e Paz).

Number 230, June 06, 1996.

AGRARIAN REFORM

- Land and hunger.

During recent days the theme of agrarian reform has received

extensive attention in the press. Without doubt the recent

massacre in Para of 19 landless workers and grassroots pressure

in favor of an agrarian reform have helped to keep this topic

before the public. We reproduce a translation in whole or part of

some of the principle articles which appeared during the last

week.

The first is an article entitled "Terra e Fome" (Land and

Hunger) written by sociologist Herbert de Souza (Betinho) and

published in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on May 31.

Data relating to world agricultural production shows that

there is a decrease in the amount of food on offer side by side

with an huge increase in demand for such food. In the majority of

developed countries there no longer exists an agricultural

frontier which can expand. At the same time Brazil is responsible

for a very small part of the world production of grain and has at

least 180 million idle hectares according to data supplied by

INCRA (the government land agency).

The concentration of land in Brazil is both historical and

shameful. It started with royal presents to the colonial

aristocrats (the hereditary captaincies) and it has come to a

high point with their descendants who are symbolized by the lobby

group of rural deputies today. Just as in colonial times, this

latter group is a privileged and avid detainers of the gifts of

the State.

Our so-called 'producer groups' , with rare and notable

exceptions, are a total failure in world terms when it comes to

productivity. While they impede the access of rural workers to

the millions of unproductive hectares, Brazil produces a mere 70

million tons of grain per harvest. The fifth largest country in

area on a world scale, privileged by nature produces only 4% of a

world total of 1.7 billion tons of grain. Such a production could

easily be mistaken as a statistical error or be hidden in the

world harvest fluctuations of grain production.

This well-off group (becoming better-off all the time due to

dedicated government kindness) gets the lion's share of

agricultural incentives; they do not pay just taxes; they

associate themselves with international markets to the detriment

of national needs and now they have started a campaign against

the landless saying that they (the landless) do not know how to

produce and that they will defend their land by the bullet. As if

all this were not happening since colonial times.

In their magazines they have advertising for modern arms

which can be used either for sporting purposes or for the defense

of the sacred property given to them by the violent act of

grabbing during hundreds of years. They even do not have such

courage: instead they hire cheap gun-slingers or even the

military police of their own regions to do their dirty work.

In the middle of a crisis of the grain market they affirm

that if an agrarian reform were to increase production, this

could damage their markets because prices could fall while at the

same time they claim that the landless have not the competence

to care for their own business interests (never since data has

been kept on a regular basis on the world grain harvest have

stocks been so low: they are sufficient for only 48 days' world

consumption). Using the economic fire-power which their group of

deputies have in Congress, they tie the government's hands so

that it cannot carry out reforms while the country may run the

risk of losing the opportunity to democratize lands, settle

millions of families, increase employment, expand the internal

market and increase its competitiveness in a world food market

which is in the process of expansion.

We have still millions of hectares which could be

productively occupied; we have millions of workers to employ as

well as the capacity to modernize our agriculture and multiply

our productivity. If we have a future in rural areas we also have

fallen far behind; we have a colonial mentality which becomes

explicit in massacres which shame us and which bring in to

question the honesty of the public authorities. It is for all

these reasons that the democratization of land is an urgent

imperative for our very survival.

Jose Carlos Monteiro Gadelha, executive secretary of the

Forum of NGOs and Social Movements in Rondonia questioned the

style of agrarian reform in the Amazonian region. His article

entitled "The Unsustainable Policy of INCRA in Amazonia" was

published in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on May 24. We summarize

below the chief points of the article.

With the recent appointment of the new minister responsible

for agrarian reform, Raul Jungmann, various proposals are being

discussed. These include the decentralization of the process of

disappropriation, changes in the laws governing this area and an

increase in the amount of funds available for agrarian reform.

One thing seems certain: the number of families which will be

settled in agrarian reform projects should increase

significantly.

This increase, according to Gadelha' could present a danger.

If INCRA is under pressure to settle more and more families, its'

model of agrarian reform could damage the environment and place

families in situations where they could not survive especially in

the Amazonian region. The situation in Rondonia could be used as

an example. In the past, settlement projects in this state have

taken place on areas of poor soils and in remote regions. The

absence of roads, schools, hospitals and widespread malaria has

characterized many such settlements. Left in the middle of the

forest, without any infrastructure and social services families

who enter the statistics of settlement in a given year leave

after a few bouts of malaria and a number of failed harvests.

Their farm is then sold for a very low price to a neighboring

rancher who specializes in cattle rearing. The rancher deforests

the remaining forested areas on the farm, sells the timber, sets

fire to what remains and then plants grass in order to expand his

area for cattle rearing.

Approximately 10% of land in the State of Rondonia is of

good quality and most of this area is already in the hands of the

large ranchers. In fact INCRA has in no small part been

responsible for ensuring that such lands are now owned by large

ranchers. The directorship of INCRA at state level has frequently

been used in political bargaining between the parties and

political groups. Many of the areas disappropriated in the state

have been in regions of poor soil and exorbitant sums have been

paid for such land. It is often sold after lumber merchants have

cleared all timber of any value. Environmental devastation,

disrespect for economic-ecological zonement plans, concentration

of land in the hands of the few and social exclusion result from

all this.

In an article in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on June 02,

minister Raul Jungmann, responsible for the area of agrarian

reform outlined his plans for this area. He referred to 6.2

million hectares given over by the military forces on May 23 for

agrarian reform projects and the offer of the army to lend

technicians to help carry out infrastructural works in such areas

to prepare them for the settlement of families. He refers to

other areas - a total of 1.8 million hectares in the States of

Rondonia, Para, Amazonas, Amapa, Tocantins, Mato Grosso and

Maranhao which could be used to settle 20 thousand families. Many

of the areas donated by the military and in the states mentioned

above face the problems described by Gadelha in his article.

Minister Jungmann also claims that land belonging to people

who have failed to repay loans to the Banco do Brasil could

possibly also be used in projects of agrarian reform. He defends

the idea of decentralizing the process of agrarian reform so that

states and municipalities have a greater participation in such

projects and admits that INCRA needs to be remodeled.

- Protests and occupations.

Approximately 400 rural workers invaded the Ministry of

Agriculture in Brasilia on May 30. The rural workers had arrived

in the federal capital earlier during the week for the "Cry of

the Land" (Grito da Terra) protest which brought 2500 protesters

to the city - see last week's NEWS FROM BRAZIL for background on

this protest.

Those who occupied the ministry were demanding a credit of

US $2 billion for family farms. Further protests occurred in

other parts of the country during the week. In Teodoro Sampaio in

the Pontal do Paranapanema region of Sao Paulo, 300 landless

rural workers occupied the local Banco do Brasil. Their protest

was against the delay in the liberation of a US $500 thousand

grant for agrarian reform projects. In the State of Bahia, 1500

landless workers occupied the regional headquarters of INCRA and

held hostage the regional director of the agency, Fernando Phiton

de Andrade. The workers demanded the immediate settlement of 5

thousand landless families who are occupying ranches in the

interior of the state.

