About IBSA Trust Fund

The India, Brazil and South Africa Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation is a unique initiative to enhance South-South cooperation for the benefit of the neediest nations of the South. This fund facilitates the execution of human development projects to advance the fight against poverty and hunger in developing countries.  

Main Objectives

• To alleviate poverty and hunger in nations of the South;
• To develop best practices in the fight against poverty and hunger by facilitating the execution of replicable and scalable projects in interested countries of the global south;
• To pioneer and lead by example the South-South cooperation agenda;
• To build new partnerships for development.  

Processes

The IBSA Trust Fund operates through a demand driven approach. Governments requesting support by this fund initiate discussions with focal points appointed among IBSA countries’ officers around the world. These focal points submit proposals to the IBSA board of directors for review. If a proposal receives favorable review, UNDP’s Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, which acts as the fund manager and board of directors’ secretariat, initiates contact with a potential executing agency to advance a project formulation, and to facilitate the project’s implementation.

IBSA projects are executed through partnerships with UNDP, national institutions or local governments. Important concerns of IBSA partners in the design of their projects include capacity building among projects’ beneficiaries, build-in project sustainability and knowledge sharing among Southern experts and institutions.

The IBSA Fund Board of Directors

The IBSA Fund Board of Directors comprises the Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives and Deputy Permanent Representatives, of India, Brazil and South Africa to the United Nations in New York. The Board approves summary proposals and detailed projects and continuously provides strategic direction to IBSA projects to ensure their successful implementation through strong South-South partnerships. The Fund’s Directors are assisted by technical experts who closely monitor project progress and the Fund’s portfolio.

Project Formulation and Reporting

IBSA projects are formulated following the IBSA guidelines, as well as UN and UNDP standards. They also incorporate South-South cooperation concerns, government and IBSA partners’ priorities, as well as the requirements and capacity of their executing agency. 

The IBSA Board of Directors and Experts are periodically briefed about projects’ progress and receive quarterly reports from project’s executing agencies.