The following is an excerpt from the article, “Change the Game in Brazil: ‘The West can learn from how we do things here!’”, published by Vice Versa on 27 August 2014. The original article can be found here.

Together with the other BRIC countries, China, India and Russia, Brazil is among the top 10 of the world’s largest economies. Under the leadership of former President Lula, the economy of the South American country grew steadily and its political power on the world stage increased significantly. Brazil also made substantial progress in poverty reduction. With its Zero Hunger policy and Bolsa Familia, a system of cash transfers, Brazil managed to get more than 20 million people above the poverty line and lift a large part of its population to the middle class. Brazil is one of the few countries in the world where inequality has decreased in recent years.

Since the beginning of this century, Brazil has also become a major donor in international development. The country has allocated funds for development programmes in Africa and provides agricultural expertise to low and middle income countries. The incumbent president Dilma Roussef, seems to continue the approach of her predecessor and poverty alleviation remains an important topic on the political agenda. Continue reading here.