Combating Hunger: Proposal expected to be presented to G20 leaders by Friday

Successful initiatives may be added to the pool of programs to be implemented in different countries through the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, a proposal by the Brazilian presidency of the G20. The document, which will be presented at the ministerial meeting in Rio de Janeiro in July, is expected to be finalized by Friday at the meeting being held in Teresina, Piauí.

“I just want to know what can go right. I have no time to waste, I just want to know what can go right…”. It was with these verses by Torquato Neto, a poet and composer born in the state of Piauí, Minister Wellington Dias (Social Development and Assistance, Family, and Fight against Hunger - MDS), closed his remarks to the international delegates of the G20 at the opening session of the 3rd meeting of the Task Force.

The reference to the urgent need to combat hunger and poverty worldwide, ensuring adherence to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2, established in 2015, resonated as a call for the G20 member countries, along with invited nations and organizations, to come together in the endeavor to finalize the terms of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty agreement at the ongoing meeting in Teresina.

The goal is to arrive on May 24 with a final proposal already negotiated between the technical experts from the G20 member countries, in order to present the document at the ministerial meeting on July 24 in Rio de Janeiro. Therefore, the expectation for the meeting is that constitutive documents, terms of reference, and governance frameworks will be reviewed within the technical meetings of the Task Force, which conclude on Friday.

"The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty is not a novel organization or funding source. Its aim is to establish a coalition, a significant partnership among nations, to address the pressing and monumental issue of world hunger," Minister Dias elucidated. "The Alliance holds the potential to expedite our endeavors and enact policies that have shown efficacy, enabling us to achieve the target of Zero Hunger globally by 2030."

The concept is for developed, developing, and the least affluent countries to collaborate in eliminating hunger and poverty. Support from wealthier and developing countries may include facilitating access to resources, providing low-interest loans, negotiating debt, transferring technology, and offering technical training to ensure the objective is met.

"We have already covered most of the ground, having held numerous meetings, written consultations, reflections, studies... We have received unanimous support from the G20 member countries and organizations. There is a convergence towards establishing the Global Alliance," emphasized the minister. "Now we are focusing on the details, the specifics, what needs to be tied up and fine-tuned to reach the final agreement."

Civil society participation enriches the proposal

During the meeting, the president of the Brazilian National Council for Food and Nutrition Security (Conselho Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional - CONSEA), Elisabetta Recine, presented civil society's contributions to the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty to the international delegates. The idea is that the experts who will prepare the final document will consider these suggestions.

The Brazilian presidency of the G20 intends to add, in an unprecedented way, contributions from non-governmental organizations, research institutes, universities, and institutions to the documents and proposals that will be taken to the leaders of the member countries at the forum's final Summit in November. With this in mind, on Monday (20), the sessions that preceded the Task Force meeting were dedicated to listening to civil society proposals for the Alliance.

A presentation of the study "Mapping Social Development Indices" elaborated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with the Piauí state government showed how the Brazilian state has experienced a period of deep social transformation over the last two decades, driven by income transfer and poverty alleviation programs such as Bolsa Família. Once the poorest state in Brazil, over the course of 20 years, Piauí was transformed due to consistent and impactful public policies. The Human Development Index, previously at a dismal 0.4, has now risen to 0.7, marking it as medium to high.

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