U.S., Brazil Plan Cooperation on Climate, Gender, Development
Washington - The United States and Brazil have signed three agreements designed to boost their cooperation in aiding developing countries, promoting gender equality and building on the December 2009 Copenhagen Accord to combat global climate change.
They were signed during Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's March 3 visit to Brazil. In her remarks ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/March/20100304101858eaifas0.5902478.html ) with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim in Brasilia, Clinton said the agreements are part of an "expanded engagement" between the United States and Brazil, as the two countries launch a "global partnership dialogue."
The agreement on climate cooperation launches a "Climate Change Policy Dialogue" to discuss strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sources such as deforestation and forest degradation, and promote advances in clean energy through joint research, development, deployment and dissemination of clean-energy technology.
The dialogue will also discuss climate change adaptation ( http://www.america.gov/adaptation.html ) issues, scientific research and capacity building for climate change.
Clinton said the agreement will help build on the Copenhagen Accord ( http://www.america.gov/st/energy-english/2009/December/20091218100326dmslahrellek0.9662287.html ), and she expressed admiration for "all that Brazil has achieved in this area," with hopes that the two countries will "work cooperatively together on behalf of other countries as well."
The United States and Brazil, which have a long partnership in fighting poverty through development assistance to third countries, also agreed to expand their cooperation to "foster economic development, improve health care and increase social inclusion in countries that face the greatest poverty challenges, particularly in Africa and Latin America," according to the agreement on technical cooperation.
The agreement suggests that new activities could include supporting other countries in "sector-specific studies and policy reviews, provision of technical assistance," and offering training in the United States and Brazil to the recipient country's technical specialists.
Clinton said the agreement "will enhance our efforts to widen the circle of prosperity, increase social and economic inclusion, improve health care, and give people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty in those countries in greatest need" in the Western Hemisphere and Africa.
But that goal cannot be achieved, she added, without allowing women and girls from those countries to fully participate in society. The third agreement focuses on cooperation to improve the lives, opportunities and equality of women.
Clinton said joint efforts to eliminate gender-based violence, stop the trafficking of women and children, and increase women's equal rights and opportunities in the political and working worlds are "not only the right thing to do, but ... the smart thing to do."
"Investing in the potential of women and girls is one of the surest ways to achieve economic progress, political stability and greater prosperity," she said.
According to the agreement, programs may include "joint training sessions and seminars, campaigns to raise awareness, exchange programs, partnerships with the private sector, and cooperation programs with third countries."
Praising Brazil's leadership and assistance to Haiti, both as the leading country providing security for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and its response to the January 12 earthquake, Clinton said the United States and Brazil are passionately committed to democracy and freedom.
"We share a sense of social responsibility, a belief that we are both better when others are given the chance to develop themselves," she said.
