Brazilian contributions for the next annual thematic report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context
Since the creation of the Right to Housing during theHabitat II Conference, Brazil has dignified housing asa social achievement, constitutionally recognized andincorporated into Brazilian social housing programs.According to Brazilian legislation, the concept of"decent housing" as "one that includes access tohousing, security of tenure, habitability,affordability, cultural appropriateness,accessibility, location and urban goods and servicesoffered by the city, a concept that refers to theavailability of public transportation and adequateconditions of circulation, access to publicfacilities, sanitation, health, safety, work,education, culture and leisure, in the averagestandards of the city" is present in the housingpolicies of the Ministry of Cities and the federalgovernment. It is important to emphasize that, amongthe policies guaranteeing fundamental rights, theright to housing is perfectly in line with theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, in its ArticleXXV, and is respected by the Brazilian FederalConstitution.
Brazil was also present in the last Habitat Conferencein Quito, where the New Urban Agenda for a moresustainable urban development was agreed upon. TheGovernment is also committed to the 2030 Agenda,having worked intensely to meet the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs). Among the objectives, wehighlight Goal number 11, which focuses on goals andindicators aimed at adequate housing and in which theMinistry of Cities has focused its activities.
In this sense, we demonstrate our Government`scommitment to the international sustainability agendasthat include housing as a right from an approach thatextrapolates the limits of the housing unit.
Initially, it should be clarified that, for theBrazilian government, the concept of adequate housingis not restricted to the construction of the housingunit itself, but also encompassing broad public accessto sanitation, education, culture, health, leisure andpublic transport services, among others. A proof ofthis is that the housing programs under federalmanagement, intended for the implementation of housingprojects, include the implementation of infrastructureand the construction of public services.
However, it is important to remember that inestablishing the improvement of housing conditions asa common competence of the federal government, thestates, the Federal District and municipalities, theBrazilian Federal Constitution (CF) did not eliminatethe autonomy of federated entities. On the contrary,it determined that this attribution be exercisedthrough cooperative actions, placing the municipalpublic power as a central axis of the formulation andimplementation of urban planning guidelines (articles23 and 182 of the CF).
In this way, the Ministry of Cities givesopportunities in its housing programs for theconstruction of public services - based on a diagnosisof the demand for specific services prepared by themunicipalities or states - that are adequate for eachlocal reality and, also, compatible with the capacityof these governments in relation to the installationand maintenance of the services resulting from theinstallation of the equipment.
Brazil faces its immense urban challenges with publicpolicies that adopt an integrated approach. A veryclear expression of this integrated approach was thecreation, in 2003, of the Ministry of Cities, agovernmental institution devoted to dealing with themost relevant and strategic issues of the urbandevelopment, addressing specially the problems relatedto ensuring the right to decent housing for thelow-income population, which requires, at the veryleast, integration between urban policies for housing,sanitation, mobility and urban development.
Among the main actors involved in the implementationof the housing programs are: the Presidency of theRepublic, the Ministry of Planning, Development andManagement, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministryof Cities; the official banks, which are Banco doBrasil, CaixaEconômica Federal and Banco Nacional deDesenvolvimentoEconômico e Social (BNDES); the publicadministration of the states, the Federal District orthe municipalities; the construction sector; societyat large; and the beneficiary families. Each of theseentities has distinct and significant roles in thechain of processes that involve the execution offederal programs.
Addressing the issue of adequate housing is afundamental and priority action of the Braziliangovernment, based mainly on already consolidatedprograms, such as the "My House, My Life Program"(PMCMV) - focused on housing provision -, the GrowthAcceleration Program (PAC), in its slum upgrading axis(UAP) - and, more recently, starting in 2017, theReform Card Program (PCR) started integrating theportfolio of housing assistance provided by thefederal government aiming at supporting housingimprovements and acting more directly on the housinginadequacy issues complementing the existing actions.
This is how the main programmatic lines of theNational Housing Policy are structured, which providemechanisms to act on the diversity and needs ofBrazil, seeking to overcome a deficit from decades ofabsence of public finance with emphasis on serving thelow-income population that live in slums, inadequatehouses or that are being excessively burdened withhigh rental costs.
In spite of already having mechanisms that allow thefocus on the care of economically and socially underprivileged families, according to their diverse needsand specificities derived from different groups of thepopulation, the Brazilian government maintains thecommitment to improve and expand its housing programs.
In this context, the selection of beneficiaries of the"My House, My Life Program", carried out by the localpublic entities, considers it a priority to care forfamilies residing in risky or unhealthy areas or whohave been displaced; families with women as the headof the household; and families with persons withdisabilities.
Besides these priorities, the use of additionalcriteria of prioritization is encouraged, such as:families that are homeless; families with childrenunder 18; single-parent families, that is, constitutedonly by the mother, only by the father, or only by alegal guardian for children and adolescents; familiesthat have older person(s); families with person(s)with chronic illnesses incapacitating them for work;families in situation of involuntary cohabitation;families with an excessive rent burden; families withperson that is served by protective measure providedfor in the Law No. 11.340, of August 2006 (Maria daPenha Law), on domestic violence.
