Conscious of the successive coups and setbacks to rights that Brazil has suffered and aware of the impacts these will have on future generations, CESE has launched the #IHaveRights Campaign. In the light of the Youth Statute, this initiative aims to raise awareness of the rights of the wide diversity of young people who make up Brazilian society: rural, urban, indigenous, quilombola, black, from the peripheral neighbourhoods, ecumenical, shell-fish picking, amongst many others.
A total of 10 30-second videos are available on CESE TV: www.youtube.com/Cesecomunica. The campaign is also being broadcast on TVE Bahia’s infomercials and on the Sala de Arte Cinema Circuit.
This mobilization has an essential role to play in the country’s current political situation. Although Brazil has a law, i.e. the Youth Statute (Law no. 12852/2013), which recognizes young people as rights protagonists, the existence of this legislation does not ensure strong public policies that can significantly transform the circumstances of young Brazilians. This is particularly true of access to quality education, security, jobs, access to leisure and conditions for participation in social and political processes.
Some of the most shocking and challenging data refers to the genocide of black youth, victims of exterminations in urban peripheries. Today in Brazil, homicides are the principal cause of death among young people aged between 15 and 24, and this has a particular impact on young black men living in peripheral neighbourhoods and the metropolitan areas of urban centres. Data from SIM/DATASUS, the Ministry of Health’s database, demonstrate that, in 2011, more than half of the 52,198 homicides in Brazil were of young people (27,471, equivalent to 52.63%) of which 71.44% were black (black and mixed race) and 93.03% male.
This situation has become even more serious in the current political climate. Recent approval of Constitutional Amendment Bill number 241 (Projeto de Emenda Constitucional 241: PEC 241) in the Federal Chamber dismantles Brazilian social policy funding by eliminating the link between revenue for education and for the social security budget, which includes health, social security and social welfare policies. In this moment of doubt and questioning one thing remains clear: it is impossible to construct our national project without young people! It is with this commitment that CESE is launching its fundraising campaign #IHaveRIghts.
In the last 10 years alone, CESE has supported 440 youth projects through its Small Projects Programme, benefiting approximately 132,383 young people. It also works for the attainment of the rights of young Brazilians. Donate to the projects CESE supports that benefit this group and strengthen the Brazil of tomorrow: one based on democracy with social justice.
DONATIONS CAN BE MADE HERE:
https://www.cese.org.br/eutenhodireitos/
PARTICIPATE IN THE CAMPAIGN
Cards are available for download at:
https://www.cese.org.br/eutenhodireitos/categoria/participe/
Photos will be published on CESE’s official Facebook wall: www.facebook.com/cese1973