Reforming and strengthening the United Nations (UN) will be Brazil’s main objective during the first major event it is organizing as president of the G20, said Mauricio Carvalho Lyrio, secretary for economic and financial affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Brazil’s G20 sherpa, on Tuesday.
The official reiterated the urgent need to restructure global governance and guarantee nonviolent mechanisms.
“We are putting out fires. With 183 conflicts in the world, it is such a catastrophic situation from a humanitarian rights point of view that action has to be structural,” Carvalho said.
“The idea is that we have an effective reform of the UN so that it is an effective instrument to prevent conflicts,” he added.
According to him, “There are countries that are in favor of reforming the Security Council, others that are in favor of strengthening the General Assembly or strengthening the Economic and Social Council. Brazil has always been very open to reform as a whole. The UN needs to be more representative and more relevant to today’s needs,” he added.
The G20 foreign ministers are meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday and Thursday. Representatives from South Africa, Germany, China, the United States, and France, among others, will attend the meeting.
According to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, discussions throughout the year will be structured around three priorities: social inclusion and the fight against hunger and poverty; the promotion of sustainable development, taking into account its three pillars: social, economic, and environmental; and the reform of global governance institutions.
Brazil has held the rotating presidency of the G20 since 1 December 2023 and will continue to do so until 30 November 2024. During this period, around 130 meetings are expected to take place in 15 cities across the country. The most important will be the G20 Leaders’ Summit, scheduled for 18-19 November this year in Rio de Janeiro.
