The challenge of overcoming inequalities

The new generation of mayors is working together to attend the genuine demands of the population for better quality of life

Mayors of several Brazilian cities had a meeting in May 18 at the Center of Events of theConfederaçãoNacional dos Trabalhadores do Comércio (National Union of Commerce Workers)in Brasília to discuss urgent and structuring proposals of the FrenteNacional de Prefeitos (FNP – National Front of Mayors),to be delivered to the President-in-office Michel Temer. With this document, the mayors expect to develop a schedule focused in the retaking of economic developmentand the overcoming of social challenges.Financing and costing of public transport and sanitation in irregular areas of Brazilian cities were part of this document.

For the president of FNP and mayor of Belo Horizonte (MG), Marcos Lacerda,municipalities have a lot of commitment and are receiving a lower part of the total of national tax collection as time goes by. “Basic sanitation is just one of the anguishes that mayors have”, said him.Lacerdahighlighted that there is an international understanding of these problems lived by themunicipalities. And he remembered theObjetivos de DesenvolvimentoSustentável (ODS – Objects of Sustainable Development), of the United Nations (UN), which is a planof action for people, planet and wealth, to be accomplished till 2030.

In addition to the international attention, the mayor of Belo Horizonte highlighted the importance of Public Consortiums as an alternative for the municipalities. “It is a complex bureaucracy but FNP, in partnership withCaixaEconômica Federal, BNDES and the Program of United Nations for Development (PNUD) –organism of the United Nations (UN) turned to promote the development and to end poverty in the world—created theObservatório dos ConsórciosPúblicos e do Federalismo (OCPF – Observatory of Public Consortiums and Federalism)to contribute in the diffusion of this option”, said him.

Thepresident of FNP also remembered the importance of partnerships with Forums of Secretaries as a way to think in solutions for the municipalities. According to Lacerda, the AssociaçãoNacional dos ServiçosMunicipais de Saneamento (Assemae – National Association of Municipal Services of Sanitation) is among the Forums which are partners of the FNP.

How to make feasible public management

Federal Constitution of 1988 restructured Brazilian federalism, acknowledging municipalities as federated entities. This process was followed by an intense decentralization of public policies, strengthening of local power and low-coordinated mechanisms of horizontal and vertical relationships between federated entities. At the same time, the lack of policies of regional development emphasized local and regional differences historically observed in the country. In this context and trying to overcome common difficulties, some municipalities and state governments started to work together, developing activities and installing public policies in a cooperated way.

The federal government started to discuss the act of consortiums in August, 2003 with the purpose of regulating the Article 241 of the Constitution and to ensure higher juridical and administrative safety to the partnerships between the associated entities. The bill of regulation was sent to the National Congress in June 30, 2004 and the Act of Public Consortiums (11107/05) was passed in April 06, 2005.