2011-2015

"Youth and Rights in the City” Programme

Ação Educativa / Diaconia / Fase / Ibase / Koinonia / Viva Rio

2011-2013

Mid-term Evaluation Report

Consultants

Fátima Nascimento

Leandro Lamas Valarelli

Final Version

November 2013

Summary

Acronyms & Abbreviations

RECOMMENDATIONS

Re the Programme

Specifics for Each Project

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. EVALUATION DESIGN

1.1. Background

1.2. Evaluation Objectives

1.3. Methodological Focus

2. THE PROJECT

2.1. Context

2.2. Objectives and Lines of Action

2.3. Characterisation of the Projects and their Strategies of Intervention

3. PRINCIPAL RESULTS

3.1. Implementation of the Strategies

3.2. The People Reached

3.3. Participation and Empowerment of Youth in the Project

3.4. Presence of Transversal Themes and Focuses

3.5. Synergies between the Organisations

3.6. Programme Management

4. EFFECTS ON AND PROGRESS TOWARDS THE OBJECTIVES

Strengthening of Youth Groups and Organisations

Multiplicator Scope and Effect

Increase in Political Participation

Sustainability

5. Some Emergent Lessons

ANNEXES

I – List of Interviewees

II – Interview Questionaires

Acronyms & Abbreviations

NCA / Norwegian Church Aid
Camtra / Working class Women’s Home
CCJ Fortaleza / Juvenile Cultural Collectives
CCJ Recife / Youth and Communications Centre
Ceac / Art, Education and Culture Centre
Conjuve / National Youth Council
Coppabacs / Small Agricultural Producers Co-operative of Communal Seed Banks, Municipality of Delmiro Gouveia, AL
Escuta / Frei Tito de Alencar Cultural Space
Faor / East Amazon Forum
Fase / Federation of Organs for Social and Educational Assistance
FJRJ / Rio de Janeiro Youth Forum
Fojupe / Pernambuco Youth Forum
LGBT / Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Travesties & Transsexuals
Ibase / Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses
Ifhep / Institute of Human Formation and Popular Education
IPJ / Paulista Youth Institute
Jade / Youth Agents for the Right to Education
MAC / Child and Adolescent Movement, Municipality of Delmiro Gouveia, AL
OD / Operasjon Dagsverk – Norwegian Students “Work Day Operation” Campaign
ONG / Non-government Organisation
OS / Social Organisation
Oscip / Civel Society Organisation of Public Interest
PJ / Youth Pastoral Work
PJMP / Working Class Youth Pastoral Work
PPCA / Child and Adolescent Advancement Programme
PUPDH / Popular University Programme on Human Rights, of the Federal University of Pará
Reajan / Jangurussu e Acuri – Fortaleza/CE Joint Endeavour Network
Reju / Youth Ecumenical Network
RMB / Metropolitan Region of Belém
RMR / Metropolitan Region of Recife, PE
RNSP / Our São Paulo Network
TdR / Term of Reference
Unipop / Popular University Institute, Belém/PA

RECOMMENDATIONS

Re the Programme

Exchange and Synergy

  1. Draw up and socialise memories of partner encounters and collective moments involving various partner organisations.
  2. Besides the occasions dedicated to deepening knowledge on a common theme among the partners, help in realising dialogues and peer student exchange programmes (e.g. bilateral or trilateral), that are not sporadic, based on the current identities, interests and concerns of the organisations and the youth participants in the Programme. Differentiate areas of interest (themes, experiences, productions etc.) of the young people from others that may be of interest to the organisations (themes, methodologies, etc.). In this way, it is hoped to broaden the consistency of these moments of dialogue, as well as the interest, perspective for accumulation and mutual learning between the organisations and the youth.

