Brazil

Projecto Municipio Amigo da Criança
The Conselho Nacional de Secretarios Municipais de Saude (CONASEMS) in partnership with UNICEF working towards the implementation of the Iniciativa Municipio da Criança Initiative (Municipality for Children Initiative), 1997/2000. This project plays an important role in stimulating municipal authorities to exercise their responsibilities towards women and children, promote decentralisation, strengthen the SUS - Sistema Único de Saúde and form an alliance of local players in favour of women and children. The main objectives of the project are to promote municipal level policies in favour of women, adolescents and children on a priority basis, converge actions at various levels and assure a better quality of life.

A National Commission has been established to support and develop the project, as well as to select the participating municipalities through indicators and methodologies defined by the same Commission.

For more information: www.unicef.org/brazil.
The CFC Secretariat has produced an in-dept documentation on this project. See Good Practices section on this website.

UNICEF Certificate: Approved Municipality, State of Ceará
Launched in 1998, this project aims to strengthen child and adolescent rights in the State of Ceará by taking advantage of local legislation (The Statute of the Child and Adolescent - SCA) that incorporates the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The project was created as part of social mobilization efforts in Ceará to promote and implement the new legislation. The UNICEF Certificate is awarded to municipalities that demonstrate improvements in their performance for children and young people by improvement in social indicators. The whole process of evaluation that precedes official recognition increases the interest and commitment of local leaders. The scheme has helped UNICEF collaborate with the municipalities that have taken on greater responsibilities for child and adolescent policies in recent years, especially in the health and education sectors. It has contributed to the improvement of the basic information system on such policies and has made these available to society as a whole. It is reinforcing, albeit indirectly, the managerial training of public administration and is strengthening the mechanisms of social participation.
The CFC Secretariat has produced an in-dept documentation on this project. See Good Practices section on this website.

Contact
Patricio Fuentes
Head of Office
UNICEF
Secretaria do Planejamento, Ed. SEPLAN, 1o
Centro Administrativo do Estado
Cambeba, Messejana
60.839-900, Fortaleza - CE
Brazil
Telephone (55 85) 488.7200
Fax (55 85) 218 1287
E-mail fortaleza@unicef.org.br
Website http://www.unicef.org/brazil

Participatory Budgeting, Porto Alegre (Presupuesto Participativo: la experiencia de Porto Alegre)
The Participatory Budgeting exercise was launched in Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio Grande, Brazil, in 1989, and has gained national and international recognition by improving the quality of life for children. Over a ten-year period, Porto Alegre has reduced its infant mortality rate from 20 to 12 deaths per 1,000 live births. The strategy is now being implemented in about 200 cities in Brazil, achieving remarkable improvements in access to basic social services. Two years ago, the participatory budgeting process was successfully extended across the State of Rio Grande do Sul, with a population of 10 million inhabitants and 497 municipalities, and incorporated into State budgeting. This demonstrates that participatory budget planning can be implemented on a regional or national scale. The approach moves away from the traditional state machinery to establish a citizen's state that combines representative democracy (through the electoral process) and direct democracy (through civil participation). Decision making is not monopolized by the legislative or executive branches, but it is shared with civil society.