Breadcrumb

Brazil

The role of CSR

Corporate social responsibility has a long tradition in Brazil. It has been part of the public discussion since the 1960s, and many companies began their social engagement, which has taken a wide variety of forms, at that time. Thus CSR is by no means a new phenomenon in Brazil, although the concept has undergone a change over the past decades. Originally primarily a matter of philanthropy, corporate efforts have shifted their focus to activities that can be shown to have sustained effects. Many German companies have long invested in social initiatives and projects. Most of the major companies located in Brazil have a designated CSR officer or a foundation through which their efforts are funneled. In the readers’ prize for sustainability reporting that is regularly awarded by the Global Reporting Initiative, Brazilian companies captured eight out of twenty-four nominations and two of eight prizes in 2008.

However, it is only recently that the subject of corporate responsibility has been discussed more widely, and not only by an enlightened elite and companies that are already socially engaged, most of which are state-owned and internationally oriented. In Brazil, this development has been shaped not so much by the political sphere, but rather by companies themselves. The relatively high level of engagement of the many German companies in Brazil is undoubtedly a factor in this context.

Most major companies now have a department of corporate social responsibility and seek to link their social and environmental responsibilities to their core business.
The German Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK) maintains the Mercosur center of excellence in Sao Paulo, which is supported by German development cooperation organizations as a contact and catalyst for CSR activities.

Civil society and the media address the topic of corporate responsibility, but their perspective tends to be influenced by their monitoring role. Unacceptable working conditions and environmental scandals are met with a public outcry. Policymakers have only recently devoted greater attention to this area, albeit not in a systematic way that would lead to the formulation of an explicit policy.

All in all, greater progress has been made in discussing the issue of corporate responsibility than in actually acting in accordance with that responsibility (using sustainability criteria as a measure). There are certain laudable exceptions that prove the rule.

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia; Federal Ministry for Economic cooperation and Development (BMZ), Bonn.

CSR understanding

Corporate culture in Brazil has traditionally been patriarchal in nature. This is due in part to the state corporatism of the early 20th century, which downgraded the labor unions to mere appendages of government power and prevented a social dialogue from taking place within companies (in many cases this is true even today). Because Brazil has a great deal of informal employment and an extremely high level of social inequality, the role of companies is seen primarily in terms of providing workers with an acceptable income and a secure and regular job. All of these factors have contributed to the traditionally philanthropic approach taken by many Brazilian companies.

As Brazil underwent a process of democratization in the wake of the military dictatorship, many interests found their institutionalized expression in nongovernmental organizations or state agencies. The Church, too, occupies a position of great prestige and influence. Thus social problems and environmental concerns have a voice in society.

The presence of responsible German companies in Brazil has no doubt also played a role in the shift of social engagement from a focus on philanthropy to an emphasis on sustainability. At a time when international markets are gaining in importance and CSR can be a competitive advantage, both the major German companies and Brazil’s state-owned enterprises are increasingly recognized as models.

In 2005, AHK, GTZ and InWent established the Mercosur center of excellence for corporate social responsibility. Its goal is to provide support for private companies as they develop and implement their CSR activities. To that end, it offers interested companies a variety of events, courses and advice. The center of excellence has already established a network of links to other institutions active in this area. For example, it is involved in an exchange with Instituto Ethos, one of the best known and largest Brazilian institutions in the field of corporate responsibility. It also cooperates with the World Bank Institute (WBI) in the area of e-learning. InWent works with UNESCO and CEFIR (Centro de Formación para la Integración Regional) on aspects of corporate responsibility.

Each year, with the support of the Faber-Castell, Henkel, Petrobras and Tetra Pak companies, the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK) awards a sustainability prize  (Prêmio von Martius de Sustentabilidade) to projects involving humane action, nature and technology that demonstrate a high level of sustainability and environmental consciousness. This initiative is supported by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and InWent (http://www.premiovonmartius.com.br).

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is also actively engaged with the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) and Instituto Ethos in promoting the competitive position and sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation supports labor unions in their efforts to increase the level of social dialogue, which remains inadequate in Brazil, and helps them to establish networks at the national and international corporate levels. Such union networks are in place at companies such as Bayer, BASF and Volkswagen.

The subject of CSR has come up for discussion numerous times during the German-Brazilian Business Meetings organized by the BDI and CNI, and was also a topic at the 2009 Ecogerma trade fair. In addition, the CSR initiatives of German companies are a regular stop on visitors’ tours, which raises the visibility of these projects and provides them with the recognition they deserve.

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia

Expectations towards companies

As noted above, the topic of corporate responsibility is by no means a new one in Brazil. Many of the German companies that have long been active in the country are socially engaged. Sustainable economic activity is part of the government’s agenda. Given all of these factors, there are clearly certain expectations of companies, even without explicit regulations. German companies are generally regarded as socially responsible.

