Loading
Delegates' Area
English
G20 SOCIAL
"We will take the favela to the global discussions of the G20", says the director of the NGO Voz das Comunidades (Communities' Voice)
The statement was made by the NGO's executive director, Gabriela Santos, after a meeting between representatives of F20 (Favelas 20) and Voz das Comunidades with the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic of Brasil, Márcio Macêdo, in Rio de Janeiro, as part of the discussions of the G20 Social.
The effort to bring together people who live in Brazilian favelas, who collectively think about their territories – not only in the communities, but also in academia – is the hallmark of two communication and collaborative management initiatives in Rio de Janeiro: Voz das Comunidades and Favelas 20 (F20).
With the participation of leaders from different favelas in Rio, the organizations work in a mutual manner. On the one hand, they seek to bring the community's view on itself, their perspectives and their own narratives. On the other hand, they translate the world to the favelas and the favelas translate themselves to the world.
Both initiatives bring great major themes to popular understanding in order to enable people from the communities to comprehend and be part of national and global geopolitical and economic debates. At the same time, they translate to the world the immense transformative capacity of the favelas and of the social, entrepreneurial, educational, cultural and environmental initiatives conceived and carried out by residents of these areas.
Its is an innovative process in which communities become part of their own narratives to stop being guided. Instead, they lead in a systemic way, inside and outside their territories, according to their own perspectives and realities.
Following the meeting with the minister, the F20 project will now participate more actively in the organization of the G20 Social Summit, which takes place in November, between the 14th and 16th, in Rio de Janeiro. All discussions held by F20 will be systematized in a final document, which will be submitted to the federal government of Brasil during the Summit. The group will also contribute to the construction of agendas and actions of the favelas for the territory of the Social Summit.
“The goal of the F20 is to involve the favela communities in decision-making. We want to increase the participation of the favela in local, regional and especially global debates based on what happens inside of it. We will take the favela to the global discussions within the G20", said Gabriela Santos, executive director of Voz das Comunidades (Communities' Voice).
Following the meeting with the minister, the F20 project will now participate more actively in the organization of the G20 Social Summit, which takes place in November, between the 14th and 16th, in Rio de Janeiro. All discussions held by F20 will be systematized in a final document, which will be submitted to the federal government of Brasil during the Summit. The group will also contribute to the construction of agendas and actions of the favelas for the territory of the Social Summit.
A sharing trail
"We follow the G20 and we know that civil society is hardly ever heard. When we saw the efforts of the federal government of Brasil in creating the G20 Social, we also realized the need to strategically include favelas in this global debate. We decided to set up a structure so that favelas could participate, as we want to amplify these voices so they have a chance to be heard, since all the topics discussed are directly related to the reality of the residents of our communities", explained René Silva, founder of Voz das Comunidades and co-founder of Favelas 20 with Erley Bispo and Gabriela Santos, who also participated in the round of talks with the minister.
"Hosting the G20 in Brasil would not make any sense without dialoguing with the people, organizations and social movements, and also with communities from vulnerable areas”, said the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Márcio Macêdo. “Bringing this debate to the world leaders of the G20 is a commitment by President Lula to show that the favela is powerful, to value its youth, its women, its culture, its wisdom, its creativity and its capacity to innovate”, said the minister.
Valter Manuel, from the Favela 3D project, testifies to the transformative potential of this experience: “I am part of the climate crisis committee and we have been discussing how these issues mainly affect the most vulnerable territories that don't have the appropriate infrastructure. Searching for ways of prevention and being in a group of people from the communities of Maré and Complexo do Alemão, as well as from other regions, to exchange experiences between these areas. All of this is very enriching and challenging for us”.
João Vitor, who is part of the F20's communications front and of the activist and independent journalism of the NGO Voz das Comunidades, spoke about the meticulous and daily process in these territories. “We basically work on translating the difficult terms, the topics that are discussed in the G20, so that people can understand and the information can be disseminated. Because if we want these voices to be amplified, they need to have access to information and knowledge, based on their reality, their territories, so that they can go further”, he explained.
Erley Bispo, coordinator of F20, Lucas Padilha, Secretary of the Civil House of the City of RJ, and Ronald Sorriso, National Secretary for Youth of the Secretariat General, also participated in the round of talks.