5) Description of initiative: Historically in Brazil, issues related to Public Security have been reserved for the state government which is responsible for the police and the prison system. However, this vision is slowly changing with the work of the Sou da Paz Institute, which believes that the municipal government should play a fundamental role in violence prevention; after all, the municipal government is closer to the community and more familiar with the specific conflicts that the community faces. For these reasons the municipal government is also more suited for solving these problems while they are still manageable. Many actions, specifically those that have to do with the prevention of violence, are within the realm of the municipal government, such as: street lighting, maintenance of abandoned spaces, social projects, education, sports, culture and leisure. Additionally, more and more the municipal government has become a force for developing local leaders that can help to solve local conflicts through mediation and negotiation, which prevents violence and the need to enter into the formal Justice system (which is expensive and doesnt provide the best solutions to the problem). Using lessons learned from being involved in the development of two Security Plans at the national level and numerous projects for violence prevention, The Sou da Paz was able to develop a methodology for the creation and implementation of integrated, participatory plans for violence prevention and the promotion of peaceful coexistence in several municipalities and districts in the country. The initiative includes three steps: 1) Diagnosis of local violence 2) Development of a Local Security Plan with challenges and commitments involving diverse actors within the community 3) Execution of the Plan. The object of the initiative is to create the Plan in a participatory way.

6) Description of innovation: These Local Plans are innovative in the sense that they propose alternative solutions and reflect a new vision of public security that goes beyond traditional repressive and reactive actions often linked to the police and put into practice after violent crimes occurs. This new vision of public security aligns prevention with crime control and requires strategic planning that is open and democratic. In this way, the Local Plans minimize the need for tradicional repressive solutions that usually dont reflect the local reality, are not efficient and consume public resources.

The innovation of these Plans is in the focus on prevention, participation and tailoring them to the local reality. Very different from the traditional methods involving a repressive role of the government (revolving around police and prison systems), these local plans present actions for prevention of violence, the promotion of peaceful cohabitation and resolution of conflicts, proven efficient and effective.

The participatory nature of the methodology for development of the Plan helps to mobilize and strengthen alliances between all the actors involved, including public authorities, with the goal of increasing the capacity of these actors to work together for common objectives. In this way the initiative becomes sustainable, promotes collective administration of activities and spaces within the community and creates channels for interaction.

Finally, the Plan is developed based on a diagnosis of the local reality that presents the main problems and types of violence that the region suffers from. This is fundamental to idenitify specific characteristics of violence in the area and helps the community to identify with the Plan and the proposed actions.

7) Delivery model: The unique aspect of the participatory process for developing these Plans is that the participation is inter- sectorial (involving different areas such as the public health sector, Education, Social Assistance, Infra- structure, Police, etc). This inter-sectorial participation occurs throughout every step of the initiative (diagnosis, development of the plan and implementation). In this way the diagnosis comes from information from many sources (groups mentioned above as well as from listening to youth, community leaders and local businesses) in order to understand the perception of the problem of violence in the region and to incorporate suggestions and criticisms. Throughout the iniciative the communtiy participates through town meetings, presentations, and public events, that serve as spaces for listening to the voices of the community, for guarantying community participation and cast the population as protagonists in the Local Plan for Security. Mechanisms include: -Interviews with representative of the community and of relevant individuals within Municipal and State Government -Creation of a Group for Administration of the Plan that evaluates the progress of the Plan correcting eventual errors and contributing to the integration between different sectors of the government. -Creation of a Municipal Committee that meets bimonthly to define new actions for the local government in the area of public security. -Public Presentations of the Diagnosis asa form of feedback to the groups that participated in the process and to make the plan well know within the region. -Communication between the different secretariats and departments of municipal and state governments and the community during the diagnosis, development of and implementation of the Plan. -Creation of Local Committees that will monitor and help to enforce the implementation and provide a link between civil society and the municipality.

8) Key operational partnerships: The complete implementation of the Plan rests on the Municipal Government and for this reason the Municipal Government is the most important partner for the project. The Municipal Government provides the main resources (mostly financial) and is involved in every step of the Plans development.Within this partnership the Sou da Paz Institute provides expertise on violence prevention, organizes community participation directs the planning and guarantees the impartiality of the Plan. Finally, community representatives are, at the same time, the target population and partners in the initiative. Therefore, the Municipal government and local governments are primarily responsible for: funding the iniciative and the continuation of funding (we aim to seek out other partners that can also contribute funds to the initiative), conducting the process and mobilizing other governmental agencies and sectors, organization of the Strategic Administration Group that monitors the implementation and to follow the work of the Sou da Paz Insitute throughout the project. Sou da Paz, together with the local governments, is responsible for the diagnosis, analisis of the diagnosis, the methodology and monitoring the implementation. In every fase of the project Sou da Paz is responsible for involving youth groups, the local community,other non- governmental partners and the private sector in the development of the Plan.

