PUBLIC BUDGET AND HUMAN RIGHTSA Brazilian experience of enhancing social

participation in public policy-makingInstitute for Socioeconomic Studies

Democracy and citizens participation is a relatively new phenomenon in the Brazilian history. Most of the time our history was dominated by an authoritarian state, dedicated to maintain the order and to server as an instrument to increase the power and the profits of the dominant elites of each period.

The Military Dictatorship (1964 – 1985): the beginning of a long night

The NGO sector is a central part of this history as a space of convergence for social activists, intellectuals and a new generation of human rights and environmental defenders. New movements become protagonists in the public life (women, environmentalists, indigenous, street children, urban neighbourhood associations and others).

THE BRAZILIAN DIFFICULT ROAD TO DEMOCRACY AND THE ROLE OF NGOS

• Public Debt – 30% of the Brazilian Federal Budget is expended in interests, charges and amortization of the public debt, due to a contractionist monetary policy, with high interest rate (In the 2000-2007 period, the federal budget spent US$ 429.54 billion)

• Tax justice - Brazilian public budget is financed by the poor people and appropriated by the wealthy due to a regressive taxation over consumption.

• Brazilian development model - excluded and unsustainable that has not been able to guarantee the fair distribution of the benefits of this development for all: Agrobusiness ( sugar cane, ethanol, soybean, meat); Big infrastructural and hydroeletricpower projects in Amazon Forest. This model stimulated by Brazilian government is incoherent with many statements done by Brazil in international arenas.

NEW CHALLENGES FOR THE REALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS

INESC - BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The history of Inesc goes together with the democratic trajectory in Brazil. It was founded in 1979 by Maria José Jayme (Bizeh)

It was an important player during key moments in the early years of the democratic transition: Amnesty Law, Presidential Direct Elections Bill (1984) and New Constitution (1988)

Since 1991 Inesc has developed strategies related to budget process. We use budget tools as the basis for strengthening and fostering citizenship rights.

We participate on national and international human rights, environmental, social and economic networks and have developed budget monitoring projects in Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Central America and Netherlands.

BUDGET AND RIGHTSA budget analysis method from the

perspective of human rights.

PUBLIC BUDGET AND HUMAN RIGHTSAN APPROACH

In what extend, the governments put the citizens rights and freedoms as priority.

How public funds are collected and distributed. ;

The existing power relationships within society;

Who primarily contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development.

Public Budget analysis is an entry point for discussing:

HUMAN RIGHTS REALIZATION

International Treaties

Ferderal Constitution

Law

Public Policy

Budget

ABSTRACT

CONCRET

METHODOLOGY OF PUBLICBUDGET ANALYSIS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE

OF HUMAN RIGHTS.

GOALTo establish concrete relations between public budget, guarantee of rights and confrontation of social inequalities;

CHALLENGETo create an understandable and simple instrument to analyze public policies and the budget to be used by INESC and also other civil society organizations.

PUBLIC BUDGET AND HUMAN RIGHTS Apply the maximum of its available

resources to promote human rights (ICESCR obligation – art. 2);

Promote the progressive implementation of human rights – civil, political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, sexual and reproductive rights (ICESCR obligation – art. 2);

Guarantee the ESCR without discrimination of any kind as race, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, birth or other status;

Ensure its financing with social justice, (including the fair distribution of revenues that came from the exploitation of natural resources) .

The State should:

KEY QUESTIONS

How public policies are financed? In other words, who is financing the taxes collected by State? The poorest? The richest?

To what degree are government programs and actions actually implementing rights and combating inequalities?

How transparent is the budget for the public?

Who has taken benefits from the resources produced by the society?

BUDGET CYCLE We consider the National Congress and the Executive Power as key arenas to

influence the Budget Process, due to the way the Brazilian Budgetary Law defines the process.

ELABORATION

DISCUSSION AND

APPROVAL

EXECUTION

EVALUATION AND

CONTROL

Working with Human Rights and

Budget in Public Schools

INESCInstitute for Socioeconomic Studies

Since 2007, INESC has conduced a project to educate youths in human rights and public budget. It is called ONDA (WAVE).

The project has organized workshops based on the principles of popular and art education, in which participation is vital to developing new knowledge for social transformation.

ONDA (WAVE)

ADOLESCENTES FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS

At least 500 teenagers from ten public schools in the Federal District have participated in this project.

ONDA (WAVE)

ADOLESCENTES FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS

The heart of the educational process are the workshops in the schools.

It is a 5 days workshop that brings the follow content:

Human Rights;

Democratic Participation and State obligations;

Public Budget;

Communication and Advocacy Strategies.

ONDA (WAVE)

ADOLESCENTES FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS

The ONDA project have been presented amendments to the Budget Bill in the local parliament in order to renovate schools of Federal District.

In 2009, this advocacy process lead by the teenagers managed to approve a budget suggestion of US$1 million to improve the conditions of schools (to build sports courts and auditoriums and to renovate toilets).

ONDA (WAVE)

ADOLESCENTES FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS

The teenagers also produced a magazine that deals with human rights issues related to budget. Due to its success, this project was awarded a Social Technology Prize by the Bank of Brazil Foundation .

ONDA (WAVE)

ADOLESCENTES FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS

Thank you!

Iara Pietricovsky de OliveiraINESC´s Co-Directorwww.inesc.org.briarap@inesc.org.br