President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participates, this Monday (13), in Rome, Italy, in the World Food Forum, promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He also has a series of meetings related to the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and will be received by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
The meeting between Lula and the leader of the Catholic Church it will be the first since Leo XIV was elected pope in May this year.
The presidential delegation arrived in the Italian capital this Sunday (12) and is scheduled to return to Brazil this Monday.
The invitation to participate in the forum came from the director general of FAO, Qu Dongyu, in July, when Lula was informed that Brazil had left the Hunger Map. The country is below the level of 2.5% of the population at risk of malnutrition or lack of access to sufficient food.
At an event in São Paulo last Friday (10), Lula said that, in his speech, he will address “the end of hunger, once again, in Brazil”.
“We had ended hunger in 2014. I came back in 2023 and there were 33 million people within the Hunger Map. Now, we ended it again in two and a half years”, he highlighted.
The World Food Forum runs until the 18th, during which the 80th anniversary of the creation of FAO will also be celebrated. Created in 1945, the forum is a global platform to accelerate the transformation of agri-food systems, in line with the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Structured around the pillars of Youth, Science and Innovation and Investments, the event adopts the “four betters” that guide the management of the general director, Qu Dongyu: better production, better nutrition, better environment and better life.
The 2025 edition will be marked by a series of commemorative activities and recognition of good practices in food security and sustainable agriculture.
Alliance against hunger
Lula also participates in the second meeting of the Council of Champions of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Povertywhich is made up of ministers, government representatives, United Nations (UN) agencies, multilateral banks and civil society organizations.
Co-chaired by Brazil and Spain, the meeting will take place in a hybrid format and will evaluate the progress of the initiative since its creation in 2024. The 2025 edition will be marked by a series of commemorative activities and recognition of good practices in food security and sustainable agriculture.
Among the main themes are advances in the Accelerated Implementation Initiative (Fasttrack), which supports national plans to combat hunger and poverty in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Haiti, Rwanda and Zambia, with more than 80 expressions of interest from financial and technical partners.
The first results are expected to be presented during the UN World Summit on Social Development, when the alliance will hold its first high-level meeting. The event will take place in Doha, Qatar, on November 3, when new financing commitments and international cooperation in the fight against hunger and poverty will also be announced.
THE Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty was launched during the Brazilian presidency of the G20 to support and accelerate efforts to eradicate hunger and reduce inequalities. The initiative already has almost 200 members, 102 countries, in addition to 53 foundations, 30 international organizations and 14 financial institutions, which are the main sources of financing for the alliance’s projects and plans.
Lula will also inaugurate the Global Alliance Support Mechanism space, which will function as the initiative’s secretariat, with headquarters at FAO and offices in Brasília, Addis Ababa, Bangkok and Washington.
