The EU Delegation to Brazil has been maintaining a structured dialogue with civil society organisations (CSO), forums and networks and also with the Brazilian government in an attempt to collaborate with civil society at the political and social level and we also hold regular dialogues with governmental institutions as well as with civil society actors in the area of Human Rights.

Brazil has a rich civil society sector that plays a relevant role in the consolidation of participative democracy and social control of public policies, building new alternatives for the promotion of sustainable development, poverty reduction and good governance. The EU, therefore, focuses on supporting actions to strengthen these organisations, ensuring their meaningful and structured participation in domestic and international policies and increasing their capacity as key actors of development processes.

The new thematic 'Brazil Civil Society Support Programme' aims at reinforcing capacities of civil society's organisations (CSOs) and their contribution to sustainable development.

Furthermore, the EU's involvement with CSOs, through grants allocated under the 'European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights and other thematic programmes, has had positive impacts as they have contributed to raising awareness about specific matters like human rights, gender, indigenous people and consciousness on various social topics such as children living with hearing impairments, and promoting the equal rights of the LGBTI community in the country.

The 'EU country roadmap for engagement with civil society' has been compiled through an extensive consultation process led by the EU Delegation, in collaboration with the EU countries and CSOs. The purpose of the Roadmap is to establish a common strategic framework for the EU Delegation and the EU countries with a view to improving the impact, predictability and visibility of EU action.

Youth Organizations - the EU Delegation to Brazil is encouraging youth organizations to participate in its cooperation activities and consultations. The EU Delegation is working on the creation of a Youth Sounding Board following the establishment of YSB by DG INTPA.   EU cooperation provides a good framework for the participation of youth in programmes such as Erasmus+ where youth is the main beneficiary but also in the European solidarity corps by volunteering, in actions implemented by the thematic programmes with Civil Society Organizations and in the field of human rights and democracy. Young people are also very active in EU programmes in the field of the Green Deal to protect natural resources and to fight climate change.