Social inclusion; investing in local development; fostering civic engagement; promoting philanthropy; and investing in technical assistance for CSOs – these were among the areas identified by a recent World Bank Country Dialogue in Brazil as priority areas for collaboration between the Bank and the Brazilian government, on one hand, and foundations, both domestic and foreign, on the other.

The dialogue, the second in a series of Country Dialogues (the first took place in Thailand in October – see March issue of Alliance), took place in February, and drew some 150 participants from the foundation sector, the Brazilian government and the World Bank. Its aim was to explore areas for potential public-philanthropic partnership in Brazil’s development agenda. Stress was put on strengthening existing partnerships and finding successful initiatives that could be replicated. The meeting was organized by, among others, the European Foundation Centre (EFC), Fundação AVINA, Fundação Banco do Brasil, GIFE, and the World Bank.

Two of the participants, GIFE and the EFC, identified a number of areas for cooperation including improving the legal and fiscal environment for foundations and private social investment through the transfer of expertise, and enhancing the practice of foundations by sharing knowledge. Their cooperation will be formalized in an agreement to be signed at the EFC Annual General Assembly and Conference in Budapest in June.

For more information see http://www.worldbank.org/foundations