In a country like Brazil, with such widely differing levels of social and economic development, it is only logical that expectations would differ as well. With a Gini index of 57 (Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2008), Brazil ranks among the world’s worst when it comes to the distribution of wealth. In the northern and northeastern regions of the country – comparable, in some cases, to Uganda in terms of development – probably the greatest hope is that companies will provide good jobs. It is no coincidence that poverty and hunger have forced some people here into what amounts to slavery. The Brazilian Ministry of Labor keeps a “black list” of companies that maintain such appalling working conditions, as revealed by a mobile workplace inspection unit.

The metropolitan areas of the south are much more highly developed and face very different problems, including traffic congestion that is nearing the breaking point. Given these many problems, there is no single answer to the question of where companies should focus their efforts. There are high expectations for improvement in a number of areas, including not only environmental protection, but also poverty, education and training, (equality of) opportunities for women, Afro-Brazilians, young people and the disabled.

In 2007, the Mercosul center of excellence conducted a survey of 31 companies, most of them German, in the state of São Paulo. It found that their CSR activities focus primarily on the environment (58.1%), education (51.6%), support for (government) agencies (41.9%), culture (29.0%), health (22.6%) and workplace safety (9.7%) (more than one response was allowed).

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia/Centro de Competência Mercosul para Responsabilidade Social Empresarial (InWent, GTZ, AHK): Responsabilidade Social Empresarial. Caminhos e Desafios. Pesquisa qualitativa sobre a atuação das empresas em RSE.

Basic conditions

Implementation of international regulations

ILO core labor standards

Brazil still has a long way to go in its implementation of core labor standards. Although the government has put certain relevant policies in place and launched a variety of initiatives, it needs to be more consistent in its efforts. Still, it deserves credit for publicly acknowledging the country’s problems. 

1) Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining

The law permits only one labor union in each region. This union is financed by compulsory contributions, which are withheld from workers’ paychecks and then distributed among the various unions. This arrangement leads to a fragmented system of some 18,000 union organizations. Many of them exist only on paper, their real purpose being to achieve personal gain, but nonetheless they hold a monopoly. The Brazilian constitution of 1988 provides for the election of an employee representative in companies that employ more than 200 people. However, since legislation has never been passed to implement this provision, employee representatives continue to be practically unknown. This makes it difficult for legitimate unions to function; moreover, Brazil’s justice system is forced to deal with some two million labor-related cases per year. Wage agreements, which are in any case limited to the company level, generally provide only the most basic framework for wages and work hours – if that. The constitution guarantees the right to strike, without any restrictions on the arbitrary exercise of that right. There are no legal provisions guaranteeing collective bargaining in the public sector (ILO Convention 151 has not been ratified; it is merely tolerated under the Lula administration).
During his first term, President Lula established a so-called National Forum on Labor (Fórum Nacional de Trabalho), a tripartite body that has drafted proposals for reforming Brazilian labor relations. So far, however, only rudimentary progress has been made toward their implementation.

2) and 3) Elimination of compulsory labor and abolition of child labor

Child labor and compulsory labor are part of life in Brazil. Approximately 1.4 million children between the ages of 5 and 13 are working, and another 25,000 people are subject to working conditions that are tantamount to slavery. In contrast to many other countries, Brazil’s government has publicly acknowledged these problems and developed policies to combat them. To that end, the federal workplace inspection system monitors companies, most of them located in the cities, as well as the large farms (fazendas) found in rural areas. More than 350,000 enterprises were inspected in 2007, accounting for 32 million workers and 8,000 children below the age of 17. That same year, 5,963 people were liberated from conditions that can only be described as slave labor.

Companies found to have been involved in compulsory labor, either directly or within their supply chain, are added to a public black list maintained by the government. However, support for the elimination of slave labor is not universal; workplace inspection units are regularly a target of threats and violent attacks, and certain members of the National Congress protect the interests of large landowners by blocking legislation to ban compulsory work. Moreover, an inefficient justice system often allows the guilty to go free. It was only recently, on September 10, 2008, that the Second National Plan to Eradicate Slave Labor was passed, which includes 66 measures for combating this problem more effectively.

Mining and steel companies are working together with the Ministry of Labor and the ILO to eliminate slave labor. The Bolsa Familia program for the very poorest families focuses on fighting child labor and provides benefits to families only if their children attend school regularly. This requirement alone is not enough to eliminate child labor, since many children work before or after school.  

4) Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation

Employment discrimination against women and Afro-Brazilians is clearly reflected in Brazil’s income inequality: Women earn only 65 percent as much as their male colleagues, on average; the earnings of Afro-Brazilian women are only a third as high as those of white males. Moreover, discrimination increases among those with higher qualifications: Despite regional differences, women with advanced education are paid only 60 percent as much as men (assuming the same level of education). This result holds true despite the fact that women are better educated than men: In January of 2008, 59.9 percent of employed women had completed 11 or more years of schooling, as compared with only 51.9 percent of men (January 2003: 51.3 percent relative to 41.9 percent). Gender discrimination in the labor market is also evident in access to employment: Although women make up the majority of Brazil’s population, they are a minority (9.4 million, or 44.4 percent) of the employed. Their rate of unemployment is considerably higher as well; in January 2008, 10.1 percent of women were unemployed, which is 2 percent above the national average and nearly 4 percent higher than unemployment among men. Women account for 57.7 percent of the unemployed population.

