Brazil G20 summit begins: Lula launches alliance against hunger

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty at the start of the G20 summit in the coastal metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. "Hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena," said Lula.

It is the result of political decisions that lead to the exclusion of a large part of humanity. The initiative is one of the central themes of Brazil's G20 presidency and has received the public support of 81 countries.

The group will exchange experiences and coordinate measures for food security. "This will be our greatest legacy," said Lula. The fight against hunger and poverty is a prerequisite for creating a peaceful world.

The Inter-American Development Bank has already pledged 25 billion dollars (23.7 billion euros). In addition, "the G20 countries must make substantial public investments in small-scale agriculture", demanded the non-governmental organization Oxfam. The European Union will also get involved, announced EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The fight against hunger is one of Lula's priorities. As the child of a poor family from the north-east of Brazil, he once suffered from hunger himself. During his first terms in office (2003 to 2010), Lula lifted millions of Brazilians out of abject poverty with the "Fome Zero" (Zero Hunger) program and the "Bolsa Familia" family welfare scheme.

At the meeting of the heads of state and government of the 20 leading industrialized and emerging countries, the focus will not only be on combating poverty, but also on reforming international institutions, climate protection and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

SDA