This article analyses Brazil’s development assistance, which includes scientific and technical cooperation as well as, along with humanitarian aid and participation in peacekeeping operations. Scientific and technical cooperation involves promoting education, health and agriculture, applying new technologies in production and eliminating hunger and poverty in the developing countries. Brazil’s policy began with a series of steps, starting with supporting national liberation movements in Africa and Asia, supporting the Non-Aligned Movement, increasing its participation in the North-South dialogue, and contributing to the formation of a new international economic order. Brazil promotes becoming an important instrument of foreign policy, which is based on principles of equal cooperation, respect for international law and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Improving the mechanisms for development cooperation includes making sure aid is transparent, expanding partnerships in promoting development, attending to the needs of developing countries, moving away from direct transfers of money, and attracting and training the population of the recipient country. There are more than 100 federal government institutions in Brazil involved in international cooperation, which reflects the diversification of the country’s foreign policy. The Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plays an important role in systematizing the process of cooperation, defining the concept and implementing projects in the framework of bilateral, trilateral and multilateral cooperation and assistance to the countries of the world, especially in Latin America and Africa. For Brazil, promoting development is not limited to exchanging experiences in successful programme implementation, but also includes developing new models for scientific and technical cooperation that are the basis for innovative, complex projects that expand opportunities for national growth, the transnationalization of Brazilian business and increased foreign trade. ABC has been pursuing a new cooperation strategy since 2008 that involves a logical matrix for each project to evaluate the effectiveness of the Brazilian model of development assistance. Brazil’s role in promoting development and its transition from donor to mediator is notable.