Brazil’s President Lula launches the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty alongside 148 members, including 82 countries

“The ultimate symbol of our collective tragedy is hunger and poverty. We are living alongside 733 million people who are still facing undernourishment. It is as if the populations of Brazil, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada combined were going hungry. In a world that produces almost 6 billion tons of food per year, this is unacceptable.

Hunger is the product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity. The G20 represents 85% of the 110 trillion dollars of the global GDP. It also accounts for 75% of the 32 trillion dollars in trade in goods and services and two-thirds of the planet's 8 billion inhabitants. It is up to us, who are gathered around this table, to take on the urgent task of ending this scourge that shames humanity.”
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s words on Monday, November 18, in Rio de Janeiro, to presidents and leaders of 40 nations — including G20 member countries and nations invited to the Summit of Heads of State — reiterate the urgency and importance of the world uniting around the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. The initiative was proposed by Brazil on Monday, November 18, at the event's opening.

» Full text of President Lula’s speech

The Alliance was created with 148 founding members, including 82 countries, the African Union, the European Union, 24 international organizations, nine international financial institutions, and 31 philanthropic and non-governmental organizations. Its innovative goal is to accelerate global efforts to eradicate hunger and poverty. Among the announcements and commitments are the goal of reaching 500 million people with cash transfer programs in low- and lower-middle-income countries by 2030.

In addition, the Alliance aims to expand high-quality school meals to an additional 150 million children in countries where there is endemic child poverty and hunger while raising billions in credit and grants through multilateral development banks to implement these and other programs.

“Hunger is the product of political decisions that perpetuate the exclusion of a large part of humanity. The G20 represents 85% of the 110 trillion dollars of the global GDP. It also accounts for 75% of the 32 trillion dollars in trade in goods and services and two-thirds of the planet's 8 billion inhabitants. It is up to us, who are gathered around this table, to take on the urgent task of ending this scourge that shames humanity,” urged Lula during his speech at the opening of the G20 Summit.

“This is why we have established the launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty as the central objective of the Brazilian G20 presidency. This will be our greatest legacy. It is not just about doing justice. This is essential for building more prosperous societies and a world of peace,” the Brazilian president concluded.

TARGET YEAR: 2030 – The Alliance aims to eradicate hunger and poverty by 2030, reduce inequalities, and contribute to revitalized global partnerships toward sustainable development. “Hunger and poverty are not the result of scarcity or natural phenomena. In a world where military spending amounts to 2.4 trillion dollars, this is unacceptable. Through the Alliance, we will articulate international recommendations, effective public policies, and sources of financing. Brazil knows that it is possible,” stressed Lula, emphasizing that the Alliance was born in the G20, but its destiny is global.

BRAZILIAN EXAMPLE – Public policies implemented in Brazil — such as the Bolsa Família, the Food Acquisition Program [Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos], and the School Meals Program [Merenda Escolar] — are some of the initiatives considered benchmarks for combating hunger and which will be inspired by the Alliance. "With the active participation of civil society, we designed and implemented programs for social inclusion, promoting family farming and food and nutritional security, such as the Bolsa Família and the National School Feeding Program [Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar]. We managed to leave the FAO Hunger Map in 2014, to which we returned in 2022, in a context of disarticulation of the welfare state. In one year and eleven months, the return of these programs has already lifted more than 24.5 million people out of extreme poverty. By 2026, we will once again have left the Hunger Map," said the president.

MISSION AND GOVERNANCE – To achieve its goals, the Alliance prioritizes inclusive and just transitions and operates through three pillars: national, financial, and knowledge, designed to mobilize and coordinate resources for evidence-based policies adapted to the realities of each member country.

SUPERVISION – The Alliance will hold regular Summits Against Hunger and Poverty and establish a High-Level Champions Council to oversee its work. A lean and efficient technical body — the Global Alliance Support Mechanism — will be hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The body will operate independently to provide strategic and operational support, also fostering partnerships at the country level to implement initiatives to combat hunger and poverty. Brazil has committed to financing half of the Support Mechanism’s costs through 2030, with additional contributions from countries such as Bangladesh, Germany, Norway, Portugal, and Spain.

