Brazilian President Lula da Silva launched the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty at the 2024 G20 Summit in Rio, Brazil today, stating “Hunger, poverty are not natural, but political decisions.”
The 2024 G20 Summit under the leadership of Brazil launched this major international alliance, giving a call to world leaders to rise up in the fight against hunger and poverty.
At the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, “Hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena. It is the product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity. The G20 represents 85 per cent of the 110 trillion dollars of the global GDP. It also accounts for 75 per cent of the 32 trillion dollars in trade in goods and services and two-thirds of the planet’s 8 billion inhabitants. It is up to those of us gathered around this table to take on the urgent task of ending this scourge that shames humanity.”
Bringing attention to international reports, he said, “According to the FAO, in 2024 there will be 733 million people still facing undernourishment. It is as if the populations of Brazil, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada combined were going hungry. These are women, men, and children whose rights to life, education, development, and food are violated daily. In a world that produces almost 6 billion tons of food per year, this is unacceptable. In a world where military spending reaches 2.4 trillion dollars, this is unacceptable.”
The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty was created with 148 founding members, including 82 countries, the African Union, the European Union, 24 international organisations, nine international financial institutions, and 31 philanthropic and non-governmental organisations.
As per the statement issued by the Brazilian government, the innovative goal of the alliance is to accelerate global efforts to eradicate hunger and poverty. Among the announcements and commitments are the goal of reaching 500 million people with cash transfer programs in low- and lower-middle-income countries by 2030.
In addition, the Alliance aims to expand high-quality school meals to an additional 150 million children in countries where there is endemic child poverty and hunger while raising billions in credit and grants through multilateral development banks to implement these and other programs, the Brazilian government noted.
“This will be our greatest legacy. It is not just about doing justice. This is essential for building more prosperous societies and a world of peace,” the Brazilian President said during his speech.
PM Modi who is attending the G20 Summit in Rio, welcomed Brazil’s initiative to establish the Global Alliance, underlining that the Global South was severely impacted by food, fuel and fertiliser crises created by the ongoing conflicts, and therefore, their concerns ought to be given primacy.
“We support Brazil’s initiative for a “Global Alliance against hunger and poverty”. This is an important step towards the implementation of the Deccan High-level principles for Food security, adopted at the New Delhi Summit,” he stated.
(With Agency Inputs)
