On Tuesday, Germany hosted the Women20 Summit in the capital Berlin. The gathering brought together female leaders from the world’s 20 largest economies, also known as the G20 countries.
Among the attendees were International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and Ivanka Trump, daughter and advisor to the US president.
Speaking before the panel discussion, Angela Merkel announced plans to set up a new international fund to support female entrepreneurs, urging governments and international institutions to contribute.
"We are discussing with the World Bank these days how to improve conditions for women to access financial resources. And we also want to integrate this with political processes within the G20," Merkel told the summit.
Merkel said governments have to do more to economically empower women with measures such as microcredits.
She stressed that these measures are needed in both developing and industrialized nations.
"#W20 recommendations will give #G20 leaders a lot of new ideas for creating a sustainable economy." — @suchrita at #W20Germany pic.twitter.com/166l5jNciv
— W20 Germany (@WomenTwenty_Ger) 25 апреля 2017 г.
However the German leader also excited the audience by looking clearly confused after the panel's moderator asked her if she was a feminist.
Trying to avoid a definite answer, she offered a lengthy explanation by saying that she preferred backing practical measures to advance women rather than "embellish myself with a feather" of the label earned by long-term feminist campaigners.
"To be honest the history of feminism is one with which I have common ground but also differences," she said, "and I don’t want to embellish myself with a title I don’t have."
Applause when, after Queen Maxima defines being a #feminist as 'wanting equal rights & free choice', Merkel says: "Then I am one."#W20 pic.twitter.com/lACfoGM8eF
— W20 Germany (@WomenTwenty_Ger) 25 апреля 2017 г.
The Chancellor was rescued by Dutch Queen Maxima who said that she is a "feminist" if the definition of the word means "wanting equal rights" as well as freedom of choice. This drew applause from the audience, with Merkel saying, "Then I am one."
The crowd audibly rumbled, booed when Ivanka mentioned her father's support of women.
— Emily Jane Fox (@emilyjanefox) 25 апреля 2017 г.
Earlier, First Daughter Ivanka Trump was booed during her first high-profile appearance at the event, with some in the audience jeering when she identified her father, US President Donald Trump, as a "tremendous champion of supporting families." She was speaking about the lack of paid family leave in the US, and praised her father as an advocate for women in this sphere.