In Curitiba, State of Parana, 300 landless workers occupied

INCRA's regional headquarters also on May 30. They demanded that

lands received by the Banco do Brasil in payment for debts be

used for agrarian reform projects; that expulsion orders against

landless workers' occupations be canceled and that basic food

baskets be supplied to the families in the occupations. On the

previous day, 250 landless workers briefly occupied the

headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture in the city. Also in

Querencia do Norte (North of the State of Parana) 1300 landless

workers forced businesses and banks to close on June 04. They

also occupied the local municipal buildings demanding the

immediate settlement of landless families on seven ranches in the

region.

Meanwhile, urban families who are demanding housing also

carried out protests at national level in recent days. The

National Movement of the Struggle for Housing (MNLM) occupied

urban areas in seven large cities and blocked the highway which

links Brasilia with Goiania. The areas occupied were in the

following cities: Placito de Castro (State of Acre), Porto Velho

(Rondonia), Maceio (Alagoas), Aracuja (Sergipe), Goiania (Goias),

Vitoria (Espirito Santo), Santa Luzia (Minas Gerais) and Volta

Redonda (Rio de Janeiro). The MNLM plans to occupy other urban

areas until the end of the Habitat 2 conference on June 13 as a

means to call attention nationally and internationally to the

precarious situation of housing in Brazil.

LAND ISSUES

- Annual report on rural violence published by CPT.

On June 04, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) published

its' 1995 report on rural violence in Brazil. For the last

several years, the CPT report which carries extensive statistics

has been accepted as the most reliable source of information on

Brazilian land violence.

In its' introduction, the report refers to an interesting

change which can be perceived when 1995 figures are examined. It

concludes that resistance to rural injustices is increasing and

clearly confrontation with the traditional property classes by

the landless take the form of struggles over such issues as

access to land, to credit, to technology, to health as well as

ecological questions. Figures for land occupations during 1995 -

146 in all, were up from 119 in 1994 and are a clear indication

of the above mentioned trend.

Another tendency in evidence during 1995 is the collective

culpability for assassinations and violence. Police are involved

more and more in what formerly was the violence practiced by

ranchers' hired gun-men. Frequently in 1995, police and hired

gun-men acted side by side. The number of assassinations during

the year stand at 41 and are down 5 on 1994. During 1995, 155

death threats were registered and 43 assassination attempts.

Statistics show that who suffered most here were the titleless

farmers (posseiros). 19 of the violent deaths were of people

from this group during the year and 15 of landless workers. The

states where most violent deaths were registered were Rondonia

(15) and Para (14).

Of the 155 death threats, almost half were received by

titleless farmers; 20 by trade-unionists; 15 by landless workers;

5 by lawyers and 12 by priests. The states where most death

threats were made were Para (54), Maranhao (18) and Mato Grosso

(16). Of the 43 people who suffered assassination attempts, 20

were titleless farmers and 15 were landless workers. 7 such

attempts took place in Rondonia and 6 in Para.

The number of people subjected to slave labor conditions was

down on 1994. In all during 1995, 21 cases involving 26047 people

were recorded - this represents 854 victims less than during the

previous year. The report however points out that there exists

far more cases of slave labor than those discovered or denounced

during the year. A break-down of the numbers are as follows: in

the charcoal furnaces of Mato Grosso do Sul cases involving 6

thousand adults and 1200 children were reported. In the same

state 2213 people were found to be subjected to slave labor

conditions planting grass on large ranches. Approximately 10

thousand were found in such conditions in Minas Gerais. In the

State of Acre, 1500 people were found working in such conditions

in rubber plantations and 4 thousand people (including many

children) in the extraction of pine resin in the municipality of

Iaras, Sao Paulo. Smaller numbers were found in the States of

Mato Grosso and Para, especially in the municipalities of Santana

do Araguaia, Conceicao do Araguaia, Rondon do Para, Vila Rica and

Chapada dos Guimaraes.

As we already mentioned, land occupations increased during

1995 - 146 in all, up from 119 in 1994. 30476 families were

involved in last year's occupations. During the last five years

occupations have increased by 100%. Last year 56 occupations

involving 10827 families took place in the north-east and 37 in

the south-east - in Sao Paulo alone there were 26 involving 8910

families. According to the CPT report what was new during 1995 in

the occupations were the characteristics of the people involved.

Apart from landless workers, former sugar-cane distillery and dam

construction workers took part as well as day laborers and

unemployed people from the peripheries of the cities.

The report emphasizes positive aspects of agrarian reform

projects quoting figures from the Movement of Landless Workers

(MST) and INCRA (the government land agency) which show that

there exist 1123 agrarian reform settlements where just over 139

thousand people live on just over 7.2 million hectares.

According to FAO and INCRA data, the average cost to settle a

family is US $16 thousand while the creation of a job in the

steel industry ranges from US $70 to $150 thousand. Many are the

success stories from the settlements ranging from agricultural

cooperatives and industries to an example in Conquista da

Fronteira (State of Santa Catarina) which set up a jeans' factory

in order to provide employment for the youth and so keep them in

the rural area.

Solidarity from the general population is obviously on the

increase for those who are involved in the land struggle. A

December 1995 survey carried out by the Ibope agency discovered

that 56% of those interviewed supported the campaigns of the

landless workers for access to land; on the peripheries of the

cities this response rose to 67%. In an earlier survey carried

out by the Brazilian Association for Agrarian Reform (ABRA) in

the city of Campinas (a Sao Paulo city where many of the landed

elite live), the result was equally surprising. 90% of those who

responded to the survey answered that an agrarian reform is

necessary; only 21% felt that the present government really

wishes to carry out such a reform and 68% said that they

supported the occupations carried out by the MST as a form to put

pressure on the government to carry out an agrarian reform.

ACTION ALERT -- 6 Rural Workers Still in Prision

6 rural workers are still in prision. Yesterday, More than

500 rural workers began a vigil in front of the State

Assembly building. Please help us keep the pressure on for

their immediate release by faxing to the government officials

below.

Background

On May 28th, 1996, at 5 am, more than 120 poor, rural

families were evicted from land that they were occupying in

the Tabatinga area of the Northeastern State of Paraiba. The

workers have occupied the land since November 20, 1995. They

suffered an eviction earlier this year. 200 military police

participated in the eviction. Witnesses reported that the

military police did not read the court order for eviction

and that the action was marked by violence.

