Development Co‑operation Profiles: Brazil
Table of contents
Brazil has a dual role in development co-operation, acting as both a recipient and a provider. It provides development co-operation as technical South-South co-operation. Brazil is one of the OECD’s five Key Partners and an OECD Accession candidate. It has actively engaged with different OECD bodies and activities over the past two decades. Through its membership in the Group of Twenty (G20), Brazil advocates for a stronger role of the G20 in support of the 2030 Agenda, notably through the G20 Development Working Group. It focuses on innovative finance for sustainable development and localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During its 2024 G20 presidency, Brazil included sustainable development, notably ending poverty and hunger, and inequalities as well as triangular co-operation among its priorities.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Brazilian international development co-operation is aligned with and is one of the instruments of its national foreign policy. Brazil’s development co-operation is demand-driven. It is provided as technical South-South co-operation through bilateral, trilateral, multilateral and regional modalities. Brazilian development co‑operation has a strong focus on capacity development projects, including knowledge sharing, humanitarian co-operation, scholarships and educational support in tertiary education, as well as research and development. Its scope has expanded to facilitate regional, sub‑regional and interregional integration; provide innovative approaches for collective actions; and strengthen Brazil’s contribution to sustainable development in its social, economic and environmental dimensions. Brazil’s South-South co-operation includes initiatives in agriculture, public health, food and nutritional security, social development, science and technology, education, energy, industry, trade, justice, the environment, public safety and security, and employment. Brazil has developed projects in most Latin American and Caribbean countries; with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and its members in Africa and Asia; as well as with other countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
Brazil is a well-established triangular co-operation actor, which uses the modality as a regular tool in its development co-operation. Brazil implements its development co-operation according to principles that include, inter alia, respect for national sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and non-conditionality. The Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), which is responsible for implementing Brazil’s development co-operation, is guided by a series of frameworks and manuals such as the Manual of South-South Technical Co-operation Management; the Guidelines for the Design, Coordination and Management of Trilateral Co-operation Initiatives; and the Brazil-UNICEF Guidelines for Trilateral South-South Cooperation Initiatives.
Fighting inequality, poverty and hunger was at the forefront of Brazil’s priorities during its 2024 G20 presidency. As part of this effort, Brazil established the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. It was officially launched in November 2024 at the G20 Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro with 148 founding members and it continues to grow.
The Global Alliance aims to galvanise high-level political commitment to eradicate hunger and poverty worldwide. It builds upon synergies with existing initiatives while also mobilising and aligning domestic and international support, including financial resources and knowledge, to enable country-owned and country-led implementation of programmes and policy instruments. The most affected countries and vulnerable populations are prioritised.
The Global Alliance is composed of a reference basket of policy instruments with three constituent pillars: a National Pillar, a Financial Pillar and a Knowledge Pillar. Each pillar is responsible for gathering resources and experience and channelling them to where they are most needed. The nimble governance structure of the Global Alliance supports and guides its three pillars. It is composed of its members, the Summit against Hunger and Poverty, the Board of Champions, the Support Mechanism and the Global Alliance entry points. The OECD is represented by its Director of Development Co‑operation in the Board of Champions of the Alliance.
Brazil is a member of the International Forum on Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD). Brazil started reporting on TOSSD for the first time in 2021 on activities in 2020. The country has substantially enlarged the scope of its TOSSD reporting by including subnational entities’ co-operation.
In 2023, Brazil reported USD 2.6 billion in support of sustainable development, of which USD 49.1 million was cross-border resources to TOSSD recipients. Around 60 entities, between national and subnational entities, participated in Brazil’s TOSSD reporting on activities in 2023.
In 2023, Brazil’s support for sustainable development mainly contributed to advancing SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals).
In 2023, Brazil allocated USD 30.2 million (62%) of TOSSD as cross-border resources in support of 79 countries and territories. Partners receiving the largest support included Mozambique, Angola, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Chile. A majority of cross-border flows was provided to Latin America and the Caribbean (37%) and Africa (29%). Twelve per cent (USD 5.9 million) of Brazil’s cross-border resources had a regional scope while 26% (USD 12.9 million) were unallocated by region.
In 2023, USD 30.9 million (63%) of Brazil’s cross-border resources targeted social infrastructure and services in TOSSD recipients, with a particular focus on education (USD 17 million; 35%). One-fifth (20%) of Brazil’s cross-border flows targeted production sectors.
Brazil engages in triangular co-operation. Its main beneficiaries in 2023 were countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Southern Africa (through regional activities), Guinea-Bissau, and Kenya.
The main sectors of its triangular co‑operation are agriculture, forestry and fishing; government and civil society; and education. Brazil disbursed USD 11.8 million of TOSSD in 2023.
Learn more about triangular co-operation.
In 1987, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) created ABC as the designated unit within the MRE in charge of managing Brazil’s development co-operation. Since 2017, ABC also co-ordinates Brazil’s humanitarian co-operation and this has allowed the Brazilian government to improve the humanitarian dimension of its South-South co-operation to strengthen prevention and resilience; provide humanitarian assistance in response to disasters and humanitarian appeals; and support reconstruction after disasters and calamities to support people’s progress, particularly those who are the most vulnerable.
ABC also plays a significant political role in Brazilian diplomacy as the agent of the country’s technical co‑operation with an increasing number of developing countries, contributing to disseminating a modern image of Brazil and its institutions and consolidating the country’s leading role at both the regional and international levels.
ABC’s operational structure is composed of ten divisions, eight of which are in charge of developing the agency’s finalistic activities while the other two focus on the implementation of administrative and communication activities.
Brazilian South-South co-operation often reflects collaboration with public sector institutions and subnational entities, the private sector, and civil society. Brazil is also deeply engaged in educational and scientific co-operation through initiatives directly implemented by more than 100 public higher education institutions and other federal and state-level public institutions that sponsor foreign/national students and researchers.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC): www.gov.br/abc/en
IPEA (2023), A Cooperação Internacional e Científica Brasileira em Foco: Relatório COBRADI 2021, Institute for Applied Economic Research, Brasília (in press).
IPEA (2021), Cooperação Internacional em Tempos de Pandemia (in Portuguese), Institute for Applied Economic Research, Brasília, https://repositorio.ipea.gov.br/bitstream/11058/10920/3/Cooperacao_internacional.pdf
COBRADI: www.ipea.gov.br/portal/cobradi/publicacoes
Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty: https://globalallianceagainsthungerandpoverty.org/about
Since 2007, Brazil has been one of the OECD’s five Key Partners. In 2022, the OECD Council decided to open accession discussions with six countries, including Brazil.
Brazil is an Adherent to the DAC Recommendation on Good Pledging Practice; the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas; and the OECD Recommendation of the Council for Development Co-operation Actors on Managing the Risk of Corruption.
Brazil participated in the first Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Regional Programme Dialogue on Development Co-operation in 2024 and in the DAC High Level Meeting in 2025.
Brazil is a member of the International TOSSD Task Force. It has been reporting to TOSSD since 2022, on 2020 data.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied.
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