OECD Brazil

Ratification: Not a member

Contact on site:
Mr. Alexandre Carneiro Pereira
Secretaria de Assuntos Internacionais
Ministério da Fazenda
Setor da Autarquias Sul, Quadra 03, Bloco “O”, Sala 1013
70079 – 900 Brasília – Distrito Federal Brazil
Tel.: (+5561) 3412 4025
Fax: (+5561) 3412 4057
E-mail: pcn.ocde (at) fazenda.gov.bralexandre (dot) c
E-mail: pereira (at) fazenda.gov (dot) br
Web: www.fazenda.gov.br/pcn

Industry initiatives

GLOBAL COMPACT NETWORK

Contact on site:
Ms. Sylvya D'Oliveira, ETHOS Institute
E-mail: soliveira (at) ethos.org (dot) br

GC Office Country Coordinator
Mr. Jonas Haertle
E-mail: haertle (at) un (dot) org

WORLD BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 

Network in place since 1997

Contact on site:
BCSD Brazil - Conselho Empresarial Brasileiro para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CEBDS)
Fernando Almeida, Executive President
1155 Avenida das Américas 208
Barra da Tijuca - Rio de Janeiro
CEP 22631-000
Rio de Janeiro - RJ Brazil
Tel.: +55 21 2483 2250
Fax: +55 21 2483 2254
E-mail: falmeida (at) cebds (dot) org
Website: www.cebds.org

Areas of activity

Poverty

Basic information

  • Life expectancy: Total population: 71.71 years; males: 68.15 years; females: 75.45 years (2008 est.)
  • Infant mortality rate: 22.58 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 26.16 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 18.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
  • Malnutrition: 7% (2002/04)
  • Access to clean water: 90% (2004)
  • Access to sanitary facilities: 75% (2004)
  • Human Poverty Index: Ranks 23rd of 108 (2007/2008)
  • Gini Index: 56.7 (2005)
  • Population under the poverty line: 31% (2005)

Although many Brazilians have experienced a noticeable improvement in their socioeconomic status over the past few years, a large share of the population can still be classified as poor. Approximately 25 percent of those living in Brazil’s six major metropolitan areas, or a good 11 million people, have a monthly income that is half of the minimum wage (€136) or less. Since these figures include only metropolitan areas, leaving out large parts of the country, the actual numbers are much higher; poverty remains a serious problem. Access to basic needs, such as (higher) education, medical care and drinking water, is still largely dependent on an individual’s ethnicity, parents’ income, and place of residence (conditions are worse in the northern and northeastern part of the country and in rural areas relative to the cities).

Participants

Ministry of Social Development 
www.mds.gov.br

Instituto Ayrton Senna
NGO focusing mainly on working with companies, governments, agencies, schools, universities and other NGOs to provide development opportunities for Brazilian children and young people.
http://senna.globo.com/institutoayrtonsenna/br/default.asp

GIFE - Grupo de Institutos Fundações e Empresas
South American network of companies, institutions and foundations that invest private funds in social and cultural projects as well as environmental protection.
http://www.gife.org.br/ 

Rede Internacional de Ação Comunitária – Interação
NGO that helps needy communities in dealing with government institutions and companies. http://www.redeinteracao.org.br/
Contact: Ana Claudia Rossbach / Larissa Dantas, Diretora-Presidente, Tel.: 11 3159-2621  E-mail: anaclaudia (at) redeinteracao.org (dot) br

Thanks to the Lula administration’s social policy, and particularly to the Bolsa Família aid program and regular increases in the minimum wage, extreme poverty and hunger have declined. Because Bolsa Familía benefits require that parents have their children vaccinated and send them to school, health care and education have improved as well. To prevent young people from dropping out of school to go to work, the age limit for these benefits was raised last year from 15 to 17. Nevertheless, there is criticism that this policy of transfer payments reinforces people’s plight rather than providing incentives to rise above it. With this in mind, many projects focus on the causes of poverty. An example is a PPP project under the auspices of GTZ (on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) to fight poverty in Brazil’s northern and northeastern regions.  Under this initiative, development partnerships are established between German industry and Brazilian cooperatives, producers’ groups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agricultural and food sectors, which work to increase the productivity of selected cooperatives and promote their integration into the value chain, thereby generating income and employment.

Company examples

Banco Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz provides financial support to a home for needy elderly people (most of them homeless) in São Paulo, as well as for two preschools, one in São Paulo and the other in Belo Horizonte. Young people are offered vocational training courses in computer science, social skills, entrepreneurship and foreign languages.

Internet:
http://www.bancomercedes-benz.com.br/C11/Responsabilidade%20Social/default.aspx

Contact:
Ana Carolina Costa, Ass. communication and CSR
Tel.: 11 4173-7557 
E-mail: ana_carolina.costa (at) daimler (dot) com

ZF Sachs

Under a volunteer program, employees of ZF Sachs help the needy identify their problems and find solutions, look for sources of income and take advantage of available services. Also offered are programs to promote education, provide vocational training, train young entrepreneurs, improve quality of life and integrate family and work life. In addition, ZF Sachs maintains a 4,000-volume library and works with a school to implement the Formare der Fundação Iochpe program, which focuses on disadvantaged young people between the ages of 15 and 17 and offers courses in the skills they need to enter the labor market (duration: 1 year).

