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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 : http://www.unicef.org/brazil.

The CFC Secretariat has produced an in-dept documentation on this project. See Good Practices section on this website.

The UNICEF Municipal Seal of Approval
The “UNICEF Municipal Seal of Approval” is a communication and social mobilisation strategy aimed at promoting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the realization of children’s rights in Brazilian municipalities. The strategy was conceived by UNICEF Brazil and was initiated in the State of Ceará. As of 2004, it was extended to one of the poorest areas –the Semi Arid region – which includes 11 states and 1,416 municipalities-, and received political support through the national agreement “Pact: a World Fit for Children and Adolescents in the Semi Arid Region”. Currently, the initiative is in its 4th edition. The Seal is a certification process which acknowledges progress of municipal public administrations to improve children’s living conditions. The principle is to trigger positive competition among public administrations to grant them visibility for their achievements and to ensure they do not lag behind in improving child well-being. Cities and municipalities in the region are grouped in clusters based on wealth indicators to ensure a fair competition among towns with similar conditions. The evaluation process, which is based on both quantitative and qualitative assessments, focuses on three areas: a. Social Impact; b. Public Policy Management and c. Social Participation. Each area of assessment has a number of goals and correlated indicators (agreed between UNICEF and the local authorities) which cover basic and special needs of children in the areas of health, education, protection, water, culture, water and sanitation, race and ethnicity. The qualitative assessment is a self- evaluation process (fora, public debates etc.) involving municipal administrations, representatives of civil society and members of the community. The Social Participation component is assessed in terms of initiatives promoting child and adolescent participation around four specific themes: education for life in the Semi-Arid Region; political participation of adolescents and public budget; ethnic and racial culture and identity; sport and citizenship. A city wins the Seal only if a minimum predefined score is obtained in each of the three areas. Scoring is based on two colours: green for good performance and red indicating a need for improvement. The Seal of Approval is an international prestigious certificate that cities can display once they have obtained it, following the rules and regulations established in the guidelines.

For more information : http://www.unicef.org.br

Contact
UNICEF – Brasil (Brasilia central office)
SEPN 510, Bloco A – 2º andar
Brasília, DF
70750-521
PO BOX : 08584 – CEP 70312-970
Telephone : (61) 3035 1900
Fax : (61) 3349 0606
E-mail : brasilia@unicef.org

Plataforma Centros Urbanos (Platform for Urban Centres) – PUC - UNICEF Brasil
Based on the experience of the Municipal Seal of Approval in the Semi-Arid Region, UNICEF Brazil and local partners (among them the Governments of the States of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo; the provincial administrations of the two cities; the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger; the Ministries of Justice, Education and Sports; the private sector and a number of civil society organisations) have recently launched the first phase of the “Platform for Urban Centres”. Similarly to the Municipal Seal of Approval, the initiative consists of a communication, social mobilization, and political articulation strategy aiming at the realization of children’s rights, the reduction of disparities and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in poor communities of the Brazilian larger cities. The idea is to ensure a wide mobilisation of public administrations, civil society and the community to promote their joint engagement in the realization of children’s rights, through the creation of opportunities for participation, capacity building and continuous monitoring and assessment. A certification process has been established to acknowledge the communities and cities’ progress in relation to predefined goals. The certification process lasts 4 years. The first year is used for preparations, including the definition of indicators, awareness raising of mayors and other actors, and capacity building. In the second and third years, the communities participating in the certification process create a cross-sector articulation group, which is responsible for coordinating the actions at the local level. A group of adolescent communicators is also established and supports the mobilization actions as well as the assessment process. An initial assessment is conducted by these groups to determine the base line. This is done through the indicators as well as through perception surveys. Based on the assessment, an action plan is drawn in a participatory way. Throughout this time, capacity building efforts are promoted to ensure the community fosters activities to meet the predefined goals. In the fourth year, results are assessed. For the purpose, the articulation group submits a report on the activities performed. A perception survey within the community is performed once more at this stage. Social participation actions, selected from a wide range of pre-defined options, are awarded points in the framework of the certification process. If communities have obtained the minimum score required, they are awarded the International UNICEF Certificate during an event of public visibility. Good practices are then documented and disseminated to promote interest in other settings, to ensure acknowledgement of efforts undertaken and to foster positive competition among urban communities.

For more information : http://www.unicef.org.br

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.

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