Google India to mentor 1 million Indian women entrepreneurs, says US Secretary of State Blinken

Google India has committed to mentor 1 million Indian women entrepreneurs, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the launch of the US Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security on Wednesday.

During his address, Secretary Blinken highlighted the US-India Alliance for Women's Economic Empowerment. He stated that the US is working to both establish and replicate initiatives like this alliance.

"At the alliance's launch, Google India committed to mentoring 1 million Indian women entrepreneurs; we're working with other partners to increase that number. That would have a remarkable impact," said Secretary Blinken.

In addition, he committed to addressing some of the issues that all too frequently prevent women from pursuing entrepreneurship, such as a lack of membership, mentorship, and training opportunities.

"We're working to both create and also, as appropriate, replicate efforts like the US-India Alliance for Women's Economic Empowerment. That connects the private sector and civil society to provide Indian women with technical skills and networking opportunities to help them grow their businesses," he said.

Blinken outlined several tactics for establishing a society in which all women and girls may contribute to and gain from economic progress and international wealth.

Speaking about the plans, Blinken said that the US will increase women's economic competitiveness so that more of them can fully engage and hold leadership positions in all fields, including those of CEOs and board members.

In reference to Afghanistan and the recent Taliban declaration that forbade women from attending universities and working for non-governmental organizations, he said that "we're committed to standing up for women wherever their rights are threatened, including in Afghanistan, as unfortunately, we continue to see it deepen and get worse."

He stated that, in order to enable women to participate fairly in the economy, the basic support of child and elder care must be strengthened.

"We will expand access to options so that caregivers, most of whom are women, can actually return to work. To do that, we're supporting programs like the World Bank's Invest in Childcare initiative, which will help improve access to quality, affordable child care in low- and middle-income countries around the world," he said.

He also underlined the need to remove some of the social, legal, and administrative hurdles that prevent equal opportunity, such as rules that make it harder for women to fill particular positions and hence restrict their ability to advance in their careers.