「The right to the city and local governments: how can municipalities translate this right into...

“The right to the city and local governments: how can

municipalities translate this right into local policies"

Eduardo Tadeu PereiraBrazilian Association of Municipalities President

Brazilian Association of Municipalities

Brazilian Federal Structure

Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that has triple federal structure: Union, States and Municipalities;

this reality is due to the broad democratization process by which the country started in the 80s, which among other measures, consolidated local government autonomy;

until then the dictatorial regime kept the central state.


Municipalities and autonomy

The Federal Constitution of 1988 recognized the municipalities as a federated entities, giving:

• Its own taxing authority;

• elective political capacity;

• self-organization of the state.


Asymmetries between Brazilian municipalities

• 70% of municipalities have less than 20.000 inhabitants and house only 13% of the population;

• 283 municipalities with over 100 thousand inhabitants generated approximately 70% of all the income of the country. 3.915 municipalities with up to 20.000 inhabitants were responsible for less than 11% of income;

• in 2010, the income generated by 6 municipalities accounted for approximately 25% of all the income generation of the country and these municipalities represent 13.7% of the population;

• the GDP per capita of 10% of the municipalities with the highest GDP per capita was 5.4 times higher than the GDP per capita of 60% of the municipalities with the lowest GDP per capita.


Local government's difficulties

Local governments face a number of difficulties in Brazil

• Financial dependence on the State and Union;

• technical management that requires improvement and modernization;

• assume the costs that are the responsibility of other federal entities


Collected taxes division

Union (57%)States (25%)Municipalities (18%)


Municipalities as protagonists

Even with all these difficulties, the municipalities exert central role in the implementation of public policies formulated by the Union:

• Bolsa Família: cash transfer program;

• PAC (Program Acceleration Growth): Transference of federal resources to sanitation and infrastructure works;

• Minha Casa Minha Vida: housing construction for low-income families.


Local Goavernment and the right to the city

• Brazilian municipalities are the federal entities that are able - despite the challenges- to ensure the right to the city.

• It’ s viable from the time that the government ensures conditions for people to participate:

-Education-Health-Safety-Decent Housing-Basic Services

• We’ve advanced a lot in Brazil into this factors, in combating poverty and misery, because of the guarantee of basic services


Local Government and the right to the city

• The guarantee of basic services is important, but not sufficient;

• progressives Brazilian governments have guaranteed the right to the city through actions that foster participatory democracy, creating spaces for participation and strengthen dialogue between the people and the government.


Local Government and the right to the city

When we talk about the right to the city, it is essential to pay special attention to historically excluded and promote:

• Gender equality;

• combating racism;

• ensuring spaces for youth.


Participatory budget

• Created in 1989 in Porto Alegre (RS) – Brazil;

• tt’s a government mechanism for participatory democracy that allows citizens to influence or decide on the public budgets, usually the investment budget for municipalities through processes of community participation;

• with that, civil society will occupy spaces that before were "stolen" from it.

Participatory budget

• 351 Brazilian municipalities adopt participatory budgeting;

• due to this practice, they all stand out - compared to cities without popular participation in the decision on the fate of public resources - spending more on health and sanitation, have better performance in reducing child mortality and register greater presence of organizations civil society interacting with the government;

• studies like this demonstrate how granting the right to the city is the way to building sustainable and inclusive cities.


Solidarity Economy

In Brazil, the Solidarity Economy has widespread as a strategy to encourage excluded person to occupy their space in society;

economy model: cooperative, solidary and inclusive;

it’s an alternative to the capitalist system, that is responsible for the exclusion of the economically underprivileged.


Solidarity Economy:Várzea Paulista - São Paulo -

Brazil

Cooperatives


Solidarity Economy:Várzea Paulista – São Paulo -

Brazil

Social Currency – ‘Saber ‘– ‘Known’



Brazil

Armazém da Cidadania – ‘Citizenship Warehouses’


Brazil

Feira de Trocas - Exchenge Swaps



Brazil

Community bank

Local Governments and the right to the city

• Municipalities are, in excellence, the space for development of the right to the city;

• local government are closer to population;

• popular participation is more direct at the local level


Difficulties

• Shortage of resources and competence;

• difficulty convincing the technical and municipal leaders, which generates the marginalization of the theme;

• lack of mechanisms that make the right to the city goes beyond declarations.


Concrete actions

• Adoption of a municipal charter about the right to the city;

• common action among the different sectors of the municipality for the realization of the right to the city;

• training for municipal leaders to information and persuasion.


United Cities and Local Govern (UCLG)

• Founded in 2004;

• has 6 regional sessions;

• works with committees and working groups, currently with 17 committees, such as:

-culture

-urban-planning

-periphery cities


Commite on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights (CSIPDHR)

The Commission for Social Inclusion and Participatory Democracy arose from the organization of progressive sectors participating in the FAL - Forum of Local Authorities, from 2001, under the World Social Forum;

in 2005, the Commission became institutionalized within the UCLG.


CSIPDHR/UCLG: Objectives

Build a common voice among cities to promote social inclusion, participatory democracy and human rights;

guide local governments in the organization and implementation of these policies;

permanent dialogue with NGOs and social movements.


CISDPDH/UCLG: Performance

To achieve these objectives, the Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights develops three lines of action:

1. Reflection and policy debate

2. Exchange and analysis of experiments

3. Collective knowledge generation


CISDPDH/CGLU: Activities

Developed activities, among others:

• Follow-up of editions of the Local Authorities Forum (Caracas 2005/2007 Nairobi / Bethlehem 2009 / Dakar / 2011);

• follow-up of FALP - Forum of Local Authorities of Outskirts (Getafe 2010, 2013 Canoas);

• preparation of documents: the European Charter for the protection of human rights city (Saint Denis, 2000); Worldwide Schedule Charter of Human Rights in the City (Florence, 2011);

• observatory of inclusive cities, in partnership with CES - Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra;

• world Meeting of Local Governments for the Right to the City (Saint Denis, 2012);

• participation World Forum of human rights cities

(Gwangju, 2012, 2013).Brazilian Association of Municipalities

Thank you!!!

Eduardo Tadeu PereiraBrazilian Association of Municipalities President

[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

Date post:	01-Jul-2015
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「The right to the city and local governments: how can municipalities translate this right into...

Presentations & Public Speaking