During the operation, 6 people were arrested including 2

workers, 1 member of the Diocesan Pastoral Commission of

Land (CPT) and 3 members of a neighboring community. They

were charged with forming gang, failure to obey a court

order, and mistreatment of children in the camp. According

to Frei Anastacio Ribeiro, leader of the CPT, "In respect to

the charge concerning mistreatment of children , I assure

that children in the land occupations have food, access to

school, and are with their parents. With certainty, the

situation in the land occupations are better than the streets

where countless children live and beg to survive."

Of the 5,000 acres of the ranch, the workers have

already planted almost 800 acres. Incra( the federal land

reform agency) determined the land unproductive and sent the

papers to Brasilia. On May 29, acting President Marco Maciel

officially signed the papers that expropriated the 5,000

acres. Upon receiving the news, the agricultural workers

that were evicted the previous day returned to the land. The

6 people arrested during the eviction operation remain in

jail.

On May 30th, 300 rural workers began a vigil in front of

the two jails where the 6 landless workers are being held.

They plan to remain camped in front of the jails until the

landless are released.

ACTION ALERT

Please FAX IMMEDIATELY

1. Dr. Julio Cesar Ramalho -- Paraiba Director of INCRA, the

federal land agency. His fax number is 011 55 83 244-1624

2. Dr. Antonio Elias de Queirogas, Tribunal de Justica

In your fax highlight the following points:

* ask him to use his influence accelerate the land reform

process

* highlight the Tabatinga case in Paraiba where more than 120

families were evicted from land determined unproductive by

INCRA and recently expropriated by Marco Maciel.

* call attention to the poor, rural workers who were arrested

and demand their immediate release Their names are Dorival

Fernandes, Iris de Fatima do Nascimento, Rosilda de Fatima,

Marinaldo dos Santos, Elias Rodriquez, and Clodoaldo dos

Santos

ECOLOGY

- The death of a river.

The "Correio do Estado" of June 03 published in Campo

Grande, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, carries a report of the

progressive death of the River Taquari - one of the principal

rivers in the Pantanal region. This is being provoked by

deforestation near its' headwaters for the subsequent planting of

soy beans and grass. Its' course and banks are also being

modified by ranchers in the area to prevent flooding. This has a

profound effect on the life of the plants and animals in the

water.

Police sums up the situation "we go down river by one channel.

When we return after two hours the channel has moved". Lieutenant

Lane points to a number of factors which are responsible for what

is happening to the river - erosion following deforestation,

channeling of the river by ranchers and predatory fishing. In the

latter case for example, all who fish in the river do so with

nets in order to catch the maximum number of fish.

Numerous sand banks have formed along the river. Many

started within the last year and already are seizable islands.

One such island which appeared in the river at the beginning of

this year is already 20 thousand square meters in area. According

to a study carried out by technicians of the Farming and Cattle-

Rearing Study Center of the Pantanal (CPAP- Embrapa), in a 24

hour period the equivalent of a thousand truck loads of sand

enters the river due to erosion. What formerly was a 30 meters

wide river is now 300 meters wide in many places and in many

instances the water is a mere 10 centimeters deep. The silting

process is also visible at the beautiful Palmeiras waterfall

where an island formed at the bottom of the falls large enough to

contain a football pitch.

ECONOMY

- 2.7 times more money spent on rescuing banks than on the

health system.

According to the Network of the Federation of Bank Workers

of Rio Grande do Sul, the Brazilian government has already spent

this year 24.5% of its expected income from federal taxes to

rescue banks in financial difficulties. So far, two banks - the

Banco Nacional and Banco Economico have received a large part of

money.

The government spent approximately US $13 billion to rescue

the Banco Nacional and US $6 billion in the rescue of the Banco

Economico. Other banks received smaller amounts - the Caixa

Federal just under US $2 billion, Banorte approximately US $1.2

billion and Banco Antonio Queiroz US $111 million. So far this

year, the government has spent 2.7 times more on the rescue of

banks than it invested in health during 1995. The amount already

spent is equal to approximately 55% of what it will pay to public

functionaries during 1996.

Employment, agrarian reform, fair salaries and pensions and

the maintenance of workers' rights are the demands being made by

the chief congresses of trade unions who are planning a general

strike for June 21 next.

HOUSING

From: pcc@iol.ie (Gian(Public Comunications Centre))

The following has been put togheter in a media/information pack for the

Habitat conference in Istambul by

Movimento De Defensa Dos Favelados (Rua Bispo Eugenio Damazenod 463A 2A,

Vila Alpina 03206 - 040 Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Public Communications Centre (22, South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2,

Ireland e-mail pcc@iol.ie)

Colm Regan (36, Putlands Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland)

Trocaire (169 Booterstown Avenue, Blackrock, Co.Dublin,Ireland)

or a printed copy please contact Movimento De Defensa Dos Favelados at the

above address

This pack is a message from over a million people to you. We are favela

dwellers who live in the 2,500 shanty towns of Sao Paulo in Brazil. We have

a lot to say. Our story is an important one. It's a story of poverty,

exclusion and discrimination. Of harassment, violence and death. But it's

also a story of a fight back. Of spirit, faith and determination. Of

creativity, pride and vision. It's a scandal of a massively divided

society. Where power crushes the vulnerable, where propaganda silences the

weak and where wealth concentrated among the few, excludes participation.

But it's a passionate tale of a community united for its own survival.

Where people work together. Where problems are turned to solutions. Where

people find a voice.

This information pack is an important part of our voice. The MDF - the

Movement for the Defence of the Favela Dwellers - is our representative

organisation. The movement was born out of the struggle by favela dwellers

- women, men, youth and children - to assert our rights and to upgrade and

service the housing we provided for ourselves.

It is an organisation with many battles and victories behind it but with

many crises and opportunities ahead. The need for international pressure on

the Brazilian government and the Sao Paulo administration has never been

greater. It is vitally important that governments at the Habitat 11

conference specifically recognise that access to adequate shelter is a

basic human right. It's also important that they copper-fasten this right

in their declarations, plan of action and subsequent commitment of

resources. In the case of Brazil, as the economic and social divide in our

country increases, as the administration colludes in that inequality, the

situation for favela dwellers becomes more difficult. The increasing size

and scale of the problem is over-shadowing the significant gains and

battles won. We have produced this pack to tell this story and to remind

our government - national and local - that the world is watching.

This series of leaflets will provide you with an overview of the social,

economic, and political landscape in which favelados have such a tentative

stake. It looks at social exclusion in Brazil and points up some revealing

statistics about education, health, inequality, hunger and housing. It

profiles Sao Paulo, the second largest, and one of the most divided cities

in the world. It provides you with our vision, as experts who have housed

ourselves for years, of what should be done. We explain an innovative and

cost-effective model of good practice. It also profiles and illustrates

with photography the lives and stories of particular favellas and favela

dwellers.

