President of Brazil and the G20, Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva, announced at the New Delhi G20 summit a new task force, a Global Alliance to reduce hunger and poverty across the world. This Global Alliance focuses on eradicating poverty and having zero hunger with sustainable agriculture practices. The task force is open to both G20 members and other interested countries. The official launch for the task force is in November 2024. The Global Alliance will be managed from the Food and Agricultural Organization headquarters in Rome and Brasilia.

Why Brazil’s Global Alliance

Before the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, President Lula created a national program in 2003 to eradicate hunger. In 2014, “with an undernourishment rate below 2.5% for three years,” Brazil left the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) “hunger map,” but has been unable to maintain those levels since 2021. Levels started falling again, however, in 2023, in President Lula’s new administration.

President Lula has taken his national program and turned it into a global scale. In his announcement speech, he says: “In the middle of the 21st century, nothing is as absurd and unacceptable as the persistence of hunger and poverty, when we have so much abundance, so many scientific and technological resources and the artificial intelligence revolution at our disposal.”

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) director has welcomed the Global Alliance and has stated the importance of overcoming inequalities. He said that policies and public investment in health are needed, and to ensure healthy lives, eliminating hunger and poverty is necessary.

Goals of Brazil’s Global Alliance

From Wellington Dias, the Minister of Development and Social Assistance: “The Alliance’s mission is to expand the adoption of good national programs on a large scale to end hunger and poverty; and of policies to ensure the human right to dignity and to adequate, nutritious and healthy food.”

Brazil’s Global Alliance will aim to raise and mobilize resources, both funds and technological knowledge, to expand policies and programs to help combat and eradicate inequality in terms of poverty and hunger, according to Africa News.

In President Lula’s announcement speech, he expresses how the Global Alliance’s goals go beyond eradicating hunger and poverty, but rather to ultimately bolster a just world:

“As long as there are families without food on the table, children in the streets and young people without hope, there will be no peace. A just world is a world in which people have unimpeded access to food, health, housing, education and decent jobs,” Gov.br reports.

Support

Ahead of the official launch in November 2024, President Lula has sought support for the Global Alliance. As the initiator of the initiative, Brazil is covering half of the cost, according to Africa News.

After the announcement speech in New Delhi, Brazil is hopeful to gain the support of over one hundred countries. So far, the World Bank president, Ajay Banga, has declared support for the initiative. The Inter-American Development Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have also said they would support the initiative. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the channeling of Special Drawing Rights for development banks, Reuters reports.

– Rachel Padden

Rachel is based in Baltimore, MD, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr