Between March 18 and 22, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Centre of Excellence Against Huger in Brazil participated in working groups and meetings in Brasilia at the Group of Twenty (G20), the principal forum for international economic cooperation. Brazil assumed the rotating presidency of the G20 for the first time for a one-year term on December 1, 2023, replacing India, which held the presidency in 2023.
The country is responsible for organizing technical meetings and ministerial conferences that will culminate in the 19th G20 Summit, to be held on November 18 and 19, 2024, in Rio de Janeiro. To Brazil, fighting hunger, poverty, and inequality are among the priority themes for its mandate in the forum.
Within the G20, the World Food Programme (WFP) is participating in the Development Working Group, the Task Force for the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, and the Agriculture Working Group. The Director of the WFP Centre of Excellence, Daniel Balaban, is one of the WFP Delegates, whilst the Director of Multilateral Partnerships and Programmes at WFP, Stanlake Samkange, is the Head of the WFP Delegation to the G20.
For Balaban, the G20 represents a significant opportunity to discuss topics that drive the world towards facing hunger. “The effective participation of the WFP at the G20 Working Groups is very important because relevant positions for the future of the planet will emerge from there, mainly related to facing hunger and extreme poverty,” he said.
About G20
The group consists of 19 countries from five continents, in addition to the European Union and the newly admitted African Union: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The G20 is responsible for about 85% of the world’s GDP, 75% of global trade, and ⅔ of the world’s population.
Proposed by the Brazilian presidency, the Task Force for the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty aims to create a Global Alliance. Its purpose is to mobilize resources and knowledge to enable the implementation of proven effective public policies and social technologies in reducing hunger and poverty on a global scale. The participation at the Global Alliance will not be limited to G20 members, it will be open to all interested countries.