Documentation and Systematisation

  1. Seek ways for helping to systematise some of the methodologies and strategies being applied in the Programme, foreseeing not only their mere recording, but also an analysis of their results. Hence, we suggest the circulation of material related to the systematisation of experiences, as well as aiding and encouraging opportunities in the direction of developing skills in systematisation, for defining strategies and planning systematisation products.
  2. We suggest that, in a general manner, the projects/programme make better use of the campaigns on the social networks. In other words, create ways for the concepts that have been discussed in the projects to be expressed through these networks in texts, caricatures0, drawings, videos, clips, cartoon strips and posters.

Participation of Youth with Special Needs

  1. Propose to the projects, and to the youth who are participating in them that they carry out surveys, mappings, diagnoses and/or roundtable talks on the situation of youth with special needs in the work territories (collecting data, such as their number, condition, desires, problems, aspirations, difficulties, demands, proposals, abilities), as a way of overcoming the lack of collective information – within and outside the projects - regarding this situation and helping to define work strategies, and more consistent and effective involvement and participation..

Specifics for Each Project

Diaconia

  1. Systematise the methodology of the “Museu da Juventude” set up among the youth in the Fortaleza Youth and Communications Centre. (YCC)
  2. Systematise the experience of the Caravanas (Fortaleza) the Sexta na Praça (Recife)
  3. Invest in getting the YCCs’ experiences in collaborative economics, based on culture, developed by other youth groups.
  4. Invest in an analysis of the viability of the YCCs’ products, keeping in mind that there is an expectation on the part of the youth regarding the products’ economic sustainability based on the initiatives.

Fase

  1. Considering the importance of the creation/consolidation of links to the youth and of their better instrumentalism in the works of multiplication, it is recommended that Fase revise the periodicity of training classes.
  2. It is recommended that greater use be made of ludic/didactic elements, of edu-communication and urban interventions, joining dynamics and content in their training methodology.
  3. Involve young people in the elaboration of didactic material, allowing for a better adequation of language, making it possible for these to become subjects of the knowledge production process.
  4. The strategy for setting up youth committees in the PA and especially in PE has proved to be efficacious, and hence it is recommended that Fase Rio discuss the possibility it being set up for the second half of the Project.
  5. In the case of Fase PA e Fase Pe, it is recommended that there be a greater co-ordination with local organisations that work in youth training, in the sense of socialising the agendas and content, avoiding possible overlapping and fortifying synergy.

Koinonia

  1. Try and repeat in Paulo Afonso the same strategy of amplified mapping of youth groups and their involvement in the formation processes run by Koinonia and Repensar. This may imply discussing with Repensar a broader strategy for dialoguing with the youth of the municipality. At the same time, guarantee ongoing support and methodological training of the Paulo Afonso facilitators, in the initial phase of their function.
  2. Consolidate a more explicit training proposal and supervision of the Capoeira Arte Brasil group – probably based on the cultural elements that surround capoeira itself, as well as candomblé and black culture – indicating possible themes, formats and frequency.
  3. Discuss anddefine aclearer communication profile for the AgôCampaign: What are the themes? For whom? Why? And: based on whatactions, initiatives orinformation?
  4. Guarantee the recording and elaboration of a synthetic memory of the works (meetings and conferences) held with youth in Salvador.
  5. Promote in-house discussion on norms and formats for the recording and systematisation of works (conferences and training classes) held with the young people with a view to making possible, later on, to recall and analyse the implementation of the training methodology used with the youth cultural agents.
  6. Evaluate the possibilities, in conjunction with the workshops run by MAC, to mobilise local resources (local public policies on employment and culture, private sector, etc,) for the acquisition of grants or the coverage of costs for monitors and participants, as well as for creating alternatives for placing youth in employment.

Ação Educativa

  1. Systematise the training experience of the JADEs, indicating their presuppositions, criteria, procedures and ways so as to foster the experience of other organisations.
  2. Disseminate the existing data on the processes that has led to the approval of the VAI, VAI 2, VAI Esporte, their implementation and their effects/impacts, for circulation, subsidising and the possible inspiration for dialogue, among the youth, on public policies for aiding the cultural works in our territories.