Internet:
http://www.sachs.com.br (Responsabilidade Social & Meio Ambiente)

Contact:
Heliana do Carmo, Assistente Social
Tel.: 11 3343 3164 
E-mail: bettyna.beni (at) zf (dot) com

A.W.Faber-Castell S.A.

According to information provided by the company, in 2006 Faber-Castell donated products worth BRL 236,000 as well as in-kind donations worth €90,816.36 to schools and hospitals, among other recipients, and invested €46,066.27 in socially relevant projects organized by third parties. It also runs a volunteer program to support facilities for children and older people, addiction treatment groups, schools and public hospitals.

Internet:
http://www.ecomunidade.com.br/relatorio_socioambiental_2007.pdf (S. 31 – 35)

Contact:
Santina Marchetti, RH - Adm. de Pessoal
Tel.: 16 2106-1190 
E-mail: santina.marchetti (at) faber-castell.com (dot) br

Robert Bosch Ltda.

The program Peça por Peça (Bit by Bit) seeks to promote sustainable social development in certain selected communities through small-scale initiatives and projects. The first steps are to reach a “social diagnosis” and train teachers to identify problems and devise projects to solve them. Under this program, children and young people are examined by physicians and given information about diseases, hygiene and healthy nutrition; other initiatives include organizing sporting events, providing career training for young people, building a theater and providing support for cultural activities.
The Peça por Peça program is currently in place in Vila Verde (Curitiba, PR) and Campinas (SP).

Other Instituto Robert Bosch projects:

Since 2004, Ação Bosch Social has been working with young people in the community of Campo Grande (Campinas, SP) by organizing cultural and athletic events and providing entertainment, tutoring, computer courses, lectures (e.g. on sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS) and training courses (for careers in the hotel and restaurant industries).
The Só Solidariedade program in Curitiba and Campinas focuses primarily on children and young people. It includes training courses, financial support for transportation, meals, medical care, English courses, computer science, ballet, cooking, soccer, theater, information on health issues, and so on.

Internet:
http://www.institutorobertbosch.org.br

Contact:
Lia Oliveira, RH
Tel.: 19 3745-2741
E-mail: lia.oliveira (at) br.bosch (dot) com, instituto.robertbosch (at) br.bosch (dot) com

Instituto Cravão Cidadão

Instituto Cravão Cidadão, which is supported by 15 large and medium-sized companies in the metal industry, inspects supplier companies to identify slave labor conditions. A project conducted with the help of GTZ and the International Labor Organization (ILO) works toward the social and economic reintegration of freed slave laborers.

Bosch Siemens household appliances

CSR WeltWeit case study (German): BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte: Austausch von veralteten und energieineffizienten Kühlschränken in brasilianischen Armenvierteln.

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia

Education

Basic information

  • Public spending on education (share of GDP): 4% (2004)
  • Compulsory school attendance: 7–14 years of age
  • Rate of school enrollment: 93% of children who are required to attend school (2004)
  • Literacy (definition: those over the age of 15 who can read and write): total population: 88.6%; males: 88.4%; females: 88.8% (2004 est.)
  • HDI Education Index: Ranking 70 out of 177: 0.883 (1 = max., 0 = no education)
  • Average years of education: Total population: 14; males: 14; females: 15 (2005)

Although there have been noticeable improvements in social conditions and education, an enormous gap still exists between rich and poor in Brazil. To be sure, the past two decades have seen a rapid improvement in the access of less prosperous segments of society to cultural events, the media and education. Nearly all school-age children do, in fact, attend school. However, the education provided at many public schools leaves much to be desired. Thus the main problem is no longer school attendance, but making sure that the public schools meet quality standards. Since teacher training and pay are inadequate in many areas, families with the necessary resources send their children to private schools. As former President Cardoso put it, “Brazil does not have a problem with underdevelopment, Brazil has a problem with social justice.” Access to higher education has improved considerably, with the number of university students nearly tripling in the past twenty years. This increase was made possible by a rapid expansion of private universities. However, unlike private schools, most private universities are unable to compete with the quality of state institutions.

Participants

Ministry of Education
Government body
http://portal.mec.gov.br

Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego
Government body
http://www.mte.gov.br

Instituto Paulo Freire
Institute that provides support and advice for projects in the field of education.
http://www.paulofreire.org

Ação Educativa
NGO devoted to promoting the right to education and the rights of young people with respect to social justice, participatory democracy and sustainable development.
http://www.acaoeducativa.org.br

UNESCO
Agency of the United Nations
http://www.unesco.org.br

Opportunities and risks related to educational initiatives

Publicly financed agencies for vocational training in the industrial sector (SENAI) and in commercial occupations (SENAC) are generally well respected. However, recent criticism alleges that they devote too little attention to socially disadvantaged groups.

