Reality Check on Children's Participation in the Governance of Barra Mansa, Brazil

This 16-page paper comments on the direction in which the children's participatory budget council, established in 1998 in Barra Mansa, Brazil, has gone since 2001 when changes in the political party governing the municipality took place. As detailed within "Citizenship Knows No Age: Children's Participation in the Governance and Municipal Budget of Barra Mansa, Brazil" (click here for a summary), the Children's Council was established to allow children the opportunity to make decisions about their own neighbourhoods, and, within the limits of available resources, to follow through the implementation of these decisions. By describing and commenting on the changes that have been introduced in the past 8 years and by reflecting on the nature of the current Council, this paper aims to contribute to ongoing learning about children's involvement in local governance processes.

Specifically, author Marta Barceló explains that the project "PlanePar Mirim" emerged from the original "Citizenship Knows No Age" project in 2001, when the Brazilian Socialist Party in Barra Mansa took over from the Workers' Party. PlanePar Mirim is directed by a Management Committee (with no children represented) that coordinates Council activities such as children's assemblies and plenary meetings. In each participating school, children's demands are discussed and proposals put forward to the delegates, who in turn present these proposals to the councilors. Each year in June the councilors present the main concerns of their administrative unit in a plenary meeting. Among the changes that the Management Committee has introduced in the process of children's participation: shifting most of the activities to the school level (public and private) and eliminating neighbourhood assemblies. Furthermore, local authorities, taking into account the amount of public funds available, have limited the proposals the children can make to one in each of 3 categories each year.

Barceló stresses that there have clearly been some successes associated with this programme, even despite the changes. The initiative has had tangible impacts on the city's environment. For example, the river Bananal, running through the neighbourhood Santa Maria II, was severely polluted (untreated sewage was being directly emptied into it). Children who went to school in this neighbourhood demanded that the issue be tackled. Other issues that participating children have prioritised include creating better roads, transportation, and school buildings. Sports facilities have been built, largely in response to children's demands. And, in 2003 17 "Ecoclubs" were established; they involve approximately 500 students, and address issues such as the quality of the water, the planting of trees and recycling. Furthermore, "The current mayor claims that one of the most important achievements is the greater degree of awareness that children attending school have regarding their rights and responsibilities related to their city and country as a result of this initiative."

However, tracking the progress made over time, the author argues that "this once innovative and promising initiative has been watered down to the extent that its potential to recognize and draw on children’s active citizenship and agency in processes of urban governance has been considerably weakened." In part, this is due to the fact that, although municipal law specifically recognises citizens' participation in decisions about the budget, "the existence, development and efficiency of children's councils still depend to a great extent on who is in power." Barceló notes that true citizen participation depends on both the degree of interactivity and the degree of actual influence; yet in the case of the Children's Council, while there has been a relatively high degree of interactivity, children's ability to influence decisions has been undermined. "This gap between learning and action is a setback, as previously children had the opportunity to influence the process of decision making at the neighborhood level."

Specifically, "reports and internal documents on the project point to various practical problems with its implementation". In addition, "more fundamental problems are also apparent when the current project is compared to the previous one"; these challenges include:

1. Inclusiveness - the political participation of girls and those living in poverty has been undermined for various reasons...
2. Losing the city and neighbourhood perspective - "The elimination of the neighborhood assemblies has been one of the most damaging modifications of the previous process. Because they do not always attend school in the administrative unit where they live, children no longer have the same opportunity to associate themselves as part of a community..."
3. Budget - "Although this project is based on the concept of the participatory budget council, the budget allocated for this initiative was never available in full..."
4. Role of civil society - "Since the new administration took over, the government's connection with the wider civil society has generally been weakened....As a result..., the children's participatory budget council has lost the quality of being an arena of popular participation, and the aim of promoting participatory democracy has been diluted."

The author concludes with several recommendations for a way forward, in which stepped-up attempts to foster children's participation are central. For instance, "there should be a clear definition of the Children's Council goals and framework by children themselves. For instance, children might determine that besides developing concrete projects they would also like to participate in finding solutions to tackle long-term problems affecting their municipality." Also, "after each budgetary cycle, there should be an evaluation by children themselves to assess the results and limitations, so as to increase the effectiveness of their council's work."