Rio de Janeiro Hosts First BRICS People's Summit

For the first time in its history, the BRICS bloc opened a new chapter today in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state, as social movements, unions, students, and non-governmental organizations gathered for their own dedicated forum.

Held in Rio, this inaugural BRICS People's Summit seeks to equip the Global South with a broader and more diverse voice in policy formulation within the now-expanded 11-member alliance.

The meeting marks the debut of the BRICS People's Civil Council, established in 2024 during the Kazan Summit and conceived as a permanent channel for dialogue with member governments.

Its mission: to turn social demands into concrete proposals aimed at strengthening economic cooperation, redefining global governance, and advancing toward a financial architecture less dependent on the US dollar.

Organizers describe the council as a milestone for institutionalizing citizen participation. Their goal is for voices historically absent from geopolitical decisions—such as peasants, youth, and grassroots organizations—to gain sustained influence on the bloc's strategic agenda.

In a video message, former Brazilian President and current head of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff, celebrated the launch of this space.

"For the first time, the peoples of the BRICS countries have a permanent channel for dialogue with their governments," she stated.

According to Rousseff, this is an essential step toward consolidating a more democratic South-South cooperation.

The summit is the last major BRICS event under the Brazilian presidency before India assumes the role in 2026.

For social movements, the forum will also serve to formalize an operational structure ensuring the continuity of the People's Civil Council during the next presidency.

"We are going to formalize the permanent functioning of this space and initiate a cycle of debates on the reconfiguration of global geopolitics," explained João Pedro Stedile, leader of Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement (MST) and the Brazilian representative on the council.

Organizers noted that BRICS countries dominate a significant portion of the global food system, accounting for roughly 70 percent of global agricultural production, leading in fertilizer manufacturing, and serving as a benchmark in family farming, which is responsible for 80 percent of the planet's food value.

This power, they warn, comes with a responsibility: to promote more sustainable, equitable systems capable of addressing climate and social challenges.

The food security agenda will be one of the core issues the new council aims to place at the center of the bloc's discussions. The Global South is speaking, and its echo cannot be ignored.