Here, we make the argument that the current housing programme of the city

of Sao Paulo - the notorious 'Cingapura' is being opposed by the majority

of those who it is meant to serve. We believe that 'housing the poor' is

too often presented as a problem to be solved by others - the state at

local, federal or national level or by the international community. In

Brazil, as the state refuses to allocate resources, we the poor have used

creativity and our own resources to house ourselves. We should be

resourced, developed and supported. We are not the problem as some would

have it. In fact, we are the potential solution.

All around the world housing is not just a commodity but a vital part of

people's everyday lives. Housing provision should start with people. And it

should start with those most in need. People like us. It should be a

collective decision of the people. It should be an opportunity for greater

democracy.

It should be about inclusion. We need your support in our battle. Your

education - and this pack - is an important step in that support.

Brazil: World Champion Of Social Exclusion

A report presented to the United Nations by the Brazilian Government on

March 8th, 1995, described Brazil as facing a dramatic social situation

characterised by profound inequalities'. The Report presented a long list

of statistics illustrating inequality and social exclusion in Brazil.

Overall it indicated an increase in the number of Brazilians living in

poverty and misery; an increase in the gap between rich and poor; growing

regional disparities and severe inequality within urban areas; increasing

illiteracy and ill-health and growing levels of violence. Despite such

inequality and its social and human consequences, the government reduced

spending in areas such as health and education in 1994/95 while increasing

spending for roads, public security and the military.

Brazil is one of the world's top ten largest economies and boasts a GDP

almost equal to that of Canada. However, it has social conditions which

compare unfavourably with those of poorer neighbouring states and, in some

regions, match those of some of the world's poorest states. Many of these

statistics and comparisons are detailed here.

Such inequality has led commentators such as journalist Luis Amaral (Folha

de Sao Paulo, 9/3/95) to describe Brazil as 'world champion of social

inequality'. For other international commentators, Brazil has become a

negative benchmark against which to measure other countries. Journalist

Michael Lind in his book, The Next American Nation argues that the greatest

challenge facing the US today is to avoid becoming another Brazil. He warns

that growing inequality between classes could 'Brazilianise' the US.

Brazil is one of the most divided countries in the world. The gap between,

on the one hand - the rich and powerful and on the other - the poor and

often voiceless, is maintained by structural inequality.

We break down that inequality into different areas which affect people's

daily lives.

Economic Inequality

* 41.9 million Brazilians or 26.8% of the total population are living in

misery. Misery is defined by the Brazilian Government Report to the United

Nations in 1995 as occurring when someone does not have sufficient income

for basic necessities such as food, clothing and housing.

* The gap between rich and poor in Brazil is increasing - in 1960 the

richest 10% of the population had an income 34 times larger than that of

the poorest 10%. 30 years later the income of this group was 78 times

greater than that of the poorest 10%.

* Gross inequality is also apparent in the distribution of land - one of

the countries most serious and pressing problems. There have been no

serious attempts at land reform and the concentration of ownership is

increasing in the context of the 'modernisation' of agriculture. Recent

research indicates that just 2,174 large ranchers owned nearly 15% of all

agricultural land.

Inequality in Education and Health

* 20.2 million Brazilians of 10 years and upwards are illiterate. Four

million children do not go to school and only 34% of those who start

primary schooling finish it.

* The Brazilian research institute, IBGE, estimates

that in the year 2000, Brazil will have over 27 million people who are

illiterate. This figure (26.4 million) will represent 15% of the estimated

population of 176 million.

* Again, as with other indicators of inequality, the regional contrasts

are striking. In the north-east, illiteracy within the age group 15 to 17

years ranges across states from a low of 54% to a high of 72% whereas in

the south the range is from 0% - 1.2%. The glaring contrasts in education

between the north and south recently led the newspaper, Folha De Sao Paulo

(March 24th 1995), to compare the contrast as similar to that between

Sierra Leone and Canada. Brazilian Ministry of Health figures put maternal

mortality at 135 per 1,000 live births - 14 times the US rate and 34 times

that of Canada.

* The infant mortality rate in Brazil is 58 per 1000 live births. This

compares unfavourably with other neighbouring countries - Colombia 23,

Chile 17, Argentina 25, Ecuador 47, Paraguay 35 and Peru 53. Regional rates

are even more startling - in the north-east, the average rate is 65.5 but

in certain areas can reach as high as 80 per 1000 live births.

* Average life expectancy is 67 years in contrast to Surinam at 70 years.

Surinam is one of Latin America's poorest countries.

* In the city of Sao Paulo, a child born in the poor periphery is 3.35

times more likely to not surve the first year of life than a child born in

the richer central areas.

Inequality and Hunger

* It is estimated that approximately 32 million Brazilians suffer hunger

each day.

* According to UNICEF, 11% of all children born in Brazil

suffer from low birth weight. One study in the state of Rio Grande do Norte

(in the north-east) reported that one-third of all children suffer from

malnutrition.

* 42% of children in the state are of lower stature for their age than the

norm due to lack of sufficient protein and calories. 65% of hospitalised

children in Rio Grand do Norte suffer from malnutrition related diseases

while one-third of the population does not have access to a doctor and 24

million Brazilians do not have access to hospitalisation.

* Poor Brazilians continue to suffer as agriculture is 'modernised'. It is

estimated that the amount of food available to each person within the

country fell by 25% in the period 1990 to 1992.

Inequality in Housing Conditions

* Even some of those who earn up to $500 per month - 4.7 million families

- cannot afford basic housing

* 4.2 million houses do not have water on tap and a further 8.9 million

are not linked to a sewerage system or do not have a septic tank.

* Almost a quarter of the entire Brazilian population do not have a

bathroom in their house and in poorer regions the figure is as high as 72%.

Brazil at a Glance

* Brazil is the world's fifth largest country with just over 8.5 million

square kilometres and had, in mid 1993, a population of 156.5 million.

* GNP per Capita in 1993 was US$2,930.

* Life Expectancy - 67 years.

* Income Distribution - In 1989, the poorest 20% of Brazilians controlled

just 2.1% of wealth while the richest 20% controlled 67.5%.

* The adult illiteracy rate is 20%.

* The infant mortality rate is 57 per 1,000 live births.

* In the period 1980 - 1989, the percentage of Brazilians existing below

the poverty line was 9% in urban areas and 24% in rural areas.

* It is estimated that 32 million Brazilians experience daily hunger.

Sao Paulo - A Divided City.

'This process should be understood as an exclusion, that is an

impossibility to participate. This provokes privation, rejection,

abandonment and expulsion even by violent means for a significant part of

the population. For this reason, it can be defined as a social and not only

a personal exclusion... it is not only an individual process, even though

it affects individual people. It is the logic which is present in various

forms of economic, social, cultural and political relations.'

