Catalogue of Local Inclusive Public Policies

Public policies
catalogue

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Council for Children

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Montevideo - Uruguay

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
1,000,000 inhabitants or more (metropolis)

4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education which must be free, equitable and of quality and leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.

4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.

4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.

4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and professional skills, to access employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and at least a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development, among other means.

4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.

4.b By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries.

4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.

B - Rights, needs, responsibilities and requirements of girls, boys, adolescents and youth

American Convention on Human Rights

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Summary

The Secretariat of Citizen Education, dependent on the Social Policy Division of the Department of Social Development, aims at offering continuity to proposals on human rights, citizenship-building, and child and adolescent participation.

 

The Council for Children is a project developed by the Secretariat of Citizen Education of the Municipality of Montevideo, whose goal is the inclusion of the city’s boys and girls in spaces of citizen participation, thus promoting dialogues where everyone’s voices are considered. This effort is the result of a reframing of the Parliament for Children and Adolescents project, implemented by the secretariat since 2016, with four different editions, from a survey carried out in 2019 by the Faculty of Social Sciences under the title “Analysis of the Article 12 Project: Parliament for Children and Adolescents.”

 

In 2020 (the year when the national health emergency was declared because of the COVID-19 pandemic), a pilot project for distance education for citizens developed in schools and a lyceum was launched, which offered focalized support in educational centers for the vulnerable population of Montevideo.

 

The project proposed has a flexible working methodology, which should adapt to the realities of each institution and educational group, attending to the needs, demands, and emergences of children and adolescents, as well as the feedback reports submitted by educational staff.

 

In 2022, based on this background, a new proposal was put forth for the on-site implementation of at least two Councils for Children at the local level: one in Municipal District G and another in Municipal District A. Thus, these municipal districts shall work jointly with the Departmental Government for the development of this brand-new proposal.

Implementation Date:

