India, Brazil, South Africa sign IBSA Trust Fund agreement

India, Brazil, South Africa sign IBSA Trust Fund agreement

Context:

India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) have signed the IBSA Trust Fund Agreement that seeks to fight poverty in developing countries.

Introduction:

It was signed at the 8th IBSA trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting in Durban, South Africa.

What is IBSA Trust Fund?

• The IBSA Trust Fund  brings together the three emerging economies of India, Brazil and South Africa to combat poverty in other developing countries.
• Each country will contribute US $1 million annually to this fund which is managed by the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.

BSA Dialogue Forum :

• The IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) Dialogue Forum is an international tripartite grouping for promoting international cooperation among these countries. It was launched in June 2003.
• It brings together three large democracies and major economies from three different continents namely, Africa, Asia and South America that represent three important poles for galvanizing South-South cooperation.
• The forum provides the three countries platform to engage in discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade, culture, and defence among others.

Cooperation in IBSA is on three fronts:

• Cooperation in IBSA is on three fronts Forum for consultation and coordination on global and regional political issues, such as reform of global institutions of political and economic governance, WTO/Doha Development Agenda, climate change, terrorism etc.
• Trilateral collaboration on concrete areas and projects, through 14 working groups and 6 People-to-People (P2P) Forums, for the common benefit of three nations.
• Assisting other developing countries by taking up projects in the latter through IBSA Fund.