Viva Rio

  1. Resumption of the use of the channels of dialogue with the former collaborators ofViva Favela in putting into effect the meaning of the changes carried out, the reduction of tensions and the evaluation of possibilities for qualification (in person or through correspondence) and the contribution of a new dynamic and a new format in the Site. At the same time, assess the possibilitiesofmaking adjustmentson the sitein order toensurethe best recoveryof theformer materialand retrievethe identification offormer collaboratorswith thesite
  2. Define and formulate the perspectives for the carrying out of the training activities for multimedia community correspondents for the boys and girls in the Casa Viva project. The change of public is far from insignificant and perhaps requires differentiated methodological care in the process of convocation, adherence, implementation and support after the conclusion of the course.
  3. Refine the processes of recording and systematising data on the courses and their participants, with a view to having a more detailed and consistent picture of the people covered by the Project.

Ibase

  1. Systematise the experience of the drawing up of the territorial maps, increasing the possibility of repeating this in other territories and for other groups.
  2. Guarantee a greater intensity of debates on youth in the territories where it is active.
  3. Intensify the promotion of student exchange programmes between young people from the territories where it functions and youth from other districts and realities, so as to broaden the synergy and strengthen the youth work in the city.
  4. With regard to the campaigns, elaborate and implement strategies for communication and mobilisation within the work territories that will provide greater engagement on the part of the young people and the broadening of the debate on the themes that they (the campaigns) refer to.
  5. Perhaps Ibase, like Fase/RJ, may have an important role in the strengthening of the FJRJ and, consequently, in the dialogue of these with the youth from Rio de Janeiro.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EVALUATION

  1. This is the Intermediate Evaluation Report of the “Youth and Rights in the City” Programme for the 2011-2015 period, aided by the Day of Work Campaign (OD), co-ordinated by the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and involving six Brazilian organisations: Fase, Ibase, Diaconia, Koinonia, Ação Educativa and Viva Rio. The proposal of the Programme is that of “increasing processes of organisation and political participation on the part of young people, both boys and girls, from low income families in eight of the metropolitan regions in Brazil, creating alternatives for improving their living conditions and life perspectives, respecting their socio-cultural, choice and preferential differences.”
  2. The primary objectives of the mid-term evaluation are: i) To evaluate the state of implementation of the 2011-2015 OD Programme and the results achieved up to the present; ii) provide subsidies and recommendations on alterations that may be made in the projects in order to achieve the objectives. The key aspects verified were: i) the ability of the partners to plan and implement the projects; ii) the scope of the results in the development stage of the projects; iii) the participation and empowerment of the youth; iv) the incorporation of the diversity of gender and of the boys and girls with special needs; v) the social, political and economic sustainability of the works; vi) the synergy and added value among the partners.
  3. The methodological focus adopted was qualitative and participatory, having as references documental analysis, the collecting of information among the institutional activists, especially among the youth. The evaluation was carried out from May through October 2013 and consisted in the following stages: 1) Reading and analysis of the documentation of the Programme and projects (2011, 2012 and 2013 projects, annual plans; 2011 and 2012 annual reports and of the first semester of 2013, publications and videos produced within the context of the Programme; 2) Reading of the analyses related to themes pertinent to the Programme, especially to the youth 3) Field work through live interviews and via Skype. 4) Meetings with some partners to obtain feedback. 5) Presentation of the preliminary report in a meeting of the partner organisations. 5) The drawing up of the Final Report.

