---
title: "IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation — Definition"
description: "The IBSA Fund is a trilateral South-South facility by India, Brazil and South Africa, each contributing $1m yearly, managed by UNDP. Why it differs from ODA."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/ibsa-fund"
---

[New](https://modeldiplomat.com/)

#

Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The IBSA Fund is a trilateral development cooperation facility financed by India, Brazil, and South Africa that funds poverty and hunger projects in other developing countries.
- How much do member states contribute to the IBSA Fund and how are projects approved?
- How does the IBSA Fund differ from the BRICS New Development Bank?
- Which countries have received IBSA Fund support?
- Why is the IBSA Fund significant for South-South cooperation?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Go beyond the definition

## Research IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation like a delegate

Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students.

## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

The financing mechanism is deliberately simple and symmetrical. Each of the three governments contributes one million US dollars annually to a common pool, producing roughly three million dollars per year in disbursable resources. The contributions are equal regardless of the substantial differences in the three economies, reinforcing the forum's principle of sovereign parity. A Board of Directors composed of the three countries' permanent representatives to the United Nations in New York governs the Fund and approves projects by consensus. The UNOSSC screens proposals, provides technical and administrative support, monitors implementation, and channels funds to executing partners, which are frequently other UN agencies, host-government ministries, or local civil-society organisations. Recipient countries themselves identify priorities and request assistance, and projects are designed to be replicable and demand-driven rather than imposed.

### Opponents

The Fund's principal controversy concerns scale and momentum. Critics note that three million dollars annually is symbolically significant but materially small relative to the development challenges it addresses, and that IBSA's institutional energy has been partly absorbed by the more capitalised and higher-profile BRICS grouping, to which all three members also belong. The prolonged gap in leaders' summits since 2011 has raised questions about the forum's vitality, even as the Fund continues to approve and execute projects through the UNOSSC. Observers in India have periodically pressed for revitalising IBSA as a distinctively democratic counterweight within the Global South, and the Fund remains the forum's most tangible and durable achievement.

## Research it like a delegate

Research on modeldiplomat.com

## Ask a follow-up about IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation

Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers.

[Start research on IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20IBSA%20Fund%20for%20Poverty%20and%20Hunger%20Alleviation%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources)

Example

In Haiti, the IBSA Fund financed a solid-waste collection and agriculture project executed with UNDP support, an initiative cited when the Fund received the UN's South-South cooperation recognition in 2006.

Keep learning

## Go deeper than the definition

[Explore all Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams lessons](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services)[Test yourself with a quiz](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/quiz/civil-services)

## Take IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation beyond the glossary

Ask the AI research engine built for diplomacy — get briefings, position papers, and speeches with sources you can cite in committee.