South-South Cooperation: Fiocruz takes part in event in Brasília

The president of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira, took part in the signing ceremony of the new program document of the Brazil-UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) Partnership for the Promotion of Trilateral South-South Cooperation (2024-2028) last Thursday afternoon (5/9). The document was put together in a participatory way, with the support of the Brazilian cooperating institutions involved in the initiative and the common themes of UNFPA and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE). The partnership strengthens Brazil's commitment to international cooperation for sustainable development and is linked to 12 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event "Guaranteeing Rights and Choices for Brazil and the Global South", held at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, brought together national and international authorities to celebrate the re-inauguration of the National Commission on Population and Development (CNPD), under the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic. Extinct in 2019, the CNPD was re-created by Presidential Decree of March 27th, 2024, with the aim of contributing to integrated population and development policies, following the recommendations of the Cairo Conference of 1994, which is now 30 years old. The Conference represented a historic milestone that put people's human rights at the center of the global agenda.

The Commission will discuss issues ranging from sexual and reproductive rights, gender and race, to ageing and youth. Its structure will be broad and representative, including 20 government representatives and a further 20 civil society representatives. According to UNFPA, the re-establishment contributes to the government's coordination with civil society and the implementation of new public policies for the country's population and development agenda.

For the president of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira, the resumption of the Commission and the work that was being done is very important. "It is an honor for me to be here today representing our institution. It is with great joy that we have resumed the process of rebuilding the country and its social policies. Fiocruz has a strong identity with the aims of this Commission, especially in women's, children's and adolescents' health. My commitment, here, is to fully engage in this agenda for a better world," he said.

Fiocruz has a history of contributing to the population and development agenda in Brazil and to the CNPD since it was founded in 1995. In 2018, the institution hosted the Brazilian Dialogues on Population and Development and, in 2019, it co-organized, together with the Brazilian Network on Population and Development (REBRAPD), the national event to assess the 25th anniversary of the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Brazil, in preparation for the Nairobi Summit on the 30th anniversary of the ICPD.

The director of Fiocruz Brasília, Fabiana Damásio, accompanied President Mario Moreira at the ceremony. The event was also attended by the Minister of State of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Márcio Macedo; the Global Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Natalia Kanem; the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Melissa Fleming; the president of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Marcio Pochmann; the president of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), Luciana Cervo; and the general coordinator of the Brazilian Population and Development Network (REBRAPD), Richarlls Martins.

*With information from UNFPA Brazil