The World Food Programme (WFP) Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil, represented by Director Daniel Balaban, met on 10 April with the Executive Secretary of the National Movement of Homeless People, Flavio Lino, to discuss the Movement’s work and strengthen relations.
The secretary presented a national and international overview of the number of people living on the streets. In the G20 countries, these numbers exceed 6 million individuals who are affected by social exclusion, all kinds of violence and difficulty in accessing food, leading to food and nutritional insecurity and, in some cases, extreme hunger.
The Director of the Centre of Excellence pointed out that the WFP, the UN’s largest humanitarian agency, works hard to combat hunger, carrying out global operations to both purchase and distribute food on a daily basis to more than 130 million people around the world. These operations, in addition to saving lives, are an opportunity to promote markets for family farmers, including Brazilian ones, by creating opportunities for international sales.
The director also emphasised that the issue is urgent and is linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. ‘We need to think about concrete approaches combined with public policies, which are fundamental to ensuring that homeless people receive the support they need to rebuild their lives with dignity and security,’ he said.
The Secretary reiterated her interest in deepening discussions with the WFP and suggested linking up existing actions in Brazil, in solidarity kitchens, in national and international forums, and strengthening mobilisation in August, the month of the struggle of the homeless population. ‘And in October, the first Congress of the Homeless Population in the State of São Paulo will be held in São Paulo, an opportunity to give more visibility to joint actions,’ said the Secretary.