Spiritual leader to head G20 civil society sector

KOLLAM: Spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) has been appointed the Chair of the country’s Civil 20 (C20), an official engagement group of the Group of 20 (G20), by the Union government.

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 to bring forth nongovernment and non-business voices to the G20 leaders, a statement has said here. India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for a 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, it said.

But in advance, India will host more than 200 meetings across the country, an endeavour that involves intense work by ministerial meetings, working groups, and engagement groups, it said.

Upon accepting her role as Chair of India’s C20 engagement group, Amma said she was grateful to the Indian government for arranging such a high-level representation of the voices of the common people. “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,” Amma said in the initial C20 online meeting.