Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has announced the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty at the start of the G20 summit in his country’s coastal metropolis of Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
“Hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena,” said Lula. Instead, they are the result of political decisions that lead to the exclusion of a large part of humanity, he said.
The initiative is one of the central themes of Brazil’s presidency of the G20, which brings together the world’s largest economies, and has received the public support of 81 countries.
The group will exchange experiences and coordinate measures for food security, Lula said: “This will be our greatest legacy.”
He called 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.
The international nonprofit Oxfam demanded that, in addition, the G20 countries themselves must make substantial public investments in small-scale agriculture.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union would also get involved in the initiative.