The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty already has “a significant number” of members, among the 55 countries and international organizations that will participate in the G20 Leaders Summit, to be held on the 18th and 19th of this month in Rio de Janeiro . As the accession process is still ongoing, the official announcement will only be made during the opening of the meeting, by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
According to the Secretary of Economic and Financial Affairs and Brazil’s Sherpa at the G20, Maurício Lyrio, the alliance is one of the main agendas of the Brazilian presidency in the group formed by the 20 largest economies on the planet.
“The main countries have already presented the necessary documentation to join the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, but we will only make the announcement during the event because we are still evaluating the documents and declarations sent by the other interested countries”, said the ambassador this Friday- fair (8), in a press conference at Itamaraty.
According to Lyrio, many membership requests are still being evaluated. “We need to see if [os países interessados] are compatible with commitments. What I can say is that there are a significant number of countries approved and a significant number of expressions of interest have already been received”, he added.
Documents
Lyrio highlighted that 41 documents have already been approved during the previous ministerial meetings of the participating countries. Regarding the alliance, the ambassador explained that four documents deal with the topic. The first deals with the foundation and structure of the alliance and the second document establishes the competencies for countries to join.
“The third is the basis for the alliance’s future secretariat and the fourth, the inclusion of social programs. The latter is the commitment of the country interested in adhering to at least one of the programs listed, with proven efficiency”, he detailed.
The programs mentioned by the diplomat cover topics such as income transfer, school meals, family farming and the institution of a single registration for groups to benefit. “Fortunately, we have structures of this type already set up in Brazil, but there are other countries that still need to move forward in this direction”, added Lyrio.
The ambassador also highlighted the creation of funds to support development, which has already been agreed with the World Bank, with the aim of providing resources to combat hunger; and the participation, also, of global institutions and the Bill Gates and Rockefeller foundations.
Asked about possible risks of the United States going back on the alliance after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Lyrio said that the issue of fighting hunger is consensual and that, therefore, it is unlikely that this will happen, but highlighted that it will be up to that country to decide whether to remain in the alliance.
Sessions
Lyrio informed that three sessions are planned during the meeting. The first two, on the 18th, will have as their themes social inclusion, the fight against hunger and the reform of global governance. The session on the 19th will deal with sustainable development and energy transitions. Next, the G20 presidency is scheduled to be transferred from Brazil to South Africa.
Afterwards, the afternoon will be dedicated to bilateral meetings and the beginning of farewells. According to the ambassador, President Lula has already received a large number of requests for bilateral meetings. “Practically all countries requested a meeting with Brazil but, unfortunately, it will not be possible to accommodate everyone,” said Lyrio.
The ambassador confirmed that, on the 19th, Lula will meet with the president of China, Xi Jinping, and that, representing Russia at the meeting, will be the country’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
