Lula hopes G20 summit is marked by courage to take action
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday morning (Nov. 18). The Brazilian leader said he hopes the meeting is marked by “the courage to take action.”
During the opening of the summit, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty was launched, an initiative of the Brazilian government that seeks to accelerate global efforts to eradicate these problems.
Even before the launch, 81 countries joined the initiative, including 18 of the 19 G20 nations. The exception was Argentina. The European Union and the African Union, the other two members of the group, have also joined.
In addition to the nations, 24 international organizations, nine financial institutions, and 31 philanthropic and non-governmental organizations have signed up to the initiative.
The Alliance was born at the G20, President Lula noted, but its destiny is global. “We set the launch of a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty as the central objective of Brazil’s G20 presidency. This will be our greatest legacy. It’s not just about doing justice. This is a prerequisite for building more prosperous societies and a peaceful world.”
The Alliance, he added, should be a tool in drawing up “international recommendations, effective public policies, and sources of funding.”
In his speech, the Brazilian president also stressed that hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural resources, but “the product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity.”