The Slum Upgrading Program, on the other hand, isdesigned to raise the living standards of low-incomefamilies dwelling in slums in urban or rurallocations, by means of implementing necessary actionsfor urban, land, security, health and habitabilityregularization, aiming towards these families`permanence or resettlement, through the implementationof integrated housing, sanitation and social inclusionactions with the support of the government.
For this type of intervention the settlements that areconsidered priorities are the ones that hold familiesthat: are subject to life-threatening situationsbecause of erosions, landslides, floods, as well asbeing located in areas surrounding or near airports,electric power transmission lines, pipelines, railwaysand highways; are located in unhealthy areas, such asdumps, slums, stilts, wetlands, mangroves and areasthat lack drinking water and sanitary sewage; arelocated in unsuitable areas for housing, for example,the occupations in water bodies (rivers, streams,lagoons, springs and canals), national forests,extractive reserves, fauna reserves, areas ofpermanent preservation (APP), areas of environmentalprotection (APA), among others; are in urban propertyconflict, meaning the dispute over possession orownership of urban property, object of a police orjudicial instrument of interposition of ownership,involving low-income families, who demand theprotection of the State in guaranteeing the humanright to housing and to the city; and are in highvulnerability due to their lower income, olderperson(s), person(s) with disabilities, and familiesthat are headed by women.
The recently approved Reform Card Program (PCR) -which aims to raise the quality of urban life by meansof qualifying housing in inadequate conditions,providing desirable housing conditions for low-incomefamilies, without the need to build new units – isfocused on serving the population residing in theirown residence considered inadequate under at least oneof the following aspects: inadequate solution for thesanitary sewage; excessive population densification,inadequate roof of the housing unit, absence ofexclusive domestic sanitary unit; high degree ofdepreciation or not completed construction work.
It is also essential to draw attention to the SocialWork component present in all housing programs managedby the Federal Government. The Social Work includes aset of strategies, processes and actions, based onintegrated and participatory diagnostic studies of theterritory, comprising the social, economic,productive, environmental and political-institutionaldimensions of the territory and of the beneficiarypopulation, as well as the characteristics of theintervention, aiming at promoting the participationand the social insertion of these families, inarticulation with other public policies, contributingto the improvement of their quality of life and to thesustainability of the goods, equipment and servicesimplanted.
The Social Work is structured around four mandatoryaxes, and the emphasis to be given to each of themshould respect the characteristics of the area ofintervention and of the surrounding macro area,indicated in the diagnosis to be elaborated by themunicipal or state public power, depending on thecase, as described below:
a) Mobilization, organization and social strengthening- includes information, mobilization, organization andcapacity building processes of the beneficiarypopulation in order to promote autonomy and socialprotagonism, as well as the strengthening of existingorganizations in the territory, the constitution andformalization of new representations and new channelsof participation and social control.
b) Monitoring and social management of theintervention - aims to promote the management of thesocial actions necessary for the achievement of theintervention, including the monitoring, negotiationand interferences during its execution, as well aspreparing and following up on the process by thecommunity in order to minimize the negative aspectsexperienced by the beneficiaries and to highlight thegains brought along the process, contributing to theimplementation of the Social Work.
c) Environmental and Patrimonial Education - aims topromote changes in attitudes towards the environment,the patrimony and a healthy life, strengthening thepopulation`s critical perception about the aspectsthat influence their quality of life, as well asreflect on social, political, cultural and economicfactors that determine their reality making itpossible to reach the environmental and socialsustainability of the intervention; and
d) Socioeconomic Development - Intends to articulatepublic policies, support and implement job and incomegenerating initiatives, aiming towards productive,economic and social inclusion, in order to promote theincrease of family income and the improvement of thelife quality of the population, fostering conditionsfor a medium and long term socio-territorialdevelopment process.
The result of the Brazilian government`s housingprograms draws attention not only because of itsconcept and guidelines, but also due to itssignificant results accumulated to this date and thelarge amount of resources invested.
The Slum Upgrading Program, since its beginning in2007, has provided assistance to approximately 2million families with integrated actions ofconstruction and improvement of housing units,sanitation, infrastructure, public services, socialwork, land regularization and recovery of degradedareas. The total investments made in this program areapproximately R$ 33.5 billion.
On the other hand, The "My House, My Life Program",which began in 2009, has contracted more than 4.8million housing units in urban and rural areas in theBrazilian states. The housing units are distributed in5,379 municipalities, which represents 97% of thenational territory, with investments that amount toapproximately R$ 370 billion.
Besides the housing issue itself, the Government has,over the years, developed important actions directedtowards the technological innovation in the field ofquality of construction improvements; increasingaccessibility and urban mobility, traffic safety, landregularization, risk mitigation and access toenvironmental sanitation, whose actions are supportedby the government.
In addition, we draw attention to the internet pagecalled "Capacidades", which provides, free of charge,training in the various dimensions of urban planning,contributing to the improvement of the actions of thelocal power and other actors.