Fiocruz, in particular through the Center for Strategic Studies (CEE/Fiocruz) and the Fiocruz Global Health Center (Cris/Fiocruz), coordinates the two sub-task forces dedicated to discussions on health in the T20. Other units of the Foundation, such as Fiocruz Brasília, have also contributed. The T20 is a G20 engagement group that brings together think tanks, research centers and high-level experts from participating and invited countries. Think tanks are like "thinking centers" that work on critically analyzing content to generate knowledge on a given subject.
"Fiocruz is fully involved, dedicated and aligned with the Brazilian government, especially with the Ministry of Health, putting all its institutional capacity in favor of good participation by Brazil and good results for the world, so that we have a more balanced, fairer planet with fewer inequalities," says the Foundation's president, Mario Moreira.
"This carries great weight and means great recognition of Fiocruz's strategic role for the government and society," says researcher João Miguel Estephanio, a member of Cris and one of the coordinators of Fiocruz's insertion strategy in the G20. Both Cris and CEE sit alongside other institutions on the T20 National Advisory Council (NAC). "As members of the NAC, our mission is to publicize the work of the T20 and to encourage other national and international institutions to participate and engage in the process," explains João Miguel.
In recent months, the T20 has been evaluating policy briefs submitted with public policy proposals aimed at supporting the decisions of government leaders at the Rio 2024 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in November. The topics under discussion at the T20, for preparing policy briefs, were distributed among six task forces, with the following proposals: tackling inequalities, poverty and hunger; encouraging sustainable climate action and fair and inclusive energy transitions; reforming the international financial architecture; cultivating trade and investment for sustainable and inclusive growth; inclusive digital transformation; and reinforcing multilateralism and global governance – to generate political recommendations for the G20 in response to global challenges.
Fiocruz Brasília's contributions include two actions: the preparation of a policy brief on food security, produced by the Food, Nutrition and Culture Program (Palin), under the coordination of researcher Denise Oliveira e Silva, and with the collaboration of João Miguel and the World Food Program (WFP Brazil/UN); and technical support to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) with a focus on the task force to create the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. "This is one of the main results that Brazil's presidency is pursuing at the G20 this year," comments the Cris researcher. In this action, Palin was part of a technical group with the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (CONSEA) and other players on the food and nutritional security agenda.
Policy briefs
The policy briefs were derived from abstracts, containing the main ideas of the proposals – research-based evidence, an indication of the relevance of the topic to the G20 agenda and priorities, as well as specific and viable recommendations for the bloc of countries. These abstracts were submitted to the T20 until February 2024 and, in recent months, have undergone a process of evaluation and development. The approved texts will be published in full on T20's website. The proposals were consolidated in the Official T20 Communiqué, presented at the group's Midterm meeting, between the 1st and 3rd of July. On the occasion, the Communiqué was also symbolically handed over to the representatives of the G20 governmental tracks, to support the negotiations of the official declarations. The culmination of the work of the T20 under the Brazilian presidency will take place at the Social Summit, which will be held in November, on the eve of the G20 Government Summit.
Fiocruz at the G20
The G20 brings together 19 countries, the European Union and, as of 2024, the African Union, and annually discusses cooperation initiatives in the economic, financial and development areas. It is considered one of the main forums for international economic cooperation. The group is governed by a troika, made up of the country holding the rotating presidency, the country that held the previous presidency and the one that will take over next. At the moment, the troika is made up exclusively of developing countries – India, Brazil and South Africa, respectively – leading the Brazilian T20 to emphasize issues of relevance to the Global South, focused on the challenges of sustainable development.
Fiocruz's participation in the G20 is wide-ranging, beyond its representation in the T20. As a State institution, Fiocruz is directly involved in the discussions, supporting the Brazilian government, especially in the Health Work Group (HWG), coordinated by Health minister, Nísia Trindade, and guided by four priorities – Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response; Digital Health; Health Equity; and Climate Change and Health. These issues will be discussed at the face-to-face meeting of G20 health ministers in October.