São Paulo – Between 2005 and 2009, Brazil donated R$ 3.2 billion (US$ 1.9 billion) to other countries and institutions, according to a study disclosed on Brazilian Cooperation for International Development (Cobradi) disclosed on Friday (24), in Brasília, by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea). Of this total, R$ 2.46 billion (US$ 1.44 billion), or 76.5%, was turned to multilateral organisations. Another R$ 755 million (US$ 442 million), or 23.5% of the total, went to humanitarian aid and technical cooperation in donations classified as bilateral.
According to the study, of the R$ 2.46 billion donated to institutions in five years (between 2005 and 2009), R$ 1.5 billion went to international organisations like, for example, the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Unicef) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Of the remaining R$ 929 million (US$ 544 million), R$ 435.2 million (US$ 253 million) was turned to the World Bank Group, R$ 471.5 million (US$ 276 million) went to the Inter-American Development Bank and R$ 22.7 million (US$ 13 million) went to the African Development Bank.
The donations in the study were made with no counterpart requirement from the institutions that were granted the funds. The Ipea evaluates that the funds granted to multilateral banks provides more “focussed and less fragmented” assistance, helping reduce the cost that may increase the price of the expected development processes.
The Planning and research technician of the Board of Policy Studies and International Relations at the Ipea (Dinte), Manuel José Forero Gonzalez stated that the study between 2005 and 2009 was developed to learn how much the government donated in the period. The idea, he said, was to calculate the volume donated since 2003, but governmental organisations that provide the information to the Ipea could not find such information.
Apart from donations in funds, the calculation also includes trips by Brazilian professionals to other countries and hotel fees, among other costs. “A trip by an Embrapa professional to Mozambique, for example, generated costs that were tallied,” explained Gonzalez. He believes that the total in bilateral donations should actually exceed the R$ 755 million figure.
Among the countries benefited, Gonzalez points out Haiti, which got humanitarian aid, African and South American countries. He says that when figures referring to 2010 and 2011 are totalled, they may help plot a policy for donation to countries and institutions, but points out that diplomacy already has definite strategies: helping in the development of neighbouring and African nations is among them.
*Translated by Mark Ament
