<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assumed, together with its Brazilian counterpart, the co-presidency of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative promoted last November by the Brazilian president, Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva, within the framework of the G20 presidency by his country.</strong></h4> The Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Eva Granados, assumed this past Wednesday in Rome the co-presidency of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty together with the Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger of Brazil, Wellington Dias, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. The announcement took place during the XLVIII session of the Board of Governors of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In her speech, the Secretary of State underlined Spain's commitment to an Alliance based on a human rights approach, gender equality and the promotion of the right to food. “Hunger is not only a moral tragedy, but an unacceptable collective failure,” she said. “In a world with the resources and technology to eradicate it, we cannot afford to fail,” she warned. “The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty is a crucial step in the right direction,” she added. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the press release, “assumes the co-presidency with the responsibility of converting the political impulse into concrete and effective actions.” “From this position, it will work to strengthen the governance of the Alliance, promote the mobilization of resources and ensure an inclusive approach that integrates all key actors, from governments to civil society, the private sector and local actors,” she added. Spain and Brazil will lead the work of the Board of Champions, from which they will try to ensure the effective implementation of the Alliance and the coordination of the executive board and the support mechanism, which will operate under the framework of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and will have offices in Rome, Brasilia, Bangkok, Washington and Addis Ababa. In addition, the Alliance has agreed to move forward with the appointment of Global Ambassadors against Hunger and Poverty, as well as the holding of the first Global Summit in Doha in November 2025. The launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty took place last November during the G20 Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro and attended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. During his speech at the Summit, the head of the Executive recalled that Spain was one of the first countries to join this initiative, “because there is no more important and urgent cause to fight for: eradicating hunger, drastically reducing poverty and reducing inequalities.” On December 17, the Council of Ministers approved a voluntary contribution from Spain to the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty in the year 2024, for an amount of 750,000 euros. The objective of the Alliance is to eradicate hunger and poverty by 2030 through political impetus, knowledge and financing. Nearly 712 million people lived in extreme poverty in 2022, 23 million more than in 2019, and around 733 million people suffered from hunger in 2023, with more than a third of the world's population unable to afford a healthy diet.