Company examples

Fundação Volkswagen

Fundação Volkswagen, founded in 1979, administers several projects in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro:

The purpose of the Ações em Rede project is to establish a network of local entities involved in education (communities, government agencies, NGOs, local politicians) to promote a unified and consistent policy of ensuring access to education. Support is provided to selected regions for a period of three years.

The Brincar project is involved in further training for teachers and improving education in the schools, concentrating particularly on the role of games and learning through play.
The Entre na roda project encourages both young people and adults to discover the pleasure of reading and seeks to create an environment that is conducive to reading, not only in the schools. It carries out school initiatives, starts reading groups and distributes teaching aids.

The initiatives Estudar pra valer! - Língua Portuguesa and Matemática provide training for teachers in the early grades to improve the quality of instruction in Portuguese and mathematics, work to make training programs more effective, and seek to strengthen local educational structures. The Leitura e Escrita project trains teachers of all subjects in the séries finais and promotes reading habits as well as text production in every scientific field.

The Univolks project offers scholarships to young people from low-income families. In 2004 it funded 39 university students from the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Paraná.

Internet: http://www.vwbr.com.br/fundacaovw

Contact:
Maria Tereza Andrade Nogueira, Assistente Social
Tel.: 11 4347 3797 
E-mail: social (at) volkswagen.com (dot) br

Allianz Seguros S.A.

Associação Beneficiente e Assistencial dos Funcionários do Grupo AGF Brasil Seguros (ABA), which has implemented the charitable initiatives of the Allianz Group in Brazil since 1994, is involved in three projects in the slum, or favela, of Caixa D'Água, located in the eastern section of São Paulo. The Centro de Educação Infantil AGF Júnior provides childrearing support for low-income parents of children under the age of five, while the Vida Nova project focuses on 6- to 17-year olds, offering them extracurricular sports and art activities, computer courses, English workshops and psychological support. The Núcleo de Alfabetização de Adultos program has been working since 1996 in the area of adult literacy and education.

Internet: http://www.agf.com.br/agf_corporativo/responsabilidade_social/aba/index.asp

Contact:
Daniella Satake, Assist. de MKT / Eventos
Tel.: 11 3171-6686 
E-mail: daniella.satake (at) allianz.com (dot) br

Mahle Metal Leve S.A.

Mahle runs a wide variety of projects in the outskirts of the city of Campinas (SP). They include ballet lessons for needy children (the Dança e Cidadania project), dancing classes for the disabled, the publication of various children’s books, a vegetable garden project on company premises as well as the Viva e Deixe Viver (Live and Let Live) project, which provides entertainment and instruction for hospitalized children and seeks to make their stay in the hospital more pleasant. Mahle also has six schools that are involved in the Formare program run by Fundação Iochpe.

Internet: http://www.mahle.com.br/C12570C2003CB56C/CurrentBaseLink/W26L7CH7046STULEN

http://www.mahle.com.br/C12570C2003CB56C/CurrentBaseLink/W26L7CH7046STULENDeutsche Bank – Projeto Casulo

Together with 19 other companies, foundations and institutions, Deutsche Bank supports Projeto Casulo, which is dedicated to developing and strengthening local structures in the communities of Real Parque and Jardim Panorama, located in the southwestern part of São Paulo. The project includes workshops on music, theater, painting and Brazilian dance, English and computer courses, and a library. There is also a scholarship program (Jovens Professores) that enables low-income students to attend university and a project that promotes youth entrepreneurship (Agente Jovem). 

Internet: http://www.projetocasulo.org.br/index.shtml

Contact:
Thaís Bechir, Assistente MKT e Comunicação
Tel.: 11 2113-5495 
E-mail: thais.bechir (at) db (dot) com, projetocasulo (at) projetocasulo.org (dot) br

http://projetocasulo%20%28at%29%20projetocasulo.org%20%28dot%29%20br%20/Siemens AG

CSR WeltWeit case study (German): Siemens Discovery Box - Experimentierkasten für die Vorschule (Discovery Box for Preschoolers)

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia

Health

Brazil’s public health system is available to all, but it has a number of weaknesses. Its equipment and facilities often leave much to be desired; many physicians are underpaid and overworked. Rural areas tend to lack medical facilities provided by the government health service INPS, and the poor are often unable to pay for transportation to the nearest such facility. If they can afford it, those without employer-based supplementary insurance purchase private insurance policies, so the public system is used mainly by low-income groups. Healthcare is an issue that offers opportunities for action at all levels.

Basic information

  • Public spending on health (share of GDP): 4.8% (2004)
  • Medical care: 115 physicians per 100,000 residents (2000-2004)
  • Infant mortality: Total: 22.58 deaths/1,000 births; males: 26.16 deaths/1,000 births; females: 18.83 deaths/1,000 births (2008 est.)
  • Maternal mortality: 72 deaths/100,000 births (1990-2004)
  • Child malnutrition: 6% of children under the age of 5 (1996-2005)
  • HIV/AIDS prevalence rate (>15 years of age): 0.7% (2003 est.)
  • HIV/AIDS sufferers: 660,000 (2003 est.)
  • HIV/AIDS deaths: 15,000 (2003 est.)
  • Life expectancy: Total population: 71.71 years; males: 68.15 years; females: 75.45 years (2008 est.)

