The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated this Monday, at the opening of the G20 leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro, that it is “essential” to end hunger to reach “a world in peace.”
The progressive leader painted a gloomy picture before the heads of state and government of the most powerful economies on the planet, including Joe Biden (United States) and Xi Jinping (China).
“Today the world is worse. We have the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II and the highest number of forced displacements ever recorded. “Extreme climate phenomena show their devastating effects on all corners of the planet,” he listed.
He also denounced that social gaps have increased after the covid-19 pandemic, which has left some 15 million dead and a world with 733 million hungry people, according to FAO data.
Read: Mexico returns to the international sphere with Sheinbaum’s trip to the G20
“It is as if the populations of Brazil, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada combined were going hungry,” he warned.
In this context, he considered it “unacceptable” that, with this panorama, billions of dollars are dedicated to military expenses and called on the world leaders present in the room to “end” hunger, a “scourge that shames humanity.”
“Hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena,” but are the result of “political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity,” said Lula, who in his childhood knew what hunger is. hunger in the wild northeastern region of Brazil.
Lula spoke moments after the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative of the Brazilian president himself that was born with 147 founding members, including all the members of the G20, with the exception of Argentina.
The G20 leaders meet between this Monday and Tuesday at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro to discuss how to eradicate hunger, reform international organizations and promote the energy transition.
With information from EFE
Follow us on Google News to always stay informed
