Public statement of concern: In defense of the future of democracy, sovereignty, and sustainable development — an urgent call to the international community in light of Brazil’s electoral scenario

The Civil Society Working Group for the 2030 Agenda (GT Agenda 2030) — a coalition that has brought together since 2014 dozens of civil society organizations, networks, and social movements dedicated to monitoring and advocating for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country — publicly expresses its extreme concern regarding the current political and institutional moment in Brazil, in which the pillars of democracy and the Democratic Rule of Law face grave threats, depending on the outcome of this election.

It is imperative to alert and mobilize the international community: the viability of the 2030 Agenda in Brazil is inseparable from a principled, transparent, peaceful, and fully democratic governance model.

Successive Spotlight Reports (Relatórios Luz) — which monitor the implementation of the 2030 Agenda targets in Brazil, produced by Brazilian civil society — demonstrated, notably between 2019 and 2022, an alarming assessment of budgetary dismantling, institutional paralysis, and the systematic and deliberate corrosion of public policies, programs, and public services essential to achieving sustainable development. All analyzed indicators show that this was a period of continued destruction of hard-won social, labor, and economic rights, accompanied by unprecedented attacks on the environment, Indigenous peoples, riverine peoples, Afro-descendant populations, and traditional communities, compounded by a severe health crisis in which institutional negligence and necropolitics claimed 720,000 lives in Brazil (a figure believed to be an undercount).

All of these facts are documented and widely known. Recent efforts toward institutional recovery and the reconstruction of public policies demonstrate that any progress toward genuinely sustainable development requires preserving and unconditionally implementing the 1988 constitutional pact. At this decisive juncture, the fate of the national Constitution and the 2030 Agenda in Brazil depends directly  on electing leadership genuinely committed to democratic values, a culture of peace, reducing structural inequalities, and a harmonious balance among the three Branches of the Republic.

In light of this scenario:

1. We vehemently repudiate the rise of far-right candidacies and political platforms that promote systematic disinformation, attack multilateral governance, and threaten the social fabric. A political project built on scientific denialism, dismantling of environmental protections, and the erosion of civic freedoms is fundamentally incompatible with the global commitment to “leave no one behind.”
2. We firmly reject rhetoric and platforms that incite intolerance and religious hatred, violate the non-negotiable constitutional principle of the secularity of the State, or instrumentalize faith to nullify fundamental human rights.
3. We vigorously condemn all attempts to roll back the rights of women, Black populations, Indigenous peoples, Quilombolas, communities in urban peripheries, and LGBTQIAPN+ persons. We reaffirm that distributive justice, gender equality, racial equity, and human dignity are non-negotiable.
4. We denounce projects that promote labor deregulation and precarious employment which foster increases in child labor and slavery-like conditions, as well as policies encouraging the arming of firearms among the civilian population, which heighten lethality, insecurity in the most vulnerable territories, and political violence.
5. We categorically reject any attempt at foreign interference in Brazilian elections and national governance. The self-determination of the Brazilian people, its national sovereignty, and the integrity of its electoral institutions must be fully safeguarded.
6. We demand full guarantees for an electoral process free from political violence, harassment, censorship, and coercion, ensuring the safety and physical integrity of voters, social leaders, and human rights defenders throughout the national territory.
7. We reaffirm the urgent need for ethical and responsible media coverage that is strictly committed to facts, rigorous fact-checking, and scientific evidence, which is vital to countering hate narratives and disinformation campaigns that mislead society.

We call upon the international community — democratic governments, multilateral agencies, human rights treaty bodies, and global civil society — to remain vigilant and in unyielding solidarity with Brazil. We urge all democratic forces to issue strong statements in defense of electoral integrity, republican institutions, and unconditional respect for the sovereign expression of the Brazilian people.

Without common sense and without democratic institutions, there is no climate justice, access to health, education, support for science, decent work, or social participation. Nor will there be the eradication of structural racism, hunger, or inequalities, nor a dignified future for all people. It is for this reason that, in this historic election, we close ranks and express our unequivocal endorsement of the candidacy that fully acknowledges and commits to the 2030 Agenda as the guiding framework of its government program, understanding that upholding hard-won rights, multilateralism, and constitutional order is an existential precondition to ensuring a truly just, inclusive, and sovereign present and future for Brazil.

Brazil, October 19, 2026
Civil Society Working Group for the 2030 Agenda (GT Agenda 2030)

www.gtagenda2030.org.br