A variety of government programs have been implemented in the healthcare sector as well. Access to medications and medical treatment has improved over the past few years, and both infant mortality and malnutrition have declined. Here too, however, there is a wide gap between regions, income levels and ethnic groups. Many problems in the healthcare sector could be avoided with better prevention and information. A WHO study has shown that Brazil accounts for roughly a third of all maternal deaths occurring in Latin America during pregnancy and childbirth, and 98 percent of these deaths could be prevented with better care. Inadequate education is also a factor, since Brazilians who lack basic schooling are often unaware of preventive measures or may have difficulty understanding their physician or the instructions for taking their medications.

Participants

Ministry of Health
http://portal.saude.gov.br/saude

Pan American Health Organization
International organization
http://www.opas.org.br 

Saúde Brasil
Project for disseminating health information.
http://www.saudebrasilnet.com.br

FUNASA
Executive organ of the Ministry of Health, responsible for improving access to healthcare and hygiene and for promoting and protecting the health of Brazil’s indigenous population.
http://www.funasa.gov.br

Although the use of contraceptives is increasing in Brazil, in 2005 there were more than 26,000 births to girls between the ages of 10 and 14, and more than 634,000 to 15- to 19-year-olds. AIDS continues to be a problem: UNAIDS estimates that there are 30,000 new cases of HIV infection each year. It should be noted, however, that Brazil is exemplary in providing information and caring for AIDS patients, as well as in its participation in the establishment of a transnational network for AIDS prevention. On the other hand, access to second-generation HIV/AIDS medications is problematic, since Brazil is not able to manufacture generic drugs.

Company examples

Bayer

Together with the charitable organization Agência Mandala, Bayer participates in the Brazilian government’s program to combat hunger (Programa Fome Zero) with a project in the northeastern state of Paraíba, which provides financial and technical assistance for the installation of irrigation systems. This safeguards crops, and thus also the food supply of the more than 200 families involved in the project. The project’s long-term goal is to produce surplus crops that can then be marketed through a cooperative arrangement. During the transitional period leading up to the first harvest, for a period of six months Bayer provided these families with support payments equivalent to the minimum wage.
Also under the Fome Zero program, in 2003 Bayer distributed 3.2 million aspirin tablets and 186,000 water treatment tablets in 51 communities in northeastern Brazil, at the request of the government.

Internet: http://www.bayer.de/de/kampf-gegen-hunger.aspx

Contact:
Paulo Pereira, Comunicação Corporativa
Tel.: 11 5694-5947 
E-mail: paulo.pereira (at) bayerhealthcare (dot) com

Bayer Schering Pharma

Since 1993, the ATO – Atenção e Orientação à Saúde Sexual e Reprodutiva program has disseminated information to young people on such topics as sexuality, teen pregnancy, contraceptive methods and sexually transmitted diseases. To that end, a team of health experts visits public and private schools in the São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre regions, giving talks and holding workshops and other activities.

Internet: http://www.programa-ato.com.br

Contact: 
Álvaro Menezes, Gerente Fundação Schering
Tel.: 11 5694-8104 
E-mail: alvaro.menezes (at) bayerhealthcare (dot) com

Siemens

Siemens supports the Association to Care for Children with Disabilities (Associação de Assistência à Criança Deficiente, AACD) with funding and medical equipment.
The Siemens Caring Hands program includes projects to teach children about environmental issues in São Paulo and Curitiba (Trilha Ecológica Hermann Wever and Voluntários das Tardes de Educação Ambiental) and to educate and provide material support for disadvantaged young people (Projeto Formare).

Under the Siemens Generation21 program, a “Discovery Box” was developed to help children between the ages of three and six explore such topics as electricity, the environment and health. In addition, every two years the Prêmio Werner von Siemens de Inovação Tecnológica, which includes a monetary prize of €3,290.45, is awarded to projects of Brazilian students and researchers.

According to information provided by the company, in 2006 Siemens invested €1.5 million in projects involving art and culture.

Internet: http://www.siemens.com.br/templates/v2/templates/TemplateF04.Aspx?channel=8927

Contact:
Ariane Lopez, Comunicação
Tel.: 11 3908-2459, E-mail: ariane.lopez (at) siemens (dot) com, fundacao.br (at) siemens (dot) com

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia

Political involvement

 

Basic information

  • Voting rights: voluntary between the ages of 16 and 18 and over the age of 70, obligatory between 18 and 70 years of age (military recruits do not vote)
  • Freedom of the press: Ranks 84th of 169 (2007)

Particularly in the country’s urban centers, security is a primary concern. Gang-related crime and drug trafficking are common, murder rates are high, and victims are usually young men from impoverished backgrounds. In many areas, such as the state of Rio de Janeiro, a zero-tolerance policy has been instituted in an attempt to gain control of the situation; the unfortunate result has been that many innocent people have fallen victim to the often corrupt and brutal military police.

