G20 Radio Bulletin 155 - Lula and the fight against hunger: from Zero Hunger to the Global Alliance at the G20
Since 2003, President Lula has led actions against hunger. In 2024, at the G20, he launched the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, uniting nations to tackle inequalities and promote social justice. Listen to the report and learn more.
Report: Leandro Molina / Laura Carrasco Frederico
Reporter: Throughout his political career, the President of Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, built a remarkable legacy in the fight against hunger. From his first term in 2003 to the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty during the G20 in Brasil in 2024, Lula reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating the scourge of hunger, both in Brasil and on a global scale.
When Lula assumed the presidency of Brasil for the first time in 2003, the country was facing a food crisis, with millions of people going hungry. One of his first actions was creating the Zero Hunger program, an initiative to strengthen family farming and expand access to adequate food.
President Lula: As long as a Brazilian brother or a Brazilian sister is going hungry, we will have plenty of reasons to cover ourselves with shame. If, at the end of my term, all Brazilians have the possibility of having breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will have fulfilled the mission of my life.
Reporter: The impact of these policies has been recognized worldwide. In 2014, after years of collective effort and already under President Dilma Rousseff's government, Brasil left the Hunger Map. However, the following years brought setbacks. In 2022, Brasil returned to the Hunger Map, with about 33 million Brazilians without anything to eat.
In 2023, upon resuming the presidency, Lula renewed his commitment to eradicating hunger. During the G20 presidency in 2024, Brasil promoted the creation of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and brought the fight against hunger to the center of the global debate. During the Leaders' Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian president launched the Alliance, which already has the support of 82 countries.
President Lula: According to FAO, in 2024, we live with a contingent of 733 million people still undernourished. President Lula: Hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena. Hunger is a biological expression of social illness. It is the result of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large portion of humanity.
Reporter: Despite the advances, the challenge of eradicating hunger remains urgent. In a world where millions of people suffer from hunger, the Brazilian example serves as a global call to action.
President Lula: By 2026, we will again leave the Hunger Map. And with the Alliance, we will do much more. Those who have always been invisible will be at the center of the international agenda. The Alliance is born in the G20, but its destiny is global. May this summit be marked by the courage to act.
Reporter: Brasil's leadership in creating the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty reaffirms that eradicating hunger is a shared and achievable mission, provided there is political will and collective commitment from all nations.
*Translated by PGET-UFSC