Institutional Strengthening of the Social Communication Support Unit (ACS) of the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations

Project BRA/00/003 -- Start Year: 2000; Approved Budget: US$1,230,471; End Year: 2003; Implementing Agent: NEX (National Execution Related Projects); Executing Agent: Ministry of External Relations (MRE); Related Projects: BRA/97/002

Project background and rationale: Growing media influence in the opinion making process has increased the importance of the divulgation of foreign policy as an instrument aimed at improving a country's insertion on the international scene. In 1996, a Social Communication Support Unit (ACS) was created within the General-Secretariat of the Ministry of External Relations with the task of disseminating Brazil's foreign policy through the establishment of close contacts with national and international press agencies, the organization of press conferences, the publication of informative pamphlets and the utilization of Internet for on-line information. Moreover, the ACS plays a key role in informing different sectors of the government about how their actions and other internal events are perceived by the foreign press, allowing the Brazilian government to act on a more incisive way on the international scene. However, due to the intensification of Brazil's international activities, the request of information has increased considerably, putting into question the capacity of the ACS to continue to provide the same output quality.

Project development goal: This project aims to rationalize the process of divulgation of Brazil's Foreign Policy on both national and international levels in order to project a positive image of the country and facilitate its competitive participation inthe globalization process

Project immediate objectives and expected outputs: More specifically, the project aims at the consolidation of the capacity of the ACS to gather information about Brazil's foreign policy, to process it and to re-divulge it. Its expected outputs are: The definition of a methodology of data collection for the elaboration of the inventory of the gases which cause the greenhouse effect and for the continuous monitoring of these emissions

1. The conclusion of the research concerning the improvement of ACS capacities;

2. The evaluation of the situation concerning the press offices located in the Embassies and Consulates abroad; the drafting of a Strategic Planning of the ACS;

3. The organization of events, seminars, conferences, round tables and expositions about Brazil in foreign countries;

4. The distribution of publications on various themes;

5. The creation of videos aimed at the divulgation of the image of Brazil abroad produced and distributed for the foreign TV channels by the 24 Centers of Brazilian Studies;

6. The updating of the MRE homepage, with information about Brazil's reality and its identity;

7. The purchase of books on Brazilian arts and crafts and their distribution to the Brazilian embassies;

8. The clipping of the news of Brazilian and international press available on Internet in order to inform the Brazilian Embassies and Consulates about the evolution of the situation of the Country and about the repercussion on international media of the events which have taken place in the country;

9. The restructuring of the Center of National and International Correspondents; the production, with the partnership of Radiobras, of the program "Resenha Contexto da Politica Externa Brasileira"

Contact details: Assessoria de Comunicação Social (ACS) Ministério das Relações Exteriores Anexo I, Térreo Brasília-DFl