Brazil
From Wikiprogress.org
| Brazil | |
 Flag of Brazil | |
| Population (In Millions) | 196.66 |
| Human Development Index | 84/169 |
| Gross Domestic Product (In USD Billions - World Bank) | 2,476.65 |
| Global Peace Index | 74/153 |
| Happy Planet Index | 9/143 |
| Social Institutions and Gender Index | 8/86 |
| Environmental Performance Index | 62/163 |
| Child Mortality Rate | 13.9 |
| More information on variables | |
UNDP Human Development Report-2011
The Human Development Index (HDI) represents a push for a broader definition of well-being and provides a composite measure of three basic dimensions of human development: health, education and income. According to the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 2011, Brazil's HDI is 0.718, which gives the country a rank of 84 out of 187 countries with comparable data. The HDI of Latin America and the Caribbean as a region increased from 0.582 in 1980 to 0.731 today, placing Brazil below the regional average[1]
Brazil's HDI breaks down as follow:
- Health: 0.844
- Education: 0.663
- Income: 0.662
Multidimensional Poverty Index
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Brazil is 0.011. The MPI is an international measure of acute poverty covering 109 countries. The MPI reflects the multiple deprivations that poor people face at the same time in three dimensions: health, education and living standards. The MPI reflects both the incidence or headcount ratio (H) of poverty – the proportion of the population that is multidimensionally poor – and the average intensity (A) of their poverty – the average proportion of indicators in which poor people are deprived. More information on the MPI in Brazil is available here.
Main Progress Initiatives
Portal ODM (Millennium Development Goals)
The Brazilian MDG Municipal Portal has indicators for all 5,564 municipalities in the country. These indicators are presented in two formats. First, the Portal offers easy access to data related to each specific municipality. Second, the Portal gives access to a DevInfo database that creates the possibility of generating maps, tables and graphs.
Instituto Visao Futuro
Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest (PPG7)
The Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest (PPG7) is a multilateral initiative involving the government of Brazil, the civil society and the G7 governments which aims to conserve the environmental benefits of the rainforests by the development of pioneering projects that reduce the deforestation rate in Brazil.
Concretely, the main areas of actions are:
- The experimentation and demonstration of ways of protecting Brazil’s rain forests and using them in a sustainable fashion
- The protection and conservation of rain forest natural resources
- The empowering of civil society and public institutions involved in environmental protection of Brazil’s rain forests
- The support towards scientific research and the dissemination of findings to conserve Brazil’s rain forests
Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Ibama)
The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA) is a federal agency whose purpose is to exercise the police power of the environment; perform actions of national environment, referring to federal responsibilities relating to environmental licensing, environmental quality control, authorization of use of natural resources and the supervision, monitoring and control environment, and perform the actions subsidiary of Union competence in accordance with environmental regulations.
Grupo de Trabalho Amazônico
The Amazon Working Group (GTA) brings together 602 affiliated entities and is structured into nine Legal Amazon states and divided into eighteen regional collectives. They are part of the GTA Network nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and social movements that represent various segments.
Official Statistics
Fundacao Instituto Braseleiro de Geografi e Estatistic (IBGE)
Development Progress Story: Social protection in Brazil - Impacts on poverty, inequality and growth
Brazil's progress in utilising social protection to positively impact on poverty, inequality and growth has been highlighted as a part the Overseas Development Institute 's Development Progress Stories, an initiative looking at what is working in development and why. Key messagesfrom the research include:
- Brazil’s high inequality rate has been reducing since 1990, with positive impacts on income poverty. Social assistance has contributed to this scenario. Both pensions and transfers have increased access to education and health for poor households, although to date the evidence on impacts here is less promising.
- Important factors in this progress include: the Federal Constitution of 1988, which incorporated universality of coverage and selectivity to reach the most vulnerable and an emphasis on social assistance; political concern with regard to poverty and inequality; and institutional reform and strong capacity to coordinate programming.
- There is a need for a broader social policy package to ensure positive impacts on poverty and inequality, as well as wide coverage and accurate targeting. High pension transfers linked to the minimum wage can ensure an increase in the real values of transfers.
Full report and summary case study can be viewed and downloaded here.
Green growth in Brazil
Through the Brazilian National Plan on Climate Change (NPCC), Brazil is actively seeking to harness low carbon development to enhance competitiveness and open new markets, particularly for bioethanol. Environmental protection has become a rising priority due to three main factors:
- Growing public awareness of environmental issues and the need for improved sound environmental management;
- Increasing sensitivity to domestic and external criticism of poor natural resource management; and
- Growing recognition in both public and pricate sectors that better environmental management provides a competitive edge to Brazilian businesses.
The NPCC includes a set of targets that will be met by promoting sustainable development in the industrial and agricultural sectors, maintaining a high proportion of renewable energy in electricity production, encouraging the use of biofules in the transportation sector and reducing deforestation. These targets will be pursued in four fashions:
- Mitigation and adaptation;
- Reduction of vulnerability and impact;
- Research and development;
- Enhancement of skills and dissemination.
Brazil has attempted to harmonize these green growth goals with their economic growth and poverty reduction strategies for greater efficiency.
Some of the NPCC targets:
- To reduce the agricultural secotr's carbon dioxide emissions by 4.9% to 6.1% by 2020.
- To stimulate environmental preservation and productivity enhancement in agricultue through "low-carbon" government loans.[2]
Happiness in Brazil
Brazil is considering making the pursuit of happiness a constitutional amendment. Some supporters say it will bring awareness to the fact that social growth is not as quick as recent economic growth in Brazil. Furthermore, it will allow citizens to hold the government accountable long accused of not providing basic services for the poor.[3]
This is an overview of findings on Happiness in Brazil.The available findings are presented in the latest ‘Nation Report’ on Brazil.[4] This report is ordered by type of happiness questions and within these types by year. This ordering is to facilitate the assessment of progress, comparison over time being most fruitful using the same questions.
The report presents means and standard deviations, both on the original scale range and transformed to a common range 0-10. The means inform about the level of happiness in the country and the standard deviations about inequality of happiness.
Links provide more detail about the precise text of the question, the full distribution of responses and technical details of the survey. The report is continuously updated.
Progress Papers and Publications
- National Plan on Climate ChangeGovernment of Brazil, Interministerial Committee on Climate Change, 2008.
- Brazil and Korea on Green Growth
- Event:Rio + 20in in June 2012.
References
- ↑ United Nations Development Programme.Human Development Report 2011.http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/BRA.html
- ↑ Edmundo, F., Mauricio, L., & Daniel, F. (2010). Brazil and Korea on Green Growth - Elements for a cooperation agenda based on science, technology and innovation. Seoul.
- ↑ Brazil Considers Making Happiness an 'Inalienable Right'
- ↑ World Database of Happiness - Brazil
External Links
The International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood (CIESPI)
Article: The Food Security Policy Context in Brazil, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, UNDP,
