Over the next month, Brasil is preparing to listen to civil society representatives on the decisions of the world's largest economies. The meetings will take place in Rio de Janeiro and will bring together engagement groups, grassroots movements, and civil society for debates, fairs, and cultural activities.
The countdown has begun: less than a month remains until the great celebration of civil society's journey to be listened to by the leaders of the world's largest economies. The G20 Social Summit will be held in Rio de Janeiro from November 14th to 16th and will be held in one of the most important areas in the center of the capital: Praça Mauá (Mauá Square) and its surroundings, which includes the Olympic Boulevard, the Museum of Tomorrow, the Port of Rio, the Museum of Art of Rio (MAR) and the Kobra Space, which features a large mural by the Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra, one of the greatest muralists of our time.
Coordinated by the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic (SGPR), the G20 Social is an unprecedented initiative created by Brasil's G20 presidency. The goal is to increase the presence of social and non-governmental participants in the discussions for decisions to be made at the G20 Leaders' Summit, which will address three key axes that Brasil's government has chosen: the fight against hunger, poverty, and inequality; sustainability, climate change, and just transition; and reform of global governance.
The G20 Social Summit is the culmination of the social participation process envisioned by President Lula in December 2023, when Brasil assumed the group's annual presidency. Since then, the G20 Social has conveyed the plurality of Brazilian and foreign civil society voices. The G20 Social also enabled meetings of the political and financial tracks with engagement groups and social movement leaders for the first time.
Program - The G20 Social Summit will include fairs at Olympic Boulevard organized in three thematic areas: Sustainability, with handicrafts and services; Fight Against Hunger, with food and agroecological products; and Peoples' Culture, with literature, publications, and social media. The fairs will feature 150 stands, which have been selected through a process that received 264 applications.
The event also includes the Cultural Festival "Global Alliance Against Hunger", which will take place on the Central Stage in Praça Mauá every day from 6 p.m. In addition, the CRIA space will be a central spot for connections between content creators, communicators, and activists.
Day 1 - The first day of the Social Summit (14) will feature self-organized activities proposed by many different civil society voices. These are debates, talks, and thematic panels organized by social movements, engagement groups, international organizations, councils, universities, governments, and the private sector, among others, from Brasil and other countries. A total of 852 applications were submitted, and 164 activities were selected in the first call. The General Secretariat is working to include new activities in other spaces.
Day 2 - The program for the second day of the Social Summit (15) will be organized around the three thematic axes - fighting hunger and poverty, sustainability, and global governance - with one document to be approved for each of the axes. The activities coordinated by civil society will then continue in the afternoon.
Day 3 - The last day of the Social Summit (16) will be dedicated to summarizing the activities carried out at the G20 Social. The final plenary session will lead to the approval of a document that will be submitted for debate at the Leaders' Summit, with a closing ceremony in the afternoon on the central stage of Praça Mauá.
Public consultation - The Public Consultation of the G20 Social Participatory is open until October 31st, in which people from all over the world can submit their suggestions on the three priority themes of the G20. Contributions can be made in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Click here to access it .
Movements - Major national grassroots movements were invited to contribute to the process. The Brasil's Indigenous People Articulation (APIB); the Brazilian Association of NGOs (Abong); the Unified Workers' Central (CUT); the Black Coalition for Rights; the World March of Women (MMM); the Unified Center of the Favelas (CUFA) and the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) are part of the organizing committee of the G20 Social Summit, bringing the many shades of Brasil's popular movements to the globe.