1995 Report on Social Exclusion in Sao Paulo.

Introduction

Sao Paulo is Brazil's largest city with an estimated population of 15

million plus in the greater Sao Paulo area. For many, Sao Paulo is a symbol

of the new Brazil - similar in many ways to the mega cities of the rest of

the world. Yet, according to research, conducted by the Catholic University

of Sao Paulo it is also a city where approximately 7.9 million people live

in areas where access to health, education, housing and income is

precarious.

The research indicates that 73 of the city's 96 designated districts can be

described as areas of social exclusion. Approximately 9.9 million people

live in these areas - this is roughly equivalent to the entire population

of Somalia. In contrast the 23 areas with good social and economic

infrastructure are home to some 1.7 million people. The worst social

conditions are found in the periphery on the eastern and southern sides.

Estimates vary as to the population of the periphery but at least 2 million

live here.

It is estimated that between 1.5 million and 2 million of Sao Paulo's

people live in favelas or slums, many of them old and established, others

recent and precarious. There are some 2,500 such favelas in the city. In

all of them, the basic living conditions - housing, water, sanitation - do

not reach minimum standards. Contaminated water, very limited or no rubbish

collection, ill-health, malnutrition and illiteracy are widespread. For

example, infectious diseases carried in rats' urine during the wet season

spreads the disease of leptospirose; in one district, Marsilac - in the

south, 51% of heads of households are illiterate.

The favelas of Sao Paulo are constantly growing, for example, by as much as

15%, between 1993-94. In addition an estimated 3 million live in Cortisos

(tenement buildings in which conditions are frequently even worse than in

the favelas) while a further 0.5 million live on the street. While

conditions may vary from one favela or cortiso to another, they all share

common characteristics - intense poverty, marginalisation and

precariousness - in short social, political and economic exclusion. In

contrast, there are also areas where growing community organisation and

creativity are considerable.

Inequality in Sao Paulo

* In 1990, 39% of families lived below the poverty line. This figure had

gone up to 47% in 1995. The income differential between rich and poor was

21:1 in 1990 and had increased to 31:1 in 1995.

* A report in the Folha de Sao Paulo on 20/4/95 indicated that the number

of families living in absolute poverty increased by 42% between 1990 and

1994. It estimated that in 1990 the number of families living in misery was

450,000 but that the figure had increased to 640,000 families by 1994.

* As inequality in Sao Paulo grows, so too does violence. The city's

murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants increased 83% between 1984 and the

beginning of 1995. In 1984, 3,516 people were murdered; by 1994 this figure

had increased to 6,679 - up from 1 per 4,323 residents to 1 per 2,229. Dr

Marcos Akerman of Sao Paulo's Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies

argues that "it is not absolute poverty which causes violence, but relative

poverty, when one person has more than another." Sao Paulo's State

Secretary for Public Security attributes the violence to drugs and to

increasing poverty and unemployment.

Housing in Sao Paulo - 'The largest social programme in the country'.

'It is astonishing to see the fear and uncertainties of the families as a

result of lack of information. Contrary to what has been internationally

recommended for decades, and what experience accumulated in public policy

for low income population teaches, the population was never properly heard

let alone informed of the Municipality's plans. The result of this lack of

dialogue is a frightened population but, at the same time, enchanted with

the possibility of really being able to live in buildings which are as

attractive as the paid commercials constantly try to make them believe.'

The Favela Forum, Sao Paulo.

Between 1994 and August 1995, the current administration of the

Municipality - that of Mayor Paulo Malouf invested some US$227 million in

what has been described by the administration (in an advertising campaign

which cost an estimated US$44 million) as 'the largest social programme in

the country' and the 'discovery of the century' for

solving the favela problem. The administration estimates that it will spend

another US$157 million on the 'Cingapura Project' and is looking for a

local bank loan of US$84 million and a further US$37 million

internationally. This is the only housing project of the Malouf

Administration.

The Cingapura Project, based upon housing schemes from Singapore, builds

high-rise blocks of between 5 and 11 storeys, containing apartments of 42

sq. metres each with a parlour, kitchen, laundry and bathroom. When and if

the Cingapura project is completed, it will have assisted approximately

42,000 people. This figure is equivalent to just over 2% of the estimated

favela population. To date the Project has been highly controversial and

there has been widespread opposition to it. For the city administration,

the project represents a solution to the housing problem of the poor,

whilst, for the latter group, it represents yet another attempt to

'de-house' them from that which they have provided for themselves without

state assistance.

The objections of the favelados include the following:

* In order to build the Cingapura, part of the favela is removed and

temporary buildings are constructed for families. Many of them fear that

once they leave the relative security of the favela, they will not get an

apartment and thus become homeless.

* The Cingapura Project is strictly residential and commerce is prohibited

thus wiping out the economic activities of many residents of the favela.

This undermines their livelihood directly.

* The number of apartments normally built is far less than the number of

families living in the favela. Only nuclear families with defined minimum

incomes can participate. This marginalises many favela dwellers who do not

match the Municipality's criteria.

* There are concerns about the quality of the apartments as the companies

building them have little experience in house building and the record of

satisfactory completion to date is poor.

* Those people most directly affected and involved have not, in any way,

been consulted by the Mayor or his officials. In many cases they have leant

of the Municipality's proposals through the newspapers.

97% of favela dwellers do not currently have housing expenses as they

usually own their house. They are fearful of the costs involved in the

Cingapura scheme and whether they will be able to pay them in the

longer-term. At present, it is not clear how adjustments to the rent will

be made and what the level will be. A recent report commented: 'Without

rules compatible with what people can afford, it is unlikely that these

apartments will remain long in the hands of people from the favelas. There

will probably be changing of hands and re-sales (as is already happening)

and families who should be benefiting from this solution will have to find

another favela where they need not pay in order to survive.' The legal

status of the land upon which many Cingapuras have been built is also

unclear and many fear that this ambiguity could be the basis of later legal

action by landowners. The experience in many countries indicates that where

there is uncertainty and risk surrounding the legal entitlement to land or

housing, women fare worse.

The many local groups who oppose the Cingapura model argue that other

methods of providing housing are more effective and sustainable and that

the Municipality has many other priorities which are being neglected. They

refer, for example, to the fact that the Mayor spent only 66% of the

municipality's allocation for children's' needs whereas he overspent by

204% on just 6 high profile civil engineering projects. US$33 million was

budgeted for creches but only $577,000 was actually spent. In contrast,

Malouf spent $541 million on two tunnels, two intersections and two

avenues. There have also been major health problems including, high

maternal mortality rates because of cut backs in spending on health care.

These issues, favelados contend, should receive priority funding over the

much-publicised Cingapura.

