As host of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the first to speak this Monday morning (18), at the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. THE Brazilian initiative already has 81 membersaccording to the balance presented this morning.
In his speech, given at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM), in Rio de Janeiro, the president called on global leaders to have the courage to act and highlighted that hunger is not a natural phenomenon, but a product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity.
Check out the full speech:
My friends and my friends,
First, I want to thank you for the generosity of your presence, transforming Rio de Janeiro into the capital of the world, this November 18th, November 19th.
What we are going to discuss here is very important and I am sure that, if we take responsibility for these issues, hunger and poverty, we can be successful in a short time.
Therefore, I wanted to say to all of you: welcome to Rio de Janeiro. Enjoy this city that is known as the Marvelous City.
This city is the synthesis of the contrasts that characterize Brazil, Latin America and the world.
On one side, the exuberant beauty of nature under the open arms of Christ the Redeemer.
A diverse, vibrant, creative and welcoming people.
On the other, profound social injustices.
The living portrait of persistent historical inequalities.
I was at the first meeting of G20 leaders, called in Washington in the context of the 2008 financial crisis.
Sixteen years later, I sadly realize that the world is worse.
We have the highest number of armed conflicts since the Second World War and the highest number of forced displacements ever recorded.
Extreme weather phenomena show their devastating effects in every corner of the planet.
Social, racial and gender inequalities are deepening in the wake of a pandemic that has claimed more than 15 million lives.
The ultimate symbol in our collective tragedy is hunger and poverty.
According to FAO, in 2024, we will live with a contingent of 733 million people who are still malnourished.
It is as if the populations of Brazil, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada, combined, were starving.
They are women, men and children, whose right to life and education, development and food are violated on a daily basis.
In a world that produces almost 6 billion tons of food per year, this is unacceptable.
In a world whose military spending reaches 2.4 trillion dollars, this is unacceptable.
Hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena.
Hunger, as Brazilian scientist and geographer Josué de Castro said, “hunger is the biological expression of social evils”.
It is the product of political decisions, which perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity.
The G20 represents 85% of the world’s $110 trillion GDP.
It also accounts for 75% of the $32 trillion in trade in goods and services and two-thirds of the planet’s 8 billion inhabitants.
It is up to those around this table to have the urgent task of putting an end to this scourge that shames humanity.
Therefore, we have made the launch of a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty a central objective of the Brazilian presidency of the G20.
This will be our greatest legacy.
It’s not just about doing justice.
This is an essential condition for building more prosperous societies and a world of peace.
Not by chance, these are Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2 of the 2030 Agenda.
With the Alliance, we will articulate international recommendations, effective public policies and sources of financing.
Brazil knows it is possible.
With the active participation of civil society, we design and implement social inclusion programs, promoting family farming and food and nutritional security, such as our Bolsa Família and the National School Feeding Program.
We managed to leave the FAO Hunger Map in 2014, to which we returned in 2022, in a context of disarticulation of the welfare state.
It was with sadness that, upon returning to government, I found a country with 33 million hungry people.
In one year and eleven months, the return of these programs has already lifted more than 24.5 million people out of extreme poverty.
By 2026, we will once again leave the Hunger Map.
And with the Alliance, we will do much more.
Those who have always been invisible will be at the center of the international agenda.
We already have the membership of 81 countries, 26 international organizations, 9 financial institutions and 31 philanthropic foundations and non-governmental organizations.
My thanks to everyone involved in the conception and operation of this initiative, who have already announced financial contributions.
It’s been a year of intense work, but this is just the beginning.
The Alliance was born in the G20, but its destiny is global.
May this summit be marked by the courage to act.
That’s why I want to declare the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty officially launched.
Thank you very much.
Well, my friends, we will now begin the discussion among the G20 members, starting with the troika countries. Therefore, I want to hand the floor over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of India, the last president of the G20.
