IBSA

Published in Jan 19, 2015 05:27 PM Updated in Mar 06, 2025 03:56 PM

The India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) was created in June 2003. The mechanism, which brings together three large multi-ethnic democracies in the developing world, entails political coordination, sectoral cooperation and cooperation with third countries, implemented by the IBSA Fund.

To date, five IBSA Summit meetings have been held:

1st IBSA Summit – Brasilia, September 2006;
2nd IBSA Summit – Pretoria, October 2007;
3rd IBSA Summit – New Delhi, October 2008;
4th IBSA Summit – Brasilia, April 2010; and
5th IBSA Summit – Pretoria, October 2011.

Currently, IBSA has the following working groups in operation:

WG on Customs and Tax Administration;
WG on Agriculture;
WG on Trade, Investment and Infrastructure;
WG on Defense;
WG on Blue Economy;
WG on Energy; and
WG on Tourism.

The most prominent initiative of the Dialogue Forum, the IBSA Fund has been financing social infrastructure projects in least-developed countries since 2004. Its resources are managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and transferred to selected projects.

Since the creation of the Fund, 31 projects have been financed in 21 countries from different regions and continents, especially the least-developed countries. To date, the IBSA Fund has allocated more than $ 31 million. The following projects are highlighted:

Health Care Infrastructure Refurbishment in the cities of Covoada and Ribeira Brava (Cabo Verde);
Agricultural Development (Phase I), in Bissa, N'tatelai and Capafa (Guinea-Bissau);
Development of Agriculture and Rural Communities Services (Phase II), in the regions of Bafatá, Oio and Biombo (Guinea-Bissau);
Solid waste collection and recycling: a tool to reduce violence and conflict in Carrefour Feuilles (Phases I and II), Port-au-Prince (Haiti).

For its successful initiatives, the IBSA Fund has earned the following awards: the ‘United Nations South-South Partnership Award, granted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2006; the ‘Millennium Development Goals Awards’, granted in 2010 by the NGO ‘Millennium Development Goals Awards Committee’, and the ‘South-South and Triangular Cooperation Champions Award’, bestowed in 2012 by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), for its innovative contribution to the triangular South-South cooperation.