BRICS Brasil Bulletin #20 - President Lula defends UN reform and global peace in BRICS Summit speech
During the BRICS Summit, Lula advocates for ways to reach a new global order: reforming the UN, putting an end to wars, and prioritising development. Listen to the report to learn more.
Report: Leandro Molina | BRICS Brasil
Voice-over: Lara Frederico
Reporter: In his opening speech for the BRICS Brasil Leaders’ Summit, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva highlighted that it was the fourth time that a summit was held in Brasil, and spoke of the progress made in multilateral order.
Lula: It is the fourth time that Brasil is hosting a BRICS Summit, and never had it happened in such adverse global circumstances. Even as the UN celebrated its 80th anniversary this year on 26 June, we are witnessing an unprecedented collapse of multilateralism. Ten years, after the UN’s creation, the Bandung Conference stood up against a division of the world into zones of influence, and fought for a multipolar international order. BRICS is a legacy of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Reporter: The president spoke about the multiplication of conflicts across the world, and about the fact that more resources are allocated to war than to peace.
Lula: It is easier to allocate 5% of GDP to military spending than to commit the 0.7% promised for Official Development Assistance. It is always easier to invest in war than in peace.
Reporter: The Brazilian president spoke of the fear of a nuclear catastrophe and of its consequences for the world.
Lula: As has happened before with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the instrumentalization of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) puts at risk the reputation of a key player when it comes to peace. The fear of nuclear catastrophe is now once more part of our daily lives.
Reporter: Lula said that nothing could justify acts of terrorism in the world, but that there was no possible justification for genocides either.
Lula: Nothing at all can justify terrorist acts perpetrated by Hamas, but we cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, or to the killing of innocent civilians and the use of hunger as a war weapon.
Reporter: On the war in Ukraine, the Brazilian president said that a ceasefire was urgently needed.
Lula: The parties involved in the war in Ukraine urgently need to deepen direct dialogue with a view to a ceasefire and lasting peace. The Group of Friends for Peace, created by China and Brasil and including member countries from across the Global South, is looking for possible ways to bring hostilities to an end.
Reporter: The Brazilian Head of State said that, across the UN’s eight decades of existence, not everything was a failure. However, if multipolar Governance proves unable to fulfil global expectations, the UN’s Security Council needs to change.
Lula: If international governance fails to reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it pertains to the BRICS to contribute to its reform. The group’s representativity and diversity give it the ability to promote peace and to prevent and mediate conflicts. We can lay the foundations for a revitalized governance. In order to overcome the crisis of confidence we are facing, a deep transformation of the Security Council is needed to make it more legitimate, representation, efficient and democratic.
Reporter: At the end of his speech, President Lula said that postponing the governance process led to a more unstable and dangerous world.
Lula: Every day that passes with an archaic and non-inclusive international structure is a lost day in the fight to solve the grave crises that humanity is facing.
Translation: Enora Lessinger (POET/UFC)
Proofreading: Michel Emmanuel Félix François (UFC)