President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) opened the G20 summit, this Monday morning (18) in Rio de Janeiro, assessing that the “world is worse” since he first participated in a forum meeting in 2008 At that time, he stated that the economic crisis would hit Brazil like a “wave”, but that it later had strong effects during the government of his successor Dilma Rousseff (PT).
Lula opened the work of the first day of the meetings of G20 world leaders plus representatives from the European Union and the African Union. And it officially launched the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which already has 81 participating countries.
“I was at the first meeting of G20 leaders called in Washington (United States) in the context of the 2008 financial crisis. Sixteen years later, I note with sadness that the world is worse,” said Lula. Shortly behind him were First Lady Janja da Silva and Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance).
He followed the opening by repeating a speech that has become standard at events he participates in both in Brazil and abroad, about military spending on wars that could be directed towards public policies to combat hunger and poverty, about inefficiency in the management of food produced in the world, among others.
He also repeated the speech that the PT governments made Brazil leave the FAO hunger map in 2014 and that the mandate of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) reversed this situation.
“To which we return in 2022 in a context of disarticulation of the social welfare state. It was with sadness that, upon returning to government, I found a country with 33 million hungry people”, added Lula, stating that, in 1 year and 11 months, he had already reversed this situation to 24 million and that he intends to bring it to zero by the end of his term. .
The president also pointed out that, in the meantime since the G20 leaders’ meeting in 2008, the conflict situation in the world has worsened to the point where there are now more wars and forced displacements since the Second World War. He also cited the advance of climate disasters around the world, which aggravate and deepen social, racial and gender inequalities “in the wake of a pandemic that has claimed more than 15 million lives.”
He highlighted that military spending has already consumed US$2.4 trillion – “this is unacceptable”, he pointed out – and that world hunger is “a product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity”. “In a world that produces almost 6 billion tons of food per year, this is unacceptable”, he pointed out.
“The G20 represents 85% of the world’s US$110 trillion GDP, 75% of the US$32 trillion in trade in goods and services, and 2/3 of the planet’s 8 billion inhabitants”, he highlighted to remember the importance of the forum.
Based on these numbers, Lula amended by stating that “it is up to those who are back at this table to put an end to this plague [fome] which shames humanity.”
“It’s not just about doing justice, this is an essential condition for building a more prosperous society and a world of peace”, pointed out the president, remembering that the Alliance is one of the pillars of Brazil’s rotating presidency of the G20 and is part of the objectives 1 and 2 of the UN Agenda 2030.
He also stated that social programs implemented in Brazil, such as Bolsa Família, and public policies such as family farming and school meals can serve as inspiration for other countries. This is, in fact, one of the objectives of a US$200 million donation made by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to poor countries.
The alliance’s goals are to benefit 500 million people with income programs, expand school meals to an additional 150 million children and bring health services to 200 million women and children.
Also this Monday (18), Lula will discuss in the afternoon with the other G20 participants the reform of the governance of the world’s multilateral institutions, especially the Security Council of the United Nations (UN) – one of his main demands since the beginning of this third term –, with the entry of Brazil and other developing countries.
