COEP - Comitê de Entidades no Combate à Fome e pela Vida. Mobilising against hunger and for life – An analysis of capacity and change in a Brazilian network

A case study prepared for the project ‘Capacity, Change and Performance’ organised by ECDPM.

This paper examines a Brazilian social solidarity network, COEP - o Comitê de Entidades no Combate à Fome e pela Vida (the Committee of Entities in the Struggle against Hunger and for a Full Life) - through the lens of organisational and social capacity and change. COEP is committed to building a just and inclusive society for all Brazilians, one without hunger and poverty. Its members include govern- ment agencies, parastatals, and organisations from the private sector and civil society. COEP is in fact a network of networks, active federally, in all of Brazil's 27 states, and now also at the municipal level. Its strategies include encouraging its members to sup- port and participate in development projects to com- bat poverty, organising campaigns to mobilise public and institutional resources to end poverty, and promoting cooperation among its affiliates in their development work and campaigns.