Local organisations also point to the fact that since Malouf came to power,

spending on the local community-based housing schemes has been all but

ended. During the previous administration of Luisa Erundina, municipal

funds had been made available for neighbourhood associations which organise

'mutiroes' (community house building schemes). These funds were frozen in

1994 by the Mayor because of alleged irregularities in accounting. When the

Secretariat of Housing and the Municipal Accountancy Office examined the

books, no irregularities were found. While local pressure led to the

unblocking of some funding, monies for 53 such schemes remain blocked.

Local people argue that these schemes are more effective, involve the

community directly and are of better quality and should receive funding and

support.

Self Help Housing Versus Dehousing

Why we oppose the 'Cingapura' ProjectThe problems with the building of the

Cingapura which have been identified by the local people of Sao Paulo

include:

* the moving out of favela families from their current houses, which they

have supplied themselves, for an indefinite period of time, and without any

guarantee of an apartment in the Cingapura which would be built on the site

of the favela.

* the ending of all local enterprise as commerce is forbidden in the Cingapura.

* the necessity of having registered employment and a guaranteed salary

for access to an apartment when many favela dwellers have neither.

* the position of those who do not meet the criteria of the Mayoralty for

an apartment remains unclear.

* those who do obtain apartments will have no guaranteed lease and the

rent will increase on a scale which is ill-defined.

* the instalment fee for an apartment is equal to half a monthly minimum

salary.

* local people feel strongly that their needs and views have been ignored

and that they have not been consulted by the Mayoralty with regard to their

priorities and solutions.

Our Alternative - Mutiroes or Self Help Housing. For the favelados who make

up the membership of the MDF, it is important that whatever housing

proposal is promoted serves their real needs; is cost effective from their

perspective; preserves a sense of community and neighbourhood and directly

involves them in its design and delivery. For the MDF, urbanisation of the

favelas should include the basic recognition that the poor have already

housed themselves, creatively and cheaply, and that they should be given

some security of tenure in order to continue upgrading their houses and

community.

=46or us, urbanisation should be based on:

* the participation of the whole favela

* transforming wooden huts into masonry dwellings

* providing piped water and sewers

* paved streets

* regulated electricity

* providing a community centre in the favela

* providing important services such as creches

* as far as possible widening of favela streets

These changes would mean considerable improvements for women in particular.

Because women have a variety of work roles such as family responsibilities,

caring for the community and informal income earning activities like street

trading, the improved services and decision making outlined above would

contribute enormously to greater gender equity and justice.

Mutiroes, Meitheals or Self-Help Housing - an alternative, community based

model.

Over the past decade of struggle and resistance, the local community,

supported by socially committed technical experts, have developed a

proposal known as Mutiroes or Self Help Meitheals. The central core of this

approach is that the community must directly participate in all aspects of

the housing project. In summary, this is what happens:

* the community gets organised to discuss their problems and to seek

solutions. Having prepared proposals, the community presents them to local

representatives

* if the local administration is not sensitive or responsive to the wishes

of the community, then the community must pursue its objectives through

marches, land occupations etc.

* if the administration responds positively, then the community creates

its own legal entity or Meitheal.

* a technical team is now contracted to discuss the housing project with

the community. The idea is to help the poorest families - this phase of the

project is financed from the community's own resources.

* when the project is agreed by the local authority, a contract is signed

by the local administration and the community for the housing construction.

* the government then makes available, on a monthly basis, the resources

necessary to carry out the project.

* it is important that the families, in the community, in partnership with

the local government administer and monitor the resources, with the help of

the technical team.

There are considerable advantages to this approach to housing provision,

* effective and extensive community participation and development;

* the strengthening of community based skills and structures;

* significant reductions in cost (the cost of construction per square

metre with private companies is $211 whereas with this model it is only

$100);

* a decentralisation of power particularly giving women a greater role in

decision making;

* the development of other associated activities; a strengthening of

democracy and a genuine building of community.

We must stress that this proposal is in opposition to the proposals of the

state, which centralises power and is omnipotent. In particular, our

intention is to highlight the need for properly formulated policies for

social investment in housing which promote community-based initiatives.

Resulting from this experience, over 10,000 housing units are now being

built and the idea is being pursued in many other Brazilian cities. As a

result of this approach, popular movements throughout Brazil got together

to present to the Brazilian Congress a proposal to create a National

Housing Fund and the setting up of a National Council on Housing. The

proposal was presented with the signatures of over 1 million people and its

principal features included:

* municipal, state and national governments should annually allocate part

of their budget to the housing fund.

* these resources should be used only for the construction of houses for

very low income families.

* work should be carried out on the improvement of roads and other

services in slum areas, the reconstruction of tenements and repairs to

other housing stock in a dangerous condition.

* the promoters of these programmes could be either public or private but

the communities involved should be organised in either associations or

co-operatives.

* the destination and monitoring of resources and the definition of

priorities should rest with national, state and municipal councils.

* such councils should comprise of representatives of government and of

society elected directly by the local population.

This proposal has been held up in Congress for the past 17 years and

Habitat 11 provides a unique opportunity to lobby for its implementation.

Less state - less privatisation - more public involvement.The MDF believes

that the struggle for improved living conditions should not be confined to

the material aspects alone. In truth, all aspects of the human person must

be taken into account. In view of this, the MDF undertakes a wide variety

of activities which are outlined elsewhere in this pack. We believe that an

approach should exist which links the achievement of better living

conditions with the construction of a new concept of society and of the

human person.

The Habitat 11 meeting must formulate proposals which will take into

account the full development of both individuals and their communities, and

provide support and financial assistance only for those projects with

effective participation and monitoring by communities, so that we may have

a better quality of life and also a better society.

Sources: Statistics and Reports from Servicio Brasileiro de Justica e Paz

(sejup@ax.apc.org.); World Bank (1995) World Development Report, Oxford

University Press; UNICEF (1995) State of the World's Children Report,

Oxford University Press; UNDP (1995) Human Development Report, Oxford

University Press. Other sources used include Caipora Women's Group (1993)

Women in Brazil, London, Latin American Bureau and Alison Sutton (1994)

Slavery in Brazil: a link in the chain of modernisation, London,

Anti-Slavery Society. The report - 1995 Report on Social Exclusion in Sao Paulo - was published by the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo in partnership with Citizen's Action Against Hunger and Misery and in favour of Life; the Teotonio Vilela Commission on Human Rights; the Forum of Social Assistance of the City of Sao Paulo and the Catholic University of Sao Paulo.

From: pcc@iol.ie (Gian(Public Comunications Centre))

The following has been put togheter in a media/information pack for the

Habitat conference in Istambul by

Movimento De Defensa Dos Favelados (Rua Bispo Eugenio Damazenod 463A 2A,

Vila Alpina 03206 - 040 Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Public Communications Centre (22, South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2,

Ireland e-mail pcc@iol.ie)

Colm Regan (36, Putlands Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland)

Trocaire (169 Booterstown Avenue, Blackrock, Co.Dublin,Ireland)

or a printed copy please contact Movimento De Defensa Dos Favelados at the

above address

Stories For Change

409 against, 5 in favour. The story of Favela Maria Cursi.