9) Financial model: The participatory nature of the development of the Local Plan for Security and Violence Prevention allows all local actors and stakeholder to be herd. All of the actions presented in the Plan have to object of preventing violence and building a more peaceful and safe society benifitting all groups and respecting local diversity. And a less violent society is a common good that benefits all.

In order to monitor and garantee the execution of the Plans we have created The Strategic Aministration Group, the Municipal Committee, and the Local Comittees.

          • Costs as percentage of income: 3.1

          • Financing: The Local Violence Prevention Plans developed by the Sou da Paz are funded by the Municipal Governments and count on human and physical resources made available by the community. All theses Plans aim for sustainability through the identification and adoption of the Plan by the local government and the community. All of the social mobilization strive to empower the community and local governments to continue with the Plans when Sou da Paz is no longer involved. The dialogue serves to help make the actors take responsibility for the Plan and monitor its implementation. The ultimate goal of these initiatives is that they become transformed into official Municipal programs, institutionalizing the process and making the Plans and Committees permanent fixtures within the Municipalities.

10) Effectiveness

          • Project outcomes: In addition to the people directly involved in the project activities, the entire population of the municipalities are also reached by the Local Security Plans, summing up to 2 million people potentially benefiting from this program. Diadema Municipality (2003-2007): Around 400.000 inhabitants benefited from the projects activities. According to the figures presented by the Public Security of Sao Paulo (Jan. to Sept.04), this city presented lower rates for five types of crime: homicide, theft, robbery, car theft and car robbery. The average homicide rate in Diadema in 2004 was the lowest in the last 10 years. Sao Bernardo (2006): 788,560 people benefited by the project Sao Paulo (2006-2007): 750,000 people benefited by the project.

          • Number of clients in past year: The 2006 results relay on the activities developed in Sao Paulo and Sao Bernardo do Campo municipalities, benefiting around 1.5 million people out of a total sum of the populations of the three municipalities - 11 million people. These Local Plans have a great potential of multiplication and their results can be easily understood through the figures presented by the Security Secretary of Sao Paulo and through the testimonials of residents from these areas. Sao Paulo (Distrits of Brasilandia, Grajau and Lajeado) o70 meetings by district oMobilization of 35 entities by district oParticipation of 200 people by district oIndirect beneficiaries: residents of the region which will have access to the results delivered by the project. Total population benefited:700,000

11) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Scaling Up stage.

          • Expansion plan: The greatest challenge we face with the Violence Prevention Plans is the implementation of the activities planned for three districts of Sao Paulo (Brasilandia, Grajau and Lajeado). Due to the municipal elections in 2008, this activity presents a special challenge - guarantying the continuation of the Plan independent of political interests. This demands expertise from Sou da Paz on bringing the community closer to the public sector in order to create a social control. In addition to the Local Plans, we intend to document the methodology and publish it in order to create interesting material about Local Security Plans for other municipalities. In order to increase the municipalities awareness about their role in the Security matters, Sou da Paz plans to develop courses for coordinators and managers from the municipality.

12) Origin of the initiative: The 90s in Brazil were dramatically marked by the growth of criminality and violence rates.Urban violence became one of the Brazil most pressing problems, even diminishing the country development potential.As known, violence is a phenomenon with a plethora of causes and which is not evenly distributed across different regions, age groups, social classes or genders. While some districts have extremely high homicide rates, others have low ones. Statistics demonstrate that the vast majority of victims are young and that the social realities of the areas in which violence is concentrated are similar with low government presence and a lack of adequate leisure and recreation activities. The initiative of creating Municipal Public Security Plans was thus conceived to seek multi-disciplinary actions to confront lethal violence and and promote peaceful coexistence.

Contact Information:
Denis  Mizne
Ashoka Fellow
Executive Director
Instituto Sou da Paz
(NGO)
Rua Luis Murat, 260 Vila Madalena Sao Paulo - SP
Brazil
Tel: 55 11 3812-133
Fax: 55 11 3812-133
Email: denis@soudapaz.org
Website: www.soudapaz.org