SPRINTS –Ahead of its formal launch on Monday (November 18), the Global Alliance demonstrated the success of its approach by motivating and driving early action and commitments from a broad range of its members across six priority areas of its political agenda — all announced at a special event during the G20 Social Summit on November 15. These announcements, called “2030 Sprints”, represent the largest collective attempt to change course and finally eradicate hunger and extreme poverty through large-scale, evidence-based policies and programs to lift up the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations.

GLOBAL PLATFORM – While the G20 was the launch pad for this initiative, the Alliance will now operate as an independent global platform, with continued support and potential momentum from future G20 presidencies. The entire governance structure, including the Champions Council and the Support Mechanism, is expected to be operational by mid-2025. Until then, Brazil will provide interim support for essential functions such as communications and approval of new members.

Founding Members of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty

Member Countries and Regional Entities:

1. African Union
2. Angola
3. Antigua and Barbuda
4. Argentina
5. Armenia
6. Australia
7. Bangladesh
8. Benin
9. Bolivia
10. Brazil
11. Burkina Faso
12. Burundi
13. Cambodia
14. Canada
15. Chad
16. Chile
17. China
18. Colombia
19. Cyprus
20. Denmark
21. Dominican Republic
22. East Timor
23. Egypt
24. Equatorial Guinea
25. Ethiopia
26. European Union
27. Finland
28. France
29. Germany
30. Guatemala
31. Guinea
32. Guinea-Bissau
33. Haiti
34. Honduras
35. India
36. Indonesia
37. Ireland
38. Italy
39. Japan
40. Jordan
41. Lebanon
42. Liberia
43. Kenya
44. Malta
45. Malaysia
46. Mauritania
47. Mexico
48. Mozambique
49. Myanmar
50. Netherlands
51. Nigeria
52. Norway
53. Palestine
54. Paraguay
55. Peru
56. Philippines
57. Poland
58. Portugal
59. Republic of Korea
60. Russian Federation
61. Rwanda
62. Sao Tome and Principe
63. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
64. Saudi Arabia
65. Sierra Leone
66. Singapore
67. Slovakia
68. Somalia
69. South Africa
70. Spain
71. Sudan
72. Switzerland
73. Tajikistan
74. Tanzania
75. Togo
76. Tunisia
77. Türkiye
78. Ukraine
79. United Arab Emirates
80. United Kingdom
81. United States
82. Uruguay
83. Vietnam
84. Zambia

International Organizations

1. African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD)
2. CGIAR
3. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
4. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
5. Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP)
6. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
7. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
8. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
9. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
10. Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
11. League of Arab States (LAS)
12. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
13. United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
14. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
15. Organization of American States (OAS)
16. International Labour Organization (ILO)
17. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
18. World Trade Organization (WTO)
19. World Health Organization (WHO)
20. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
21. World Food Programme (WFP)
22. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
23. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
24. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

International Financial Institutions:

1. Asian Development Bank (ADB)

2. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

3. Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF)

4. European Investment Bank (EIB)

5. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

6. World Bank Group

7. African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

8. New Development Bank (NDB)

9. Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP)

Philanthropic Foundations and Non-Governmental Organizations:

1. Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

2. Articulação Semiárido Brasileiro (ASA)

3. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

4. BRAC

5. Children's Investment Fund Foundation

6. Child's Cultural Rights & Advocacy Trust Agency

7. Açao da Cidadania

8. Education Cannot Wait

9. Food for Education

10. Instituto Comida do Amanhã

11. Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)

12. GiveDirectly

13. Global Partnership for Education

14. Instituto Ibirapitanga

15. Instituto Clima e Sociedade (iCS)

16. International Chamber of Commerce

17. Leadership Collaborative to End Ultrapoverty

18. Maple Leaf Early Years Foundation

19. Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal

20. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)

21. Pacto Contra a Fome

22. Rockefeller Foundation

23. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

24. SUN Movement

25. Sustainable Financing Initiative

26. Their World

27. Trickle Up

28. Village Enterprise

29. World Rural Forum

30. World Vision International

31. Instituto Fome Zero