To ensure that the demands of peripheries are on the G20 agenda, CUFA (Central Única das Favelas) will launch the World Forum of Favelas in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) in September. The idea is to promote international conferences to bring solutions to residents of peripheries in different regions of the world.
The meetings, scheduled to start on May 6th, include discussions on combating inequality, innovation, entrepreneurship, and diversity over three months. Countries such as South Africa, Angola, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, and the United States will host CUFA’s delegation.
“It’s the first time this debate will be at the G20,” says Celso Athayde, founder of the organization and CEO of Favela Holding. “We hope to amplify the voice of people living in favelas and help them organize their own discourse, making their perceptions heard.”
Although not directly related to the G20 Summit, which will be hosted by Brazil in November, the World Forum of Favelas plans to bring social issues highlighted in the conferences to the leaders of the world’s largest economies.
The goal is to ensure that the needs of peripheral populations are taken into account in international decision-making.
The conferences have been planned since 2022 when Celso Athayde received the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award from the World Economic Forum in Davos. He was chosen by the Schwab Foundation after winning the Social Entrepreneur Award, held by Folha in partnership with the sister entity of the World Economic Forum, to join the community of social innovators associated with the forum.
In his speech in Switzerland, Athayde stated that the economic forum was very important to the world, but that he could not be the only favela resident deserving of this award – and therefore, it was necessary to create a forum of their own favela.
“My agenda is to democratize everything I have achieved, my purpose is collective,” said the social entrepreneur at the time.
In Brazil alone, about 16 million people live in favelas, according to data from the 2022 Demographic Census released by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). Worldwide, the number of people living in precarious housing reaches one billion, according to the UN.
“I believe that the G20 is an instrument that can facilitate communication between those who suffer the consequences of inequalities and those who have been producing them for so long,” says Athayde.
Among the issues that will guide the World Forum of Favelas are: reducing inequalities; combating hunger and poverty; sustainability; human rights, race, and gender; challenges of peripheries on a global scale.
“The themes of favelas have never been present in international forums. We want to change that,” says the founder of CUFA.
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