Participants

Those involved in this area usually have local ties. One of the better-known organizations is Movimento Nacional dos Meninos e Meninas de Rua (National Street Children’s Movement), a program for street children that is now found throughout Brazil. Equally important are the many organizations active on site, which are too numerous to list here.

The aim of the Vínculos project, which is supported by German development cooperation and UNCTAD, is to establish lasting business links between major anchor companies and small and medium-sized suppliers. CSR plays a central role in this context.

 

Mining and steel companies are working closely together with the Ministry of Labor and the ILO to eliminate slave labor.

The influential Ethos Institute, which is made up of over 1,300 member companies, encourages the private sector to assume social responsibility. It develops and implements CSR indicators, campaigns, databases of successful models, and discussion events.

Many CSR programs focus on young people from the slums, the so-called favelas, and seek to offer them alternatives to a criminal lifestyle. 

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia

 

Participation in society

It was not until July 2008, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that several prominent companies entered into a voluntary agreement aimed at promoting gender and racial equality in the workplace, eliminating slave labor in the supply chain, integrating the disabled and furthering the rights of children and young people, recognizing that action is urgently needed in these areas. To list only a few examples: Women in Brazil earn only about 70 percent as much as men. Afro-Brazilians make roughly half as much as their white colleagues. It is estimated that at least 25,000 people in Brazil are being exploited and forced to work under slave-labor conditions. Child labor is still commonplace; despite legislation stipulating that children are not permitted to work until the age of 14, and then only for training purposes; in 2006 some 1.4 million children between the ages of 5 and 13 were working.

Basic information

  • Share of women in the labor force: 52% (1994-2005)
  • Ethnic groups: white 53.7%, mestizo 38.5%, black 6.2%, other (Japanese, Arab, indigenous 0.9 %, unspecified 0.7% (2000 census)

Employee participation is also an important issue. The law provides only for employee representatives in the so-called factory commissions, which focus on workplace health and safety. Traditionally, many have seen the role of the unions as limited to striking for higher wages. For many years, the idea of involving employees in a company’s internal changes and decision-making processes – engaging in social dialogue – was foreign to Brazil. Now, however, promoting social dialogue is one of the three elements of the national decent-work agenda.

Participants

SEPPIR – Secretaria Especial de Politicas de Promocao da Igualdade Racial
Government organ
www.presidencia.gov.br

Instituto Socioambiental
Nonprofit organization dedicated to the integration of indigenous groups and to protecting their rights; it seeks to gain recognition and appreciation for these groups’ knowledge of nature and the environment. 
http://www.socioambiental.org

AVAPE – Associação para Valorização e Promoção de Excepcionais
NGO focused on supporting the disabled and integrating them into the labor market.
http://www.avape.org.br 
Contact: Eliana Oliveira Pinto Victor, Divisão de Reabilitação Profissional
Tel.: 11 3055 5000  E-mail: eliana.victor (at) avape.org (dot) br

CEERT - Centro de Estudos das Relações de Trabalho e Desigualdades
NGO that provides advice to companies and public agencies on the introduction and implementation of a policy of cultural diversity and equality.
http://www.ceert.org.br
Contact: Mércia Silva, Consultora
Tel.: 11 2978 8333  E-mail: merciaceert (at) uol.com (dot) br

CUT – Central Unica dos Trabalhadores
Brazil’s largest umbrella organization of labor unions
www.cut.org.br

A number of progressive unions and companies are engaged in promoting the (voluntary) establishment of union networks at the level of national and international companies (e.g. Volkswagen, Bayer, BASF).

Company examples

BASF – Projeto Crescer

Projeto Crescer was launched in 1982 and focuses on young people from low-income families in the communities of São Bernardo do Campo and Guaratinguetá, located in the state of São Paulo. In cooperation with the two communities’ prefeituras, BASF holds vocational training courses, pays students’ monthly tuition and provides them with school materials, transportation and school uniforms. It also offers English, theater and sports classes as well as instructional materials, computer rooms and a library. In 2005 BASF invested €231,798.89 in this project.

Internet: http://www.basf.com.br/default.asp?id=3143

Contact: Ana Lucia Suzuki, Coordenadora RSC, Tel.: 11 3043-3936; 11 4343-2233,
E-mail: ana-lucia.suzuki (at) basf (dot) com 

Bayer – Programa Bayer Vai à Comunidade

As part of the Bayer Vai à Comunidade program, Bayer holds lectures and presentations in the company’s neighboring communities in the state of Rio de Janeiro and distributes information on infectious diseases such as meningitis, cholera, dengue fever, leptospirosis and AIDS, as well as on hygiene, environmental protection and recycling. A soccer school is available to 300 children, subject to the requirement that they earn good grades in school. In addition, Bayer reports that under the Fome Zero program, it distributes 3,060 portions of soup each day to schools and daycare centers. In São Paulo, a volunteer program supports needy institutions such as orphanages and daycare centers. 