Start: 05 / 1 / 2020

End: End: Currently in force

Education - Education in Human Rights
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Montevideo is part of “The City of Children,” a local government network framed under the educational view of known pedagogue Francesco Tonucci. This network fosters a perspective that includes participation, autonomy, and the right to play as key aspects for building cities focused on the view of children and adolescents.
The general goal of the Council for Children is to promote childhood inclusion in the development of democracy and the building of a participatory citizenship through workshops on human rights and activities in schools in Montevideo; to empower the voices of children in spaces of direct participation, with the submission of proposals for the city across departmental and municipal government spaces; to explore the topics of citizenship, rights, and participation, addressing their inherent dimensions for implementation, involved responsibilities, vulnerabilities, and possible strategies in order to identify and rectify them; to promote critical thinking, discussions, and well-founded opinions; and to develop a joint Council for Children.
This program is carried out by the Socioeducational Team of the Secretariat of Citizen Education, dependent on the Social Policy Division of the Social Development Department of the Municipality of Montevideo. In its strategic institutional planning, the Secretariat of Citizen Education seeks to promote citizen education and knowledge of citizen rights and responsibilities across the department of Montevideo. Thus, it is responsible for the design, planning, and execution of a variety of public policies related to citizenship education, such as the Council for Children. Resources for program development are acquired through the use of the secretariat’s own budget.
Selection of educational centers to develop the program for each edition is coordinated with the different municipal districts in Montevideo. Meetings are held with these municipal districts to select the appropriate educational centers for this intervention, giving priority to centers set up in vulnerable areas. Different actors participated in previous editions, such as Municipal District A, Municipal District B, and Municipal District G. Enrollment to educational institutions for workshop participation is articulated with the regional inspectorates of those schools members of the National Public Education Administration.
The project aims at the decentralization of education, citizenship education, and the participation of children and adolescents, as well as the protection of their rights, while attending to national and international commitments taken on by the Uruguayan state. This proposal seeks to explore childhood and adolescence rights, safeguarding the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Likewise, the Municipality of Montevideo subscribes to the Charter of Educating Cities, which advocates an education based “on the principles of social justice, equality, democratic community spirit, sustainability, quality of life and the personal development of its inhabitants” (IAEC 2009, p. 10).
Children and teenagers
Seminars/events
To address educational contents on citizenship, rights, and participation, flexible and interactive learning strategies are implemented, with a commitment toward meaningful learning. Ten workshops are in place, where slogans and triggers are used in relation to daily life and to the participants’ own concerns. Efforts are thus oriented toward dialogue and propositional activities to reflect on the exercise of rights. The dynamics in each meeting are subject to the demands and emergences of the meetings in order to catch the attention and interest of the group of participants. Workshops are devised for an hour and a half duration and weekly appointments. Activities of specific participation take place after each workshop, where children submit their proposals at the Departmental Government’s Cabinet before the major of Montevideo and at the Departmental Board before councilmembers. These workshops address childhood rights, the right to participation (social and citizen, imagination and trust in one’s own voice, election of representatives) and the development of proposals for sessions at the Departmental Board and the Departmental Government’s Cabinet (problem identification, development of justifications, and creation of solutions).
The Council for Children seeks to become a place for children to get involved through instances of direct participation in the city’s government and an opportunity for government authorities to listen to the proposals that children wish to see materialized in their city. To build inclusive cities for everyone, participatory spaces should be created and promoted, where everyone’s voices, including children’s, could be heard. This is an innovative proposal for the city of Montevideo, for it addresses the issue of citizen participation and human rights from an experiential, ludic, recreational, and participatory methodology that places all participants at the heart of the learning process and encourages them to contribute their perspectives for the creation of common concerns.
At the international level, the program is supported by UNICEF, which offers didactic material to use in the workshops with children, particularly the workbook Todos los derechos para todos los niños y niñas (All Rights for All Children). In the same vein, the International Association of Educating Cities lends technical support through the exchange of experiences. On the other hand, the National Human Rights and Ombuds Institution offers didactic resources, such as cards for a memory game and trivia, to carry out activities related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Likewise, each project edition extends an invitation to civil society organizations to address issues that gain prominence based on the interests of the groups. In 2021, activities were carried out jointly with Jóvenes Afro and Idas Vueltas, organizations that address the issues of race and migration, respectively
An essential part of the program’s planning are those instances of direct participation, where girls and boys submit the proposals they wish for Montevideo. These proposals are produced jointly by the group and presented at the Departmental Board and the Departmental Government’s Cabinet by democratically elected representatives—following a gender parity approach—by their peers. Throughout the workshops prior to these instances, a participatory dynamics is used whereby participants are encouraged to become active members and express their opinions.
Budget is guaranteed by the local government.
Monitoring of the Council for Children is carried out by the Secretariat of Citizen Education and the Social Policy Division of the Municipality of Montevideo. After the realization of each program cycle, meetings are held to assess the development of the program by the technical staff in charge of implementing the program. This assessment also addresses the feedback gathered from the participant children at each edition and that of the participant educational centers and their authorities. These assessment meetings establish guidelines to be developed and reformulated for the next edition of the program. These annual assessments are presented at the Departmental Board of Montevideo. In 2019, an external evaluation was carried out by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Universidad de la República, where the project Parliament for Children for the 2015–2019 lustrum was assessed. This project predates the Council for Children. After the evaluation, it was decided to restructure the project to its current format.
Local goverment
In 2020, a virtual pilot project was introduced for the Council for Children via video conference. Children’s and adolescents’ own concerns and emergences were addressed, such as violence, gender stereotypes, sex- and gender-based discrimination, school bullying, violence against children and adolescents, and stereotypes and discrimination against Afro-descendant persons. One hundred children and adolescents between 11 and 14 years old participated in the event. In 2021, 82 children collaborated, of which 7 girls and 7 boys took part in the session at the Departmental Board of Montevideo and 14 girls and 14 boys at the Departmental Government’s Cabinet of Montevideo. In both cases, children submitted proposals for the improvement of their neighborhoods and cities related to the right to play, discrimination, coexistence, and public spaces. Likewise, according to the participants’ voices, they manifested their satisfaction in participating, reflecting, and sharing their opinions throughout the development of the program.
(Español) Secretaría de Educación para la Ciudadanía

Instrumentos

4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education which must be free, equitable and of quality and leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.

4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.

4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.

4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and professional skills, to access employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and at least a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development, among other means.

4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.

4.b By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries.

4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.

B - Rights, needs, responsibilities and requirements of girls, boys, adolescents and youth
American Convention on Human Rights
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Location

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
1,000,000 inhabitants or more (metropolis)

Other projects from #CiudadesInclusivas

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