Cities are at the forefront of global issues such as climate change, migration flows, and economic crises. The COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the role of urban spaces in the promotion and defense of human rights. In direct contact with the population, municipal administrations have a duty to guarantee the fulfillment of rights by all.
Whereas national governments must comply with international and domestic commitments to human rights on a large territorial scale, local and regional governments have direct and close contact with their population. Thus, they have the responsibility and obligation to integrate human rights principles into public policy through a democratic participatory process.
Popular participation is a necessary condition for the democratic process of elaboration and definition of objectives, goals, and actions of local strategic projects. In this sense, municipal and regional governments must work towards local human rights issues, providing a direct service to the community that often national agencies cannot. As a result, through a bottom-up process, incorporating a human rights framework into public policies improves not only the level of democracy but also governability, and trust between locals and government.
In addition, a human rights framework is an essential guide to creating policies, programs, and mechanisms that realize, promote, and protect the rights of the general population. This is particularly important in the case of vulnerable populations, who are marginalized and are already in less favorable scenarios.
A human rights framework can also provide a base for the creation and implementation of public policies. For instance, the Municipality of São Paulo established the Programa de Metas (PdM), a document that determines the goals, priorities, and actions of the government, based on the Agenda 2030. In this sense, the discussion of the PdM is a great opportunity to think about government action and to plan it seriously and in response to the most prominent needs of society. The document reaffirms the pact of the City Hall with society, by outlining a horizon linked to the UN 2030 Agenda, a vision of the future that opens the way for São Paulo to occupy its place as a world protagonist in human, economic and environmental development.
For this reason, in order to ensure equitable access to services and opportunities, local and regional governments must work based on a human rights framework. These principles and values need to be included in the process of policy-making. Diversity, inclusion, and human rights should be structuring pillars of local action, taking into consideration the different needs, expectations, contexts, and situations of all citizens. It is only with an inclusive human rights policy that local and regional governments will reach every territory and person.
In 2018, the Municipality of São Paulo voluntarily adhered to the commitment to the United Nations Municipal Program for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. One of the purposes of the Program is to encourage the monitoring of the performance of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that make up the 2030 Agenda, through the parameterization of its indicators and the elaboration of periodic reports.
The Municipal Agenda's main objectives are to seek to reduce poverty and social inequality and provide citizens with access to a quality health and education system, encouraging the formulation of innovative and sustainable public policies. The launch of the Municipal Agenda 2030 marks the commitment of the city of São Paulo to a human rights approach, built on a dialogue with civil society, aimed at reducing social inequality and transforming the local reality.
The document materializes the commitment of municipal management to fundamental themes for the development of the city, and it is in this context that it is extremely important to join the global campaign 10, 100, 1000 Human Rights Cities and Territories by 2030, in order to join efforts with other territories committed to public policies on human rights.
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Transcidadania Program
The Transcidadania Program promotes social reintegration and the rescue of citizenship for transvestites, transgender women and trans men in situations of vulnerability.
The program is guided by three axes of action - autonomy, citizenship, and opportunities. Transcidadania promotes the defense of human rights through the assistance to victims of violence, prejudice, and discrimination; provides pedagogical support, legal, psychological and social service, with follow-up for the creation of occurrence bulletins and further guidance; promotes LGBTI citizenship, by providing support to municipal public services, through conflict mediation, lectures, and sensitization of servers; and conducts debates, lectures, and seminars. The Program is composed of a multidisciplinary team, with psychologists, social workers, pedagogues, administrative assistants etc.
The Program uses education as the main tool of development and empowerment for the participants: the beneficiaries from Transcidadania receive the opportunity to complete Elementary and High school, earn a professional qualification and develop citizenship practice. Each beneficiary also receives psychological, legal, social, and pedagogical support during the two years of permanence in the program.
One of the most innovative aspects of Transcidadania is the offering of conditions for financial autonomy through the transfer of income (scholarship) conditioned to the execution of activities related to the completion of primary education, preparation for the job market, and professional and citizen training.
In addition, the Program has had exponential growth in the past few years: in 2016, the value of the scholarship was BRL R$827,40. In 2020, it was BRL 1,097.25; in 2021, it was BRL 1,160.24; and currently, it is BRL 1,272.60 per scholarship.
Transcidadania also increased its number of vacancies: in 2015, it had 100 vacancies, and as of now, there was an increase from 510 to 660 per class, with the incorporation of 160 vacancies, equivalent to an increase of 300% in the last three years. The next goal is to increase the number of vacancies to 1.020 by 2024.
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Reference and Assistance Center for Immigrants (CRAI ORIANA JARA)
The Reference and Assistance Center for Immigrants (CRAI ORIANA JARA) is a public service of the Municipal Secretariat for Human Rights and Citizenship, of the City of São Paulo. CRAI Oriana Jara offers specialized and multilingual support for immigrants, focusing on guidance on migration regularization and access to social rights, legal and social service advice, as well as forwarding complaints of violations of human rights.
The services are offered to the entire immigrant population of the city of São Paulo, in transit or resident, regardless of their nationality, migratory status or legal support for their stay in the national territory, with special attention to immigrants in situations of greater vulnerability.
The main objectives of CRAI, are to:
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Articulate, with the public policy network and with civil society organizations and movements, itinerant services in regions with the presence of the immigrant population in the municipality, in addition to structuring service flows and guaranteeing complete and qualified attention to their demands;
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Promote training and awareness-raising workshops, seminars or lectures in services of the municipal administration's public policy network; to public servants; and other groups on the subject of human mobility, immigrant rights and access to education, health, social assistance and others;
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Produce and compile information on the immigrant population served, in order to support the formulation of policies at the municipal, state and federal levels;
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Organize demand for Portuguese courses, workshops and lectures for immigrants.
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Programa Bolsa Trabalho: Juventude, Trabalho e Fabricação Digital
The Program is carried out by the Municipal Secretariat for Economic Development and Work (SMDET) in cooperation with the Municipal Secretariat for Human Rights and Citizenship (SMDHC) and the Municipal Department of Innovation and Technology (SMIT). It began in 2016 and since then, 12 classes have been held. Its objective is to train young people in the areas of digital fabrication, entrepreneurship, labor market, Human Rights and citizenship.
The Program offers a grant in the amount of R$ 627.21 to guarantee the maintenance and permanence of young people. The project provides training of 108 students from 16 to 20 years old per semester, who meet the following criteria: being unemployed, residing in São Paulo for more than two years, having a per capita income equal to or less than half a salary minimum and be enrolled in or have completed high school.
Over 6 months, the young people participate in activities on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 9 am to 1 pm: discussions, lectures, visits and practical and theoretical learning. At the end of the course, students must deliver an Experimental Course Project - PEC.