www.vidabrasil.org.br

Changing practices, attitudes et policies

Damien Hazard

Vida Brasil

Madagascarnovembro de 2011

“A gestação do novo na história dá-se, freqüentemente, de modo quase imperceptível para os contemporâneos, já que suas sementes começam a se impor ainda quando o velho é quantitativamente dominante. É exatamente por isso que a qualidade do novo pode passar despercebida. Mas, a história se caracteriza por uma sucessão ininterrupta de épocas. Essa idéia de movimento e mudança é inerente à evolução da humanidade.”

Milton Santos - Geógrafo e pensador brasileiro e baiano

“La gestation du nouveau dans l´histoire se produit, fréquemment, de façon presque imperceptible pour les contemporains, puisque ses graines commencent à s´imposer quand le vieux est encore quantitativement dominant. C´est exactement pour cela que la qualité du nouveau peut passer inaperçue. Mais l´histoire se caractérise par une sucession ininterrompue d´époques. Cette idée de mouvement et de changement est inhérente à l´évolution de l´humanité.”

In our projects, taking time into account is an essential point

Time:

• Of projects/ of donors,

• Of individual changes (in particular of people with disabilities directly impacted by the project),

• Of institutional strengthening of DPOs at the level of their internal organisation, and of their capacities to intervene on the social and political scene

• Of discussion and public policy building

• Of public policy implementation and of their impact on people with disabilities’ lives

• For sustainability of public policies

Changing practices, attitudes and policiesPast Present Future

- 5 years + 5 years

ImpactEffects Sustainability

Institutional segregation

InclusionIntegrationAbandon

Social assistance organisations

DPOSorganisations and public serivces for Social assistance, education, health...Social enterprisesSpecialised media

DPODiverse public authoritiesEnterprisesMedia Diverse social movements

• Seminars with disabled people organisations, and/ or with other organisations

Objective: gather civil society organisations, promote political and cultural participation of people with disabilities and raise awareness in public opinion and public auhtorities on questions related to accessibility and human rights of people with disabilities.

Examples of actions with varied audiences

• Public events: people with disabilities, media, general public...

– Objectives: gather civil society organisations de and sensitise general public and public authorities on questions related to accessibility and human rights of people with disabilities

Examples of actions with varied audiences

Examples of actions with varied audiences

• Level of (in-)accessibility of the city, • accessible public spaces and services, • Opinion of people with disabilities on the respect of their

human righs, • Diagnosis of services, public spaces, buildings and roads

of Salvador.

Objectives: • Produce information and diagnosis for the media,

organisations, public authorities, etc. • Influence public policies• Reinforce the image of Vida Brasil and of DPOs as

reference interlocutors on questions related to human rights of people with disabilities

Surveys and studiesOn the situation of people with disabilities’ human rights

Publication of an accessibility guide for Salvador city

Objectives:

Produce informations and diagnosis useful for the media, for public authorities and people with disabilities living or going through Salvador,

Bring informations on the city that is of general interest for all inhabilitants and social actors of Salvador,

Enhance/ promote accessible public spaces in the city and invite people with disabilities to use them

Examples of actions with varied audiences

Commissions working groups with representatives from legislative power, with secretaries and professional councils for urban planning, Public Ministry...

- Objective: Orient muncipality councillors, members of State parliament and other local public autorities in developing laws and policies in education, transportation health, public planning consultation spaces/ forums...

Monitoring of laws, conventions and international treaties (Convention, CEDAW...);

Objectives: • Mobilise organisations on common positioning

durng a discussion on evolution of PwDs human righs

• Include DPOs into dynamics with other social movements enabling dialogue and convergence between different social problematics

• Contribute to develop and disseminate monitoring reports, petitions, etc, on national or international laws.

Examples of actions with varied audiences

Effects of the project

• Development or review of laws: creation of the municipality council on PwDs human rights, of the permanent accessibility commission of Salvador (forum for consultation), free public transportation in Salvador for poor people with disabilities...

• Elaborate and disseminate texts and positioning of civil society on policies and PwDs human rights

• Increasing of the number of PwDs in political consultation forums, linked to their rights but also sectoral policies and inclusion of disability issues: food security, urban planning, women rights, racial equality, health, education...

• Improving accessible buses policies, distributing drugs against schizophrenia...

• Increasing numbers of articles and documentaries on PWDs rights in the media.

• new organisations created or reinforced in Bahia.

• Icnreasing of accessible places in Salvador (18 in 3 years...).

• Increasing numbers of programmes and polciies of public authorities dealing with PwDs human rights (6 in 3 years in Bahia).

• Increasing number of adapted buses (from 156 in 2008 to 656 in 2011, out of total 2500 buses).

• Increasing number of children with disabilities in public schools and increased adapted rooms

Effects of the project

Impact

• Set up policies towarsd PwDs, and in particular towards people who are not or not much taken into account in governmental action : albinos, Rett syndrome, users of psychiatry and mental health...

• Changing life conditions of people with disabilities, targeted by the project directly or not

• Changing perceptions of various representatives from public authorities, media and other social movements.

• Increasing political presence, exert this political representation in a quality manner

• Improve accessibility of Salvador city and existing public services.

Difficulties

• Efficiency of laws and policies on the rights of people with disabilities longer than expected...

• Co-optation of DPO representatives by the local government

• Representation of civil society in consultation spaces/ forums is sometimes limited to a few leaders and their personal opinions. Spaces/ forums don’t always function very well...

• Fighting to nominate people with disabilities in government structures has mobilised DPOs’ attention on personal issues instead of collective campaigns and collective rights

• DPOs managed to overcome invisibility over the last 15 years in a united way. Exercising power in consultation spaces created in the last 10 years revealed differences between organisations, and a difficulty to maintain consensus/ common positionning. The initial network is being fragilised...

Success factors/ recommendations

• Importance of communication and dissemination of diverse activities, and good practices...

• Learning to work with the media

• Importance of political and technical training of DPO “leaders”...

• Importance of occupying existing political spaces or to create them in view of taking part in decision-making/ consultation

• Democratic and transparent conflict management

• Be creative in organising activities; adapt methodologies to the local context

• Importance of relation with other social movements and of dialogue and convergence with other social issues...

• Constant preoccupation to improve participation process of people with disabilities, and not only their leaders

• Importance of strengthening civil society networks, temporary or permanent networks, in defining consensus positions to negotiate in consultation forums.

Success factors/ recommendations

Rua da Mouraria 74, NazaréSalvador – Bahia

CEP 40040 – 090 BRASILsalvador@vidabrasil.org.br ( 55 – 71 ) 33 21 43 82 / 46 88

damien@vidabrasil.org.br

www.vidabrasil.org.brwww.vidabrasil.org.br