PROGRESS RE STRATEGIES

Training geared to the technical and socio-political qualification of the youth in works dealing with their rights

  1. This is one of the stronger work pivots of the Programme and, in general with solid development. The training of the JADEs (Youth Agents for the Right to Education), by Ação Educativa, consists in a long term programme that foresees the qualification of the young people as agents in the struggle for the right to education. The JADEs is in its third and final stage. In the course of its development it has qualified and motivated youth to act in the fields of rights to education and of youth in general and created for other youth products of promulgation. In Belém and Pernambuco, the works implemented by FASE have resulted in the setting up of Youth Committees, with young people out of various organisations and social groups that have been meeting periodically to train themselves in dealing with questions linked to the right to the city and to environmental and climatic justice. With the foundation of the committees content dissemination works have been started – in videos, workbooks and comic strips. Among youth forums, works in the public sphere have also been carried out, such as: campaigns for an end to the extermination of afrodescendant and impoverished youth; the increase in dialogue with political activists around stances in favour of youth; the promotion of discussions on urban and environmental policies. In the case of Rio de Janeiro, the work of FASE underwent successive changes in territory and currently has begun in the Complexo de Favelas da Maré, in partnership with the Grupo Conexão G, training for dealing with the issues of Right to the City and Climatic Changes.
  2. In Fortaleza and Recife, in the project developed by Diaconia, the groups of young people, denominated CCJs, are in the consolidation phase, each one with their own characteristics. In Recife, the central focus is training through courses (drama, communications, design and photography). In Fortaleza the work with the youth within the CCJ is based on the “Museu da Juventude” ("Youth Museum") methodology, consisting in the systematising of human life stories, in cultural and artistic production and, from these, in the construction of life projects. Caravanas de Comunicação e Juventudes(Youth and Communication Caravans) are also being carried out, which are visits on the part of young people to other territories where they promote exchanges and debates; as well as Environment Weeks that mobilise youth and inhabitants to reflect on the questions of Right to the City and the Environment.
  3. In Campo Grande and in the Santa Marta favela in Rio de Janeiro, participatory environmental diagnoses, implemented by Ibase in partnership with local youth organisations have been concluded. In each territory priority causes have been defined, around which campaigns for local mobilisation are being planned: garbage is the cause in Santa Marta, and mobility is that in Campo Grande. Meetings to strengthen the bonds between the Programme partners and various other organisations that are working with youth have been held to promote joint endeavours and the exchange of experiences.
  4. In Delmiro Gouveia/AL, Paulo Afonso and Salvador/BA, areas where Koinonia is working, a survey was carried out on youth perceptions and living conditions, which was the basis for coordinating and promoting courses for the training of culture agents. The training courses have sensitized the youth as to new themes, such as the questions of the environment and diversity, and have led to the rise of spontaneous works at local level. The denominated “Encontrão” (Big Annual Meeting), bringing together every year the groups from the three territories, has become a remarkable moment in the lives of the young people, in function of the contacts made, new discoveries and the new awareness that is created. In Delmiro Gouveia a significant effect has been in co-ordination, something unknown among the various youth groups with regard to joint works in the municipality. In Paulo Afonso, the works have been carried out in partnership with the NGORepensar, has led to the overcoming of the needs for methodological alignment between the organisations and the maintaining of the staff of local facilitators in the carrying out of the works. In Salvador, the strategy of the cultural agents training courses have not proved adequate faced with the profile of young people who adhere to the Candomblé religion. Based on this analysis new strategies are being constructed, such as the Agô Campaign – Youth from Candomblé territories against Religious Intolerance −, in the social networks, and the holding of meetings of young people from the Candomblé territories.
  5. In Rio de Janeiro, the Viva Favela project, set up by Viva Rio, has gone through significant changes in the format of its collaborative news website, in its training process, taking on a more journalistic approach, less flowery and more objective in regard to news items about thefavela. A revised format was given to the Multimedia Community Correspondence Course, which with its new approach and new class members is being set up throughout various districts. The reason behind the changes and its process of announcing, discussing and implementing created tensions in the team and in the group of longstanding correspondents/collaborators, who felt somewhat excluded and with less identification with the proposal, albeit highlighting the qualities and the skills acquired that the new training format has brought about. There has also been a change in the priority public profile, with an alteration in the age group to over thirty years of age. However, the warnings and issues identified by this evaluation have already been internalised and are currently the object of works that are aimed at assuaging them or overcoming them.

Qualification for intervention in spaces of discussion and elaborating public policies geared to youth