(Bloomberg) -- President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pitched a global alliance against hunger and poverty, leveraging Brazil’s presidency of the Group of 20 to make an appeal to officials from the world’s most powerful economies.
Lula kicked off the plan spotlighting his international ambitions on Wednesday at a meeting of G-20 finance chiefs in Rio de Janeiro. The effort seeks to rally governments and other institutions to share ideas while also pooling funds for policies against hunger and poverty that can be replicated globally.
The partnership will be a test of Lula’s desire to turbo-charge Brazil’s international leadership on matters from social welfare to economics. The leftist president told reporters this week that the fight against inequality must be a shared responsibility among countries and also a priority for the world. He will now be tasked with securing support from nations rich and poor that could help finance the initiative.
“For centuries, hunger and poverty have been surrounded by prejudice and interests,” Lula said. The world’s poor “were ignored by the ruling class and the wealthy, kept at the margin of society and markets.”
G-20 members have already signed off on documents that will be made available this week for countries that are interested in participating.
Lula and Brazil’s first lady, Janja da Silva, have been wooing leaders since last year in an attempt to attract as much attention as possible to the initiative. At November’s G-20 presidential summit, Brazil will disclose which nations have officially joined the alliance.
United Nations data released on Wednesday showed around 733 million people around the world experienced hunger in 2023. The UN said the world is “falling significantly short” of meeting its goal of ending world hunger by 2030.
According the Inter-American Development Bank, it would take around $31 billion to end extreme poverty in Latin America alone.
“A future free from hunger is possible if we can rally the resources and the political will needed to invest in proven long-term solutions,” World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain wrote in a statement. “I call on G-20 leaders to follow Brazil’s example and prioritize ambitious global action on hunger and poverty.”
Going forward, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) will provide the framework for match-making on the policies against hunger.
The alliance will include financing options including resources from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the use of the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) for social programs.
SDRs are an international reserve assets created by the IMF to supplement the official reserves of its member countries, according to its website.
Lula is also calling for a 2% global minimum tax that would affect roughly 3,000 of the world’s richest people — measured in terms of wealth, not income. It could raise as much as $250 billion per year to bankroll actions against hunger and poverty.
--With assistance from Daniel Carvalho.
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