New partnerships, participation in international forums and congresses and strengthening of its social program were some of the highlights at the Odebrecht Foundation in 2018. Together with institutions that run the Program for Development and Growth Integrated with Sustainability (PDCIS) – Agroforestry Family House (Cfaf), Rural Family House of Igrapiúna (CFR-I), Rural Family House of Presidente Tancredo Neves (CFR-PTN), Land Conservation Organization (OCT) and Presidente Tancredo Neves Rural Producers’ Cooperative (Coopatan), the Foundation had a year of important achievements, crowned by the PDCIS Impact Assessment.

“It was a year of formidable challenges and important deliveries that underscore our commitment to ethics, integrity and transparency. We employed efforts to create opportunities for youth to live in rural areas, with their families, and with quality of life,” said Fabio Wanderley, Superintendent of the Foundation.

Acting in network

In 2018, the Odebrecht Foundation celebrated 30 years of choosing its mission and further strengthened its relationship with the non-profit sector. In April, the institution participated in the 10th Congress of the Group of Institutes, Foundations and Companies (GIFE), held in São Paulo, which discussed, in a theme-specific table, the importance of private social investment in education, with the focus on education in the field. In September, it hosted the National Meeting of the Associated Schools Program (PEA) of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Salvador, Bahia. In November, it was present in the 6th Forum Brazil Africa held in Salvador, in which world leaders came together to discuss about youth empowerment. At the Forum, Cristiane Nascimento, head of Sustainability at the Foundation, talked about PDCIS and the development of young leaders.

The institutions sponsored in the Baixo Sul region of Bahia were also present in relevant debates. In March, Elaine dos Santos, a youth graduate from CFR-PTN, talked about her story of leadership at the 13th World Social Forum held in Salvador, Bahia. In September, Coopatan went to Italy to participate in the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, an event that gathered farmers, chefs, academics and youth from 150 countries to discuss food culture, sustainable development and production methods that combine traditional techniques and new technologies.

Joint growth

Numerous partnerships were made and renewed. In March, the Mitsubishi Corporation reaffirmed for three more years its commitment to PDCIS. The cooperation agreement resulted, in May, in a visit by Mitsubishi executives to the Baixo Sul region in Bahia.

Cfaf won scientific initiation scholarships for high school education offered by the Federal University of the Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB) in October. The same month, CFR-PTN received support from Fundação Banco do Brasil to implement Educational and Productive Projects (PEP) for students in the 1st and 2nd year of high school. And the OCT started a partnership with Braskem to recover 112 headwaters of the Oricó River in theSouthern Bahia Lowlands.

In August, Cfaf was selected to receive support from Criança Esperança in 2019. The Institution also came 2nd at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Brazil Awards in the “Learning, Research and Extension Education Institutions” category. Other remarkable results were achieved in 2018, thanks to the support of those who participated in the Tribute to the Future in 2017 campaign. With the funds raised last year, 316 students from the Family Homes were able to continue their education and more than five thousand people benefited directly or indirectly.

Vision of the future

The Odebrecht Foundation and organizations that implement PDCIS reinforced in 2018 their operations based on ethics, integrity and transparency. In October, the Foundation conducted for its Team Members a Cycle of Training, offering them a chance to develop their skills on financial, accounting and tax processes of the institution, which also involved discussions on Compliance and Governance.

The commitment to transparency took shape in the form of reporting its results to society: in June, for example, it released the 2017 Performance Report – Path to Sustainability, with information targeted at shareholders, the government, partners, team members and beneficiaries. It expanded its social media presence, reaching 300,000 followers on Facebook and launching its channel on LinkedIn.

One of the biggest milestones of 2018 for the Odebrecht Foundation, however, was the PDCIS Impact Assessment. Conducted by a specialist consulting firm, based on a scientific methodology structured to identify and qualify the results, the Assessment proved the significant social, environmental and economic impacts of PDCIS in the Southern Bahia Lowlands.