RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil launched what it called a social summit on Thursday ahead of next week’s meeting of top Group of 20 economies. The first event of this kind aimed to gain input from civil society ahead of the main annual summit.
Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said 40,000 people from G20 countries were expected to attend meetings and panels through Saturday at renovated warehouses in the port area of central Rio de Janeiro and the nearby Museum of Tomorrow. The main summit takes place in Rio on Monday and Tuesday.
Vieira told the opening ceremony, which was also attended by other ministers and First Lady Rosângela da Silva, that the meeting is part of Brazil’s G20 agenda to promote sustainable development and green energy, fight poverty and reduce inequality.
“There would be no discussion or effective action on this issue without welcoming the contributions of society,” Vieira said.
Proposals developed at the Social Summit will be summarized in a final document to be presented at the Leaders’ Summit.
First lady da Silva, better known as Janja, said starting the G20 with a socially focused event sets Brazil’s presidency apart from previous summits.
“I think we can ensure that, from this point on, voices are heard and their recommendations are effectively accepted,” Janja said.
Brazil’s low-income neighborhoods provide input
In addition, representatives of Brazil’s low-income communities also met in Rio as part of an initiative called F20, and last week presented a joint statement outlining their priorities. These include combating inequality, promoting climate justice, improving access to sanitation, and promoting digital and financial inclusion.
These neighborhoods, colloquially known as favelas, are home to 16.4 million Brazilians, or 8% of the country’s population, according to the government.
And the challenges of favelas are evident in places like Rio’s mountainous Rocinha neighborhood, which recently claimed the title of most populous favela from another outside the capital Brasilia. Residents of Rocinha face open sewage and a lack of economic opportunities.
Antonio Florencio, 58, a 40-year-old resident of Rocinha, expressed frustration over long-stalled infrastructure projects that do not meet the needs of his community. The upcoming G20 meeting seemed even further away from reality than the twenty kilometers between Rocinha and Rio’s Museum of Modern Art, where the summit will be held.
“Frankly, the G20 itself is only going to discuss an agenda that should be better for the whole country, for the world. But as for whether it will improve anything in this community, I don’t think it will,” he told The Associated Press.
In addition to the G20 social, the Brazilian government organized a free music festival in the city’s port area from Thursday to Saturday. Popular artists such as Seu Jorge, Daniela Mercury and Zeca Pagodinho perform.
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Gabriela Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo.
