Bringing about people-centred development

In Brazil, UNDP collaborates with the government in promoting people-centred development and building partnerships with civil society to fight poverty. UNDP supports projects that promote growth with employment, growth that is environmentally friendly, growth that empowers people, and growth with equity.

UNDP implements its programmes within the framework of the Standard Agreement on Technical Assistance between the Government of Brazil and the United Nations. UNDP works closely with the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of the Ministry of External Relations.

Brazilians themselves implement programmes supported by UNDP, whenever local expertise is available, a policy that began with the fifth UNDP country pro-gramme (1992-1996). This approach to multilateral cooperation recognizes that Brazil has much of the expertise and human resources needed for development initiatives.

With the drastic reduction of international donor funding for development programmes in Latin America, the Government of Brazil has embarked on an innovative initiative to finance and manage its own national development programmes in partnership with UNDP. Government cost-sharing has been almost totally replaced conventional donor funding.

Traditional funding by donors, however, is still a significant source for UNDP work in Brazil, since it allows the Country Office to focus its financial support on critical initiatives, such as the preparations for the World Conference Against Racism, and assisting Brazilian organizations in obtaining resources from international financial institutions.

UNDP Brazil is carrying out one of the largest UNDP programmes in the world, covering the following focus areas: democratic governance, pro-poor policies, information and communications technology, energy and environmental policies, and HIV/AIDS.