India Brazil South Africa Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation (IBSA) – A Year in Review

It has been a busy year for India Brazil South Africa Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation (IBSA), an extraordinary model of trilateral development cooperation for achievement of the SDGS. Since last South-South Cooperation Day, IBSA has had many exciting developments.   Highlights

• 2018 marks IBSA’s 15^th remarkable year of cooperation for the benefit of the Global South. To date, fund has received $37 million in contributions to implement 32 projects in 19 partner countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Arab States.
• A new proposal was approved on ending child marriage in Zambia and Malawi that aims to promote national legislation to end child marriages and help girls and young women survivors reintegrate into society.
• New project approved on increasing digital financial literacy in Sierra Leone was approved that aims to provide 100,000 unbanked Sierra Leone farmers, of which 40% are women, with access to savings accounts, mobile credit, and insurance.
• 442 youth were given vocational training and formal certifications in Haiti, as this year marked the completion of this IBSA project on promoting youth socio-economic integration in Haiti. 30 youth participated in a micro-enterprise training, and a placement center was established in two locations that has thus far assisted 54 youth with job placement.
• A new hospital was built and inaugurated in Atta Habib, State of Palestine, as the IBSA project closed this year. The hospital, equipped with a PV solar system, is averaging 120 visitors per day.
• Each IBSA country committed to contributing a least $1 million per year to the fund in the years to come.
• IBSA is showcased at the Global South-South Development Expo Exhibition in Antalya, Turkey.
• Launch of the most recent IBSA Fund Overview of Project Portfolio Report.
• IBSA Focal Points and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to chart the road ahead. Some of the discussions included contributions to BAPA+40, or the 40^th Anniversary of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, a Trilateral Commission Meeting, and IBSA Dialogue Forum, as well as academic research with think tanks, workshops with opinion leaders.

    2018 Statements on IBSA “The IBSA Fund is a living tribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), its rich portfolio shows the many activities we have done advancing the SDGs implementation and begs the questions: how do we expand the framework of what we are doing?” — complemented H.E. Alok A. Dimri, Joint Secretary for Multilateral Economic Relations, and India’s IBSA Focal Point. “The IBSA Fund has established itself as a successful model of South-South cooperation. It benefits from much public recognition, legitimacy, and praise for its practical and impactful South-South approach. The IBSA Fund is an initiative much worth scaling-up, and which UNOSSC will gladly support in this endeavor.” — asserted Mr. Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of UNOSSC.   Learn More For more information on IBSA, please visit the IBSA Fund Website or download the latest IBSA Portfolio Report. For questions about IBSA, please contact Mithre Sandrasagra at mithre.sandrasagra@unossc.org or Anita Raman at anita.raman@unossc.org.