MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World hunger discussed in Brazil ahead of G20 Summit in Rio

Tackling world hunger was added to the G20 agenda at the initiative of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Specialists from the entire planet are discussing this week in the Brazilian city of Teresina a series of suggestions to tackle world hunger to be put forward during the Group's Summit later this year in Rio de Janeiro, Agencia Brasil reported.

The gathering spans until May 24 and brings together 54 delegations from countries and international organizations involved in building a 2030 agenda to combat hunger and extreme poverty.

At Monday's opening ceremony, Brazilian Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger Wellington Dias, explained that the focus of the meeting was to remove from the hunger map more than 730 million people around the world unable to eat three meals a day.

“The aim is for each country to do its part, indicating the experiences from around the world that are considered efficient, which will make up a basket of alternatives so that more developed countries can join hands with poorer countries,” he said.

At the end of the event, a document will be released with suggestions and contributions for combating hunger and extreme poverty.

“We opened today by listening to social leaders who work on this issue. In the end, we will have a report that will be handed over to the Brazilian delegation, which will be responsible for drawing up proposals that can serve as a basis for approval and forwarding to the G20 forum. The desire is to leave Teresina with the technical understanding to produce the terms of the global alliance against hunger and poverty,” the Minister added.

The topic is an initiative from the Brazilian G20 presidency and to reverse the setback in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of poverty eradication and zero hunger and sustainable agriculture.

Márcio Macêdo, Chief Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, highlighted that the debate was part of the Brazilian government's initiative to include issues linked to the promotion of human rights and environmental preservation in G20 discussions.

“The G20 has two main tracks: the geopolitical track, coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the economic track, coordinated by [Finance] Minister Fernando Haddad. When President Lula took over the presidency of the G20, he created a third track. Uniquely, the Social G20 provides for the inclusion of organized civil society to debate the policies that will be decided at the G20, which are the recipients of these public policies to be defined,” he said.

This week's findings will be presented during the Social Summit on Nov. 15, 16, and 17, to be followed by the G20 Leaders' Summit on Nov. 18 and 19, bringing together heads of state or government from the 19 member countries, plus the African Union and the European Union.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)