quota for women, whether it is a boardroom, in judiciary or cultural sectors, setting
up a fund for women candidates in elections and ISO standards certification for women-
led organisations, council for dispute resolution, state support for maternity benefits,
gender segregated data collection as well as mentoring, financial literacy and skilling
initiatives for women…”
The insights are grounded in discussions from the BRICS CCI WE Trailblazers
Roundtable, where changemakers, entrepreneurs, and policy experts united to rethink
and deliberate on the topic as at the current trajectory, full gender parity may not be
realized until 2158 – five generations from now according to the World Economic Forum.
With current projections indicating gender parity may take over a century to achieve,
this initiative aims to ignite change now, not generations later.
Ms. Kalpana Sharma, Former Additional Secretary to Lok Sabha- Parliament of
India; Senior Advisor, BRICS CCI; Founder Principal Advisor to FORE Centre for
Political Leadership and Governance and Roundtable Chair said, “Women must
play a central role in shaping emerging technologies, particularly AI, as innovators and
decision-makers. Political representation remains a critical lever for systemic change.
The deliberations and whitepaper recommendations are a powerful reminder that
collaboration, mentorship, and leadership are the key to unlocking a future where
women not only participate but also lead.”
According to Ms. Ruby Sinha, President, BRICS CCI WE, “Out of the approximately
3.8 billion women population worldwide, over 2 billion reside in the BRICS nations,
making their empowerment crucial for global gender equality. Accelerate Action is not
just a theme; it is an urgent call for systemic change. Women need partnerships, active
networks, and financial literacy to succeed in a competitive marketplace. We need
transformative solutions to the needs of women entrepreneurs and must amplify
women’s voices globally so that their challenges are not an afterthought in international
discussions.”
The whitepaper also features insights from prominent women leaders and
changemakers viz. Ms. Lebogang Zulu National Chairperson – BRICS Women’s
Business Alliance South Africa; Dr. Nandini Sharma Former Councillor, New Delhi; Ms.
Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Hindustan Times; Ms. Elena Shifrina CEO & Founder,
BioFoodLab; Ms. Amrita Grover Advocate at Supreme Court of India; Dr. Valli
Arunachalam, Semiconductor Technologist and Philanthropist; Ms. Anuradha
Chowdhary, Founder & CEO, ZeroTo3 Collective; Ms. Tatiana Seliverstova, Director of
the International Acceleration Program “BRICS Business Incubator” and “SCO Business
Incubator”; Ms. Shabana Nasim, Executive Director, BRICS CCI; Chief Patron, BRICS
CCI WE; Ms. Shivani Singh Kapoor Co-Founder, ThinkStartup; Ms. Sanghamitra
Buddhapriya Dean (Academics), FORE School of Management, New Delhi; Ms. Shormishtha Ghosh, Governing Body Member, BRICS CCI & MD-Intandem Consultancy and Ms. Ankita Sachdev Joint Director, BRICS CCI.
To fast-track progress, the whitepaper calls for urgent Accelerating Action across key
areas, including cultural and societal barriers, the gender pay-gap, women’s leadership
and mentorship, legal frameworks, gender-responsive policies and cross-cultural
solutions. It also highlights the critical role of men in achieving gender balance and the
necessity of state and societal support structures for working women. The whitepaper
calls for bold, actionable steps to move beyond discussions and create real, measurable
progress toward gender equality.
Ruby Sinha
Shree Lahiri