The favela of Maria Cursi has been in existence for 37 years and is now

home for some 432 families. It is situated in the central part of Sao

Mateus in the Zona Leste of Sao Paulo. Like so many others in the city, the

favela is heavily populated but because of its age, 80% of the houses are

built of masonry. The favela does not have sewerage but has water and light

throughout. There is a stream in the middle upon which the people have

placed a concrete slab to support additional houses.

The people of Maria Cursi are employed in factories, shops, offices and

households but only some of them have official identification. There are

over 26 different small-scale businesses within the favela providing a

livelihood for some of the families. In addition, there are a large number

of street sellers or door-to-door sellers. Maria Cursi also has many old or

retired people, many without an income.

In February 1995, a list of those favelas to be included in the 2nd phase

of Cingapura building was published in the paper. To the amazement and

surprise of the people of Maria Cursi, their favela was included in the

list. This was the first they heard of the proposal. They were invited to a

meeting at the Mayoralty to discuss the project. The inhabitants met and

decided that they did not want the project and were prepared to oppose it.

From February to July 1995, with the assistance of the MDF, the people of

Maria Cursi organised street meetings within the favela, visits to other

favelas, Cingapura and the Mayoralty. In August, a vote on whether the

favelados should support the Cingapura project was organised. The results

could not have been more clear cut. Of the 432 families, 425 voted - 409

against, 5 in favour and 11 blank; in a neighbouring favela - Vera Cruz -

the vote was 490 against and 15 in favour. There were many good reasons why

the votes went as they did - reasons which clearly highlight the negative

and counter-productive dimensions of the Cingapura solution.

The main reasons given by the favelados of Maria Cursi for their decision

were as follows:

* All the existing houses would be destroyed to make way for the Cingapura

with no guarantee that all the inhabitants would be re-housed.

* Along with the houses, all existing businesses within the favela would

be destroyed.

* In order to obtain an apartment in the Cingapura, people would have to

have registered employment and a suitable salary.

* The Mayoralty would decide who gets the apartments and the inhabitant

would cease to be proprietor and many feared subsequent rises in rent and

eviction. The status of those without income and the old was unclear.

* The record of the Mayoralty on the completion of Cingapura is very poor

and many feared that once they abandoned their houses they would ultimately

become homeless.

As with most other favelados, the people of Maria Cursi want better

accommodation but they feel this should be provided within their current

set-up. Specifically, they want the channelling of the stream, the removal

of some families to a secure and agreed location, sewerage and the paving

of the streets. But, above all, they want to be consulted and to be a part

of the decision making process which will, after all, affect their lives

and their families most directly. They oppose the 'solution' of the

Cingapura because it denies them this basic right.

'The worst thing is this poverty...'

'The worst thing is this poverty. As soon as you get a few more pennies in

your pocket everything gets more expensive again, the bus, cooking oil,

everything. One day all hell's going to break loose; you can't put up

indefinitely with seeing children go hungry, or fine ladies pushing their

fully-laden trolleys to the cash desk when you've got as good as nothing in

your hands. I'd like just once to meet the rich man who could manage on my

wage. He'd have to eat beans and cassava flour like I do.

Living here's not easy. You get so tired. Your legs get covered in varicose

veins...We have to lug water and everything up here and the paths are

lousy.

Of course we want a better life. All of us here want that, but how? There's

no shortage of co-operation. Neighbours and friends all help each other.

But even with the help of others, you can only build a brick house if you

have the money. For me it's impossible. What I earn doesn't even fill our

stomachs. All I have is my two arms and God...The Church used to be there

just for praying. Today, I can see it's fighting with us: for the rights of

the people in the favelas, the domestics, the workers. All I only know is

that my faith is very strong. And that gives me strength and life.'

Anna Lucia Florisbela dos Santos, a favela dweller, quoted in Caipora

Women's Group (1993) Women in Brazil, London, Latin American Bureau.

Just another day

Then it started to pour. Even at the end of the rainy season in S=E3o Paulo,

it falls in sheets. Earlier, Maria had managed to

borrow enough for the taxi fare to the doctor. She had no choice. Her leg

had become infected and swollen. She was frightened. The pain was terrible.

The doctor looked annoyed as he dressed her wound. Maria felt as if she had

done something wrong. She should have come much sooner. He told her another

day or two and she would have lost the leg or worse. She couldn't explain,

that for her, it was a luxury to go to a doctor. He wouldn't care. He

hastily wrote out a prescription which she could not understand, even if

she had been able to read. "There isn't that much difference between us"

she thought to herself: "I can't read and he can't write". It was the only

time that day when she could smile.

Now, the rain got worse as she walked home to her favela - Favela Villa

Pires do Sul. The pain was still there. What would she do now. She had no

money for a taxi and no money to fill the prescription. The fear came back.

The rain soaked her. It ran down her neck and back. The dressing got

saturated. Blood began to seep through. Finally, 20 minutes from home, the

bandage came off.

Maria raised her head, quickened her step and like so many times before,

she put the pain and her fear out of her mind. Her neighbours met her at

the bottom of the hill leading up to the favela under the railway bridge.

They helped her to her hut. Her whole body was throbbing. Years of hard

work, unsanitary conditions and lack of medical services had caused the

veins in her leg to ulcerate. The favela has no running water, no sewage,

no electricity and it becomes mud-bound when it rains. The rats carry

dangerous infection. The next morning she sat on the bed holding her

daughter in her arms. She was right back where she started.

An Irish Holy Ghost priest who works with the MDF, knew Maria's favela

well. He visited often. The sun was shining after yesterday's rain when he

arrived for the meeting in the community centre. They were organising to

resist the imminent eviction by the City. The favela may not be safe or

healthy but it's become home to a united community and it's all they've

got. He was shown to Maria's house. He knew by looking that her leg needed

immediate attention. After the meeting he would take her to a community

health clinic and natural pharmacy where you only pay if you can afford it.

She imagined the throbbing had stopped. Maria smiled for the second time.

'Its never too late to learn...': Lessons from South Africa.

Because housing is such an important part of everyone's daily life, it is

often an issue around which conflict and tension occurs. In the apartheid

regime of South Africa, housing was often the focus for rent strikes as

part of the overall response of the excluded. As a result of the power of

local groups, housing is now at the top of the political agenda. Many local

groups are organised into broader coalitions such as People's Dialogue on

Land and Shelter. Ted Bauman, one of the group's spokespeople, makes a

number of telling points which have direct relevance to the Brazilian

situation.

