A word from the interim coordinators

Dear friends and colleagues,

We are delighted to connect with you in this special combined June/July edition of our newsletter. Why combine two newsletters? Well, the fact is that we were so busy firing on all cylinders that we simply couldn´t find the time to finalize this newsletter. This means that there is a lot to tell in this edition!

First and foremost, we would like to extend a warm welcome to our new members Barbados, Cuba, Saint Lucia, the Caribbean Development Bank and the Green Climate Fund. It is with great enthusiasm that we witness the continued expansion of the Global Alliance’s membership. Equally encouraging is the finalization of nine implementation pre-plans for eight countries under the Fast-Track initiative, a follow-up of the Sprints announcement and commitments made last year at the eve of the G20 Summit. This is a clear sign that the decision to begin operations immediately after the Alliance’s launch, even before the formal establishment of its support mechanism, was indeed the right one.

In the meantime, FAO has received all the financial contributions for the Multi-donor Trust Fund from Brazil, Portugal, Spain and Norway and it will soon finalize the recruitment of the 15 professionals who will comprise the Global Alliance’s Support Mechanism team, to be based in Rome, Brasília, Washington, Addis Ababa, and Bangkok.

These past two months have also been marked by extraordinary progress and historic commitments from multilateral fora, which significantly advance our shared mission to accelerate the achievement of SDGs 1 and 2— despite the headwinds facing international cooperation and solidarity during the first half of the year.

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) opened on June 30 in Seville, Spain, with the adoption of the “Sevilla Commitment” or “Compromiso de Sevilla”, an intergovernmentally negotiated outcome that lays the foundation for a renewed global framework for financing development. Commitments include steps to close the $4 trillion financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), address the debt crises, and reform the rules of the system to make the international financial system fairer and more transparent, putting people’s needs at the center, and injecting new hope for people around the world.

In recognition of its increasing momentum and focused work, the Global Alliance was explicitly commended by the “Compromiso de Sevilla”, in these terms: “We commend initiatives that increase financing for poverty and hunger eradication, address the fragmentation of finance in this area, and promote greater alignment towards impactful public policies[…], such as the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty”. It was the only such example, a rare acknowledgement of a global initiative in a landmark statement which updates the 10-year-old Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

During FfD4, the Global Alliance successfully launched two initiatives under the new Seville Platform for Action: Building Better Integrated Finance for SDG 1 and 2 and the Climate-Resilient Social Protection and Smallholder Agriculture Finance Partnership. These initiatives—built on the innovation and ambition of our country-led Fast-Track Implementation Plans, and creating the momentum and commitments in the build up towards COP30 —are already empowering countries such as Benin, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Palestine, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia to scale up national programs and seek, through the Alliance, partners who can facilitate knowledge-sharing, peer-to-peer learning, and financial support for coverage expansion and the development of new, impactful program components.

On Friday, July 26th, the G20 Development Working Group (DWG) Ministerial Meeting, under the South African Presidency, officially adopted the Call to Action: Towards Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Development through Universal Social Protection Systems and Floors. This is a major step forward, and we are very proud that the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty is explicitly recognized in the Call to Action, but also in the G20 DWG Ministerial Declaration for its central role in the fight against hunger and poverty.

The G20’s Call to Action reaffirms support for the Global Alliance, emphasizing that it “encompasses social protection” as a key instrument in its Policy Basket. It highlights the Alliance’s purpose to “support and accelerate efforts, including social protection tools, to advance progress towards eradicating hunger and poverty (SDGs 2 and 1), while reducing inequalities (SDG 10).”

The powerful endorsements from the whole international community and UN system in Seville, and from the world’s leading economies, regional bodies such as the African Union and the European Union, in the G20, provide welcome political momentum. They reinforce that social protection — a cornerstone of the Alliance’s evidence-informed approach — is vital to mobilizing our members and achieving our collective goals.

This achievement was made possible by the collective voice and engagement of our members. We extend our heartfelt thanks to those of you who, UN FfD4 negotiators and/or as G20 members or invited guests of this year’s Presidency, ensured that the role of the Global Alliance was reflected and strengthened in the final declarations.

The commitments made in Seville and the G20’s Call to Action together set a powerful stage for what lies ahead. Let us carry this energy forward as we prepare for the Second World Summit on Social Development, to be held in Doha this November, which will also host the first Leaders’ Meeting of the Global Alliance.

Together, we are demonstrating that coordinated, collective action can build a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. Thank you for your continued dedication and unwavering commitment.

Warm regards,

Fábio Veras, Renato Godinho and Saulo Ceolin

Coordinators for the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty’s interim support team