President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday said South Africa fully supported the Brazilian Presidency’s focus on social inclusion and the fight against hunger at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Speaking at the working session on social inclusion and the fight against higher and poverty, Ramaphosa said it was only through an integrated and comprehensive system of social support that the G20 will be able to assist the most vulnerable in society.
According to the World Bank, nearly 700 million people are currently living in extreme poverty and the Sub-Saharan Africa region accounts for 67% of these people.
Ramaphosa said that at the same time, countries with developing economies were faced with declining growth prospects, declining investments and rising debt.
He said that these challenges had the potential to derail development gains and progress made toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
“We must therefore urgently redouble efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger. We must advance gender equality. And we must overcome the planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and pollution,” Ramaphosa said.
“Since the advent of democracy 30 years ago, South Africa has dedicated great effort and resources towards alleviating poverty and reducing inequality.
“Through its substantial social protection programmes, our government has provided vital support to millions of South Africans, lifting many out of extreme poverty and ensuring that our communities meet most of their basic needs.
“These social protection measures include the provision of free basic services, health care, basic education, higher education, social housing and transport.”
Ramaphosa added that South Africa was committed to end poverty, malnutrition and hunger in line with our National Development Plan.
As South Africa assumes the G20 Presidency on 1 December, Ramaphosa said food security will be one of the high-level priorities of South Africa’s G20 Presidency.
“As the G20, we need to ensure that the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals remains at the forefront of international financing decisions. We need to ensure that long outstanding commitments are met,” he said.
“And we need to ensure that new, at-scale, affordable and accessible funding is mobilised to support sustainable development. We must leave no one behind.”
Laura Carvahlo, renowned Brazilian economist and director of economic and climate prosperity at Open Society Foundations, said the change of presidency from Brazil to South Africa was a key moment for developing nations.
“The South African G20 presidency will end the cycle of three developing country presidencies in this global forum, which will, after that, be handed to the US for 2026. Brazil’s experience shows that countries from the Global South can use these fora to set an agenda that can have important domestic and global impact,” Carvahlo said.
“This impact can be felt in the policy agendas that the host delivers, as well as in the role the host can play in defending against prescriptions that benefit only the wealthiest of nations. Looking ahead, South Africa has an opportunity to leverage its rich experience in advancing its own climate transition in order to both capture a global agenda and challenge larger economies to make good on their commitments to partnership.”
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