"...housing is not a commodity. For the people who matter most and who

produce the most housing - the homeless poor - it is an aspect of everyday

existence, much like carrying water, obtaining fuel or cooking food. It is

not an 'event', as portrayed in bank mortgage-loan adverts, in the part

where the bank manager hands over the keys to the smiling family. Housing

is an urgent and never-ending process of shelter provision in which poor

people are engaged for most of their lives...

.By focusing on housing as a product, current debate implicitly embracesthe mortgage-advert view, which is of relevance to the relatively wealthy -

those who can afford to purchase everything in the 'market' and have lost

the ability to supply their own human needs anyway. Even worse, this

assumption implicitly devalues the people's housing process. Even though,

appropriately supported, people-produced housing is cheaper, quicker and

more suitable to the needs of the poor, in South Africa, it is considered

'substandard' because it is not a commodity. It is therefore seen as a part

of the problem, not the solution...

.The Third World is littered with the results of this kind of thinking:housing developments which either turn into slums or end up in the hands of

the rich...In almost every instance, these are the results of the failure

not only to 'consult the comm-unity', but to follow and support them in

their own efforts. Conversely, where 'development' has been successful - by

which we mean that it results in vibrant, sustainable communities - it has

been in those rare cases where people took as their starting point what

communities were already doing, and concentrated on supporting them...its

never too late to learn.'

Questions And Answers

Q. Brazil is a rich country, so why is there so much poverty and suffering?

A. Brazil is without doubt one of Latin America's richest countries in

terms of overall natural wealth, the size of its economy and the potential

for growth. This reality is also accompanied by one of the world's most

unequal distributions of that wealth amongst Brazilians. Many say that

while Brazil is doing well, its people are not. There are huge gaps in

income and opportunities between rich and poor Brazilians, between

different regions within the country and within its cities. While a tiny

proportion of Brazilians enjoy a life style every bit as luxurious as rich

Europeans or North Americans, a great many Brazilians experience poverty,

misery and exclusion on a par with that experienced by some of Africa's

poorest communities.

The poverty and suffering of so many millions of Brazilians is the direct

result of inequality which still continues to grow.

Q. Sao Paulo is a huge city, surely there's plenty of room for everyone?

So why are people crowded into Favelas?

A. Sao Paulo is one of the world's largest cities and, while many people

believe it should not grow any

further, there is still plenty of land around it and in towns and cities

close by. The problem is that people are not encouraged to stay on the land

or in the smaller towns or cities because of lack of access to land or to

jobs in those areas. Just as there is a huge concentration of wealth in

Brazil, so too is there a growing concentration of ownership of land. Poor

people are regularly forced off the land, cannot obtain other employment

locally and are therefore forced to migrate to the cities in search of

survival. The huge regional inequalities in the quality of life and in the

opportunities available encourages people to migrate to the cities.

The relative poverty of the majority of those who migrate to cities such as

Sao Paulo forces them to live in favelas. But life in the favela also has

its advantages - there may also be others whom they have previously known;

they can often find some sense of community and belonging and there are

many self-help and support initiatives within the better organised and

longer established favelas.

Q. Is the scale of the divide in Brazil and Sao Paulo too great to resolve?

A. No. There is more than enough wealth and wealth potential in Brazil to

seriously tackle the problems of poverty and its consequences. What is

missing is the political will to begin the process. The grip of a small

number of rich Brazilians on political, economic and social life remains

very strong. Many self-help projects in housing, sanitation and adult

education prove that real progress can be made and can be made cheaply and

effectively.

Q. Aren't people in the favelas living in unsanitary and unsafe conditions?

A. Clearly, many favelas have appaling conditions of overcrowding, lack of

water and sanitation; violence and drugs. There is also the danger of fire

and accident plus the fact that a great many favelas are, by definition,

located in dangerous or vulnerable places. There are also those in the

favelas who contribute to the suffering of their own community. Yet, the

vast majority of favelas dwellers, given the opportunity and the support

have done much to deal with many of these problems. In the first place,

they have provided their own housing, often their own water and sanitation

systems, they have organised community and self help groups and they have

provided creches, education and community leadership.

All favelados want is respect and dignity and the chance to improve

themselves, their families and their communities.

Q. The Municipality's Cingapura Project may not be perfect but at least

its a start?

A. But what is it a start to? The provision of housing for all the poor,

the old and the unemployed? Critics of the Cingapura project argue that it

excludes far too many of those without adequate income or security, that it

is far too small scale and ineffective to tackle a really huge problem;

that it ignores what favelados are doing for themselves and that its record

of completion is very poor. In short, critics argue that the project means

the dehousing of the poor from those houses they have already supplied

themselves and that the Cingapura Project is essentially political window

dressing.

Q. Is the alternative Community-based self-help housing scheme not even

more expensive and less likely to be successful?

A. Not at all, the evidence from earlier successful self-help housing

projects is that they are not only better designed and finished but that

they can be built cheaper and more effectively because of the direct

involvement and input of the communities themselves.

Q. What can we do about the situation anyway?

A. Groups such as the MDF, who represent the homeless and the marginalised

in countries such as Brazil, have asked us for support and interest. They

believe that if there is sufficient international pressure then questions

such as poverty and exclusion can be raised and addressed. If there is no

interest or pressure internationally, then the poor and the excluded will

be continually ignored.

Conferences such as the international Habitat II Conference in Istanbul,

Turkey in May/June 1996 provide an opportunity to have these important

questions raised internationally and in public. We can ensure that our

government and its representatives are aware of these issues and raise them

in discussions internationally. Most important of all, we can ensure that

when potential solutions are discussed, those most affected by them are

consulted and involved. In the case of housing in S=E3o Paulo, we need to

ensure that the answers which have been developed by the poor themselves

are supported and not ignored and that the solutions offered by the

Municipality of Sao Paulo are open to challenge and to scrutiny. Finally,

we can insist that the voices and opinions of community based groups such

as MDF are heard internationally.

Sources: Statistics and Reports from Servicio Brasileiro de Justica e Paz

(sejup@ax.apc.org.); World Bank (1995) World Development Report, Oxford

University Press; UNICEF (1995) State of the World's Children Report,

Oxford University Press; UNDP (1995) Human Development Report, Oxford

University Press. Other sources used include Caipora Women's Group (1993)

Women in Brazil, London, Latin American Bureau and Alison Sutton (1994)

Slavery in Brazil: a link in the chain of modernisation, London,

Anti-Slavery Society. The report - 1995 Report on Social Exclusion in Sao Paulo - was published by the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo in partnership with Citizen's Action Against Hunger and Misery and in favour of Life; the Teotonio Vilela Commission on Human Rights; the Forum of Social Assistance of the City of Sao Paulo and the Catholic University of Sao Paulo.

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