The civil society organizations World Vision International, Ação da Cidadania, Comida do Amanhã Institute and Fome Zero Institute will share a seat on the Council of Champions of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, a high-level international body focused on strengthening national policies to combat hunger.

From 2025 onward, in a historic move to elevate the role of civil society in global policymaking, the four organizations will operate collaboratively within the Alliance, reinforcing the strategic role of civil society in global policymaking and ensuring that local and community experiences have a voice in international debates. The model provides that each year one of the entities takes on the official representation of the group on the Council, in a rotation system.

The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is an international mechanism that brings together governments, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector to address hunger and poverty around the world. It primarily assists in financing and in enabling national policies grounded on successful and evidence-based policy frameworks.

An urgent scenario 

The challenge is global and growing: according to the SOFI 2025 report, about 2.3 billion people live in food insecurity, 149 million children under five years of age experience stunted growth and 45 million suffer from acute malnutrition. These numbers reinforce the need for coordinated, inclusive, and evidence-based solutions.

In this context, the joint participation of the four organizations seeks to expand civil society’s advocacy capacity, connecting successful national experiences, such as the Bolsa Família Program in Brazil, and active search policies to an international effort to reverse this situation by 2030. “With our participation in the Board of Champions, we will contribute to the advancement of the initiative, and we will demonstrate that civil society plays a key role in the creation and development of effective global public policies,” emphasizes Rodrigo Rodrigo Afonso, executive director of Ação da Cidadania.

With deep programmatic experience and a direct link with communities, the organizations also contribute with informed insights, practical knowledge of implementation, and a commitment to equity and accountability. “For decades, we’ve worked with communities to develop child-focused, locally-led solutions. We uniquely amplify children’s voices and promote community-led social responsibility to strengthen service delivery and drive lasting change,” reports Dana Buzducea, leader of Partnership, Advocacy and External Engagement at World Vision.

For Juliana Tângari, co-founder and director of Comida do Amanhã, the Alliance is an innovative and timely mechanism to accelerate the international financing of national policies: “We hope to bring to the Council of Champions our perspective on the frequent barriers and opportunities for effective policy implementation, as well as strategic policies with a systemic approach.” 

Implementation

Each year, one of the organizations will be responsible for officially representing the group on the Board and for sharing the results with the others. In 2025, the first appointed representative will be Rodrigo Kiko Afonso, executive director of Ação da Cidadania, with Juliana Tângari, co-founder and director of Comida do Amanhã Institute, as first alternate. In 2026, Daniela Buzducea, Vice President of Advocacy and External Engagement at World Vision International, will take over the position. The nomination of the next representatives will follow the rotation model agreed by the group.

The collective chair seeks to: 

• Expand the participation of civil society within the Alliance Council; 
• Strengthen the coordination among organizations and networks engaged in combating hunger; 
• Support the creation and development of evidence-based public policies; 
• Promote technical coordination for national initiatives on the subject. 

In addition to serving on the Champions Council, the group is committed to maintaining an open dialogue with other civil society organizations, through meetings, consultations, and information sharing.

“The Global Alliance represents a crucial step in joining forces and promoting policies that truly make a difference for the communities most affected by hunger and poverty. We believe that joining forces with other organizations will help ensure the success of this initiative to help eradicate hunger in the world,” says José Graziano da Silva, director of Fome Zero Institute.