The Mercosur Social Summit begins in Rio with representatives of civil society

Rio de Janeiro will host the Mercosur Summit this week. The Mercosur Social Summit began on Monday (4/12) at the Museum of Tomorrow in Praça Mauá. Mayor Eduardo Paes participated in the opening ceremony of the meeting, alongside the Ministers of Women, Cida Gonçalves, and Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, as well as the substitute ministers of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Maria Fernanda Coelho, and of the Ministry of Agrarian Development, Fernanda Machiavelli.

– This meeting is educational for what we want as a form of government and decision-making, based on the reality of today's world. The more social movements, debates and participation of civil society we have, we will certainly improve the implementation of our public policies. I would like to invite everyone to hold a social summit of the world's largest economies here in Rio de Janeiro during the G20, to address the challenging issues of the moment. I hope that the debates here will be fruitful and that we can continue to advance in the construction of Mercosur – stated Mayor Eduardo Paes.

The purpose of the social forum is to bring together representatives of civil society and governments of the countries that make up Mercosur to discuss strengthening democracy in the Southern Cone region and to expand social participation in the bloc's political agenda. Brazil is the current pro tempore president of Mercosur.

This edition of the Social Summit will resume its in-person meeting after seven years. In June, Argentina held a virtual meeting. The meeting will last two days, and the results of the debates will be presented to the heads of state on Thursday (7/12). The effective participation of civil society in decision-making strengthens the process of regional integration in the Southern Cone.

– Rio de Janeiro is hosting the Mercosur Social Summit, with 300 participants from all countries in the bloc and invited countries, as a preparatory act and social participation for the Mercosur Leaders’ Summit, which should be the most important summit of Brazil’s “pro tempore” presidency of the economic bloc. Because it involves the signing of an important agreement with Singapore and the expectation of signing an agreement with the European Union, in addition to Bolivia’s access to Mercosur. In a way, the Mercosur Summit is an achievement for Brazilian diplomacy, which has a first-rate partner in Rio de Janeiro – said the coordinator of International Relations for the City of Rio, Lucas Padilha.

The Mercosur Summit is also a preparatory event for the G20 year, a group that brings together the world's leading industrialized and emerging countries. Rio de Janeiro will be the capital of the G20 and will host, among other events, the summit on November 18 and 19, 2024.

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December 4, 2023

Appointments: Social Summit debate Mercosul Museum of Tomorrow City Hall of Rio civil society