In a speech during the World Summit Against Hunger in London, Minister of Development, Social Assistance, Family and Anti-Hunger, Wellington Dias, paved the way for the proposal to establish the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, designed by President Lula at the G20. Dias highlighted the importance of a global and coordinated approach to combating these problems and highlighted Brazil’s successful experience in reducing hunger during the first governments of the current president.
The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is proposed as a joint effort between governments, international organizations and multilateral funds to combat food insecurity and poverty around the world. The proposal seeks to benefit from available expertise and resources to implement effective public policies and programs in combating these pressing problems.
The Minister lamented the setbacks caused by the pandemic and misguided management in Brazil in recent years, which has led to an alarming increase in malnutrition and food insecurity in the country. But he highlighted the renewed commitment of President Lula’s government to change this scenario and eradicate hunger in Brazil, as well as supporting this cause in the world, helping to reverse the alarming trend of increasing hunger and poverty since the outbreak of the pandemic, putting some people at risk. Key sustainable development goals.
“To reverse this trend, we propose the establishment of a special working group in the G20, whose mission is to form a global coalition. The Minister stressed that this coalition will seek to pool financial resources and knowledge to support the implementation and expansion of actions, policies and programs to combat hunger and poverty at the national and global levels, stressing that all Countries that wish to join will be important.
Also during the summit, Minister Wellington Dias warned of the effects of climate change in Brazil, pointing to the worst drought recorded in the history of the Amazon region and the extreme events witnessed in different regions of the country, such as floods, hurricanes, heat waves and landslides. He stressed the importance of comprehensive social policies to confront these challenges and build resilience in the most vulnerable communities.
Among the programs mentioned, Dias highlighted the strengthening of the Bolsa Familia programme, which benefits more than 55 million people, and Cadastro Único, a strategic database of social actions in the country.
“We believe in social protection as a way to increase the resilience of the poorest to crises of all kinds. We are working to strengthen the Bolsa Familia programme, which currently has more than 55 million beneficiaries, the majority of whom are women. We have a strategic database, Cadastro Único, with social and economic mapping of about 96 million Brazilian citizens are low-income. Based on this information, we develop public policies that focus and adhere to the needs of this population, he explained.
The Minister also highlighted the tanker program as an example of an effective initiative in disaster prevention, poverty reduction and climate change adaptation. According to him, more than one million tankers were delivered, particularly for the benefit of female-headed households, facilitating access to water and freeing up time for family and productive activities.
The World Hunger Summit in London was attended by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and more than 200 representatives from around the world. These include ministers and other development, health and agricultural authorities, as well as public policy experts, scholars, civil society organisations, multilateral institutions and the private sector.
The event is organized by the UK Government, in partnership with Somalia and the United Arab Emirates, and also sponsored by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Communications Consulting – MDS