Internet: Bayer

Contact: Julia Leite, RSE, Tel.: 11 5694 5385,
E-mail: julia.leite.jl@bayer.com.br

Behr Brazil 

Behr seeks to form close relationships with the people of Arujá (the company’s headquarters in the state of São Paulo) and the surrounding area and participates in campaigns to promote the interests of the community. It also attaches great importance to working with the local authorities (for example, the company makes its fire truck available for emergencies) and to initiatives related to environmental protection.

Internet: http://www.behr.de/Internet/cms_br_eng.nsf/pages/people.html?open&qm=leftmenu1,7,0,0

Contact: Vaneska Messa, Gerente RH, Tel.: 11 4652-0448,
E-mail: vaneska.messa@br.behrgroup.com

Fundação Voith 

Since August 2004, Fundação Voith has managed the Voith Group’s investments in social causes in Brazil, most of which focus on educating children and young people in the community in São Paulo where Voith has its headquarters. The goals of its efforts are to improve instruction in the public schools, reduce the dropout rate and encourage students to discuss community problems. Voith also implements projects involving theater and environmental education and participates in Programa Formare der Fundação Iochpe, together with the administration of one of the schools.

Internet: http://www.saopaulo.voith.com/v_saopaulo_n_542834.htm

Contact: Camila Coelho, Analista RH, Tel.: 11 3944 5139,
E-mail: camila.coelho (at) voith (dot) com

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia

Environment

Basic information

  • CO2 emissions: 1.1% of total world output (2004)
  • CO2 emissions per capital: 1.8 metric tons (2004)
  • Energy consumption: 368.5 million  kWh (2005)
  • Water consumption (households/industry/agriculture): Total: 59.3 km3/year (20%/18%/62%); per capita:  318 m3/year (2000)
  • Hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal energy: 13.9% of primary energy consumption (2005)

Both within and outside Brazil, public discussion of environmental issues revolves primarily around the destruction of the rain forest in Amazonia and Mata Atlantica. Owing to the international consequences of the loss of the rain forest as a public resource, many projects and initiatives are devoted to promoting the sustainable use of resources in this area. The objective is to implement future-oriented strategies to protect and use the land, an approach that conserves natural resources while also improving the living conditions of the people in the region.

Participants

WWF Brazil
NGO for environmental protection and nature conservation
Homepage: http://www.wwf.org.br

Greenpeace Brazil
NGO for environmental protection and nature conservation
Homepage: http://www.greenpeace.org/brasil

From the Brazilian perspective, other environmental problems are of greater immediate concern. These include, in particular, urban environmental issues such as water supply and waste water disposal, air pollution, not least because of catastrophic traffic conditions in the large cities, as well as the disposal of household and hazardous waste and industrial waste products.

Company examples

Bayer

CSR WeltWeit case study (German): Bayer AG - Strategische Partnerschaft mit United Nations Environment Programme im Bereich Jugend und Umwelt

BASF

In cooperation with GTZ, in 2005 BASF launched Fundação Espaço ECO in São Bernardo do Campo (SP) and founded a Latin America center for the analysis of eco-efficiency, which not only conducts research, but also implements projects to disseminate information about environmental protection and reforestation. The center has a biosphere reserve extending over an area of 290,000m²; €990,000 is to be invested in developing that reserve by the end of 2009.

Internet: http://www.espacoeco.org

Contact:
Samuel Protetti (Educação Ambiental), Roberta Tubini (Reflorestamento)
Tel.: 11 4101-4410

Mercedes-Benz do Brasil

Thanks to water treatment plants and the reuse of water for industrial purposes, Mercedes-Benz has been able to save 50,000 liters of water per week in the Juiz de Fora plant alone, according to information provided by the company.

Internet: http://200.245.129.61/meio_ambiente/relatorio_ambiental/cenrelAmbiental_07.htm

Contact:
Alessandra Costa, Supervisora de Estratégia de Qualidade Ambiental
E-mail: alessandra.costa (at) daimler (dot) com

Volkswagen do Brasil

Volkswagen do Brasil has been investing in water reuse technologies since 2002, cutting its water consumption nearly in half within a period of two years.
Internet: Volkswagen do Brasil

Bosch Siemens household appliances

CSR WeltWeit case study (German): Austausch von veralteten und energieineffizienten Kühlschränken in brasilianischen Armenvierteln

 

 

Source: German Embassy, Brasilia

Data & facts

Country: Federative Republic of Brazil
Capital: Brasilia
Area: 8.5 million km²
Population: 189.9 million
Economic system: Free market economy
Polity: Presidential republic
Unemployment rate: 9,3 % (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (CPIX): 3,6 % (2007 est.)
GDP: 1.314 billion USD (2007 est.) = 1.04 billion EUR
GDP/Head: 9,700 USD (PPP, 2007 est.) = 7,679.52 EUR
Religions: 70% Roman Catholic, increasing numbers of Protestants and sects; syncretic and animist cults are common
HDI: 70th of 177 (2007/2008)
CPI: 72nd of 179 (2007)
BTI: Status Index: 20th of 125, Management Index: 15th of 125 (2008)

Further links

Further studies