By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Caption: President Cyril Ramaphosa met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at Forte de Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro for a bilateral meeting on Sunday. Photo Credit: GCIS.
President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed support for Brazil’s focus on social inclusion and fighting hunger during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ramaphosa was delivering a statement on social inclusion and the fight against poverty and hunger during the first working session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative was launched today at the summit under Brazil’s G20 Presidency, takes a significant step towards its operationalisation with the announcement of the first members of its Board of Champions.
The alliance is an initiative dedicated to mobilising resources and coordinating actions among countries, institutions, and organisations to achieve ambitious goals of reducing hunger and poverty, working to find solutions for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 1 of no poverty and SDG 2 (zero hunger).
The Board of Champions will consist of up to 50 members, including 25 countries and 25 organisations, with South Africa still yet to announce its representative.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcomed foreign leaders to Rio de Janeiro’s modern art museum Monday morning and delivered an opening address that focused on fighting food insecurity.
“It is for those of us here, around this table, to face the undelayable task of ending this stain that shames humanity,” Lula told his colleagues. “That will be our biggest legacy.”
Lula emphasised that hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena, but rather a product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity.
According to the World Bank, nearly 700 million people are currently living in extreme poverty, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 67% of this population.
Ramaphosa has thrown his weight behind the Brazilian Presidency’s focus on social inclusion and the fight against hunger.
The president said countries with developing economies face declining growth prospects, decreasing investments, and rising debt.
He said, “These challenges have the potential to derail development gains and progress made toward achieving the SDGs.”
He urged world leaders to redouble their efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger, as well as to advance gender equality and overcome the global crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and pollution.
Ramaphosa said during South Africa’s G20 presidency, food security will be one of the top priorities.
While U.S. President Joe Biden attended the summit after a stop in Lima for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. He also traveled over the weekend to Manaus, a city in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. It was the first time a sitting American president set foot in the Amazon.
The White House announced Sunday a $50 million contribution to the Amazon Fund, the most significant international cooperation effort to preserve the rainforest, after a prior $50 million. Biden’s administration announced plans last year to give $500 million.
During the summit, Biden pointed to his soon-to-end administration’s efforts on global hunger and poverty. He also urged counterparts to increase efforts to ease those ills as well as resolve wars in Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine.
“The United States strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should, as well,” Biden said.