UPPs, the next step is plan to provide services

Interview/ JAILSON DE SOUZA E SILVA

He defines himself as an intellectual from the periphery, Jailson de Souza e Silva has spent most of his life at Maré, one of the biggest shantytowns in Rio de Janeiro, but he has also lived in Brás de Pina and other carioca suburbs. Souza e Silva has been a devoted champion of social equality and worked to promote integration in the city while defending the right to preserve differences.

With a PhD in Sociology of Education, a Professor at Rio de Janeiro State's Fluminense Federal University (UFF) and Coordinator of the NGO Observatório de Favelas, he has recently been appointed a member of the city government. On May 24th, he left "the comfort of civil society", in his own words, to become Executive Secretary of the State Office of Social Service and Human Rights, (Secretaria Estadual de Assistência Social), imbued with the mission of redesigning policies addressing communities that have received the Pacifying Police Units, or UPPs (Unidades de Polícia Pacificadora) in Rio de Janeiro.

Souza e Silva is certain that despite the popular support they have been given, the UPPs and their military apparatus will not be successful in shantytowns unless, as he terms it, the "republican state" is also present. This has lead Souza e Silva to propose the creation of UPS - Social Policy Units (Unidades de Políticas Sociais) to take up the task of uniting government, civil society and private enterprise with the goal of ensuring the communities become economically viable, an initiative that will necessarily include the entire social network that had been mobilized by trafficking. "The challenge before us is to have shantytowns reach the average development indices of the rest of the city by 2016,” he said, in a talk given at Casa Rui Barbosa the day after he took office.

Souza e Silva said he is not alone in his mission, stating he is in good company and mentioning noted representatives of civil society, among them Sociologist Silvia Ramos and Lawyer Pedro Strozemberg, his multidisciplinary team also includes economists. As for the creation of the UPS, a priority of his team, Souza e Silva points out that local residents will have an important role to play. "We want to design progressive policies that will include residents in the solutions," said Souza e Silva.

Souza e Silva also intends to create social control mechanisms to monitor the police and the state, so that the locals have ways to enforce their rights as citizens. One such example would be community ombudsmen, or citizen complaints centers, prepared to carry out conflict mediation. After the talk given at Casa Rui, the new Secretary gave Comunidad Segura the following exclusive interview:

What are the goals of your administration?

The Governor has deposited on us, on the State Office of Social Services and Human Rights (Secretaria Estadual de Assistência Social) the task of overseeing the entire process of social policies and development in the areas of town covered by the UPPs. The challenge now is to design the policies, which is what we are starting to do, we are introducing our propositions. Initially we will elect two shantytowns, discuss the methodology, create diagnostics and most especially the actions and the different ways in which the policies will connect among themselves. This is the main challenge before us: that of designing ways to integrate the policies that are already in place with those that will be necessary and still in the making.

Which will be these two elected shantytowns?

We are still defining them, but the City of God is one we are very interested in, because it is the most complex and the biggest area to have a UPP at this point. The other place we are considering could be Providência or Santa Marta. We have not decided yet how many we will start with, what we really need is to develop methodologies and a plan of action that are highly objective and that will have a direct effect over the lives of these communities.

Can you give me a few examples?

I personally champion the creation of ombudman’s offices or citizen’s complaints centers as part of a comprehensive plan to creates specific programs. We need comprehensive initiatives to generate income, jobs, social development, education, health and they must come as a response to the many requirements of each community. The idea is to create a new social and economic environment so that we can take on problems and issues in a systematic, ordered fashion, complete with evaluation and monitoring, through social policy that becomes a permanent process.

In your opinion, do the UPPs imply in an authoritarian, military rationale of social control?

If nothing else is done, yes I think there is that risk, but when this sort of initial military action is integrated to other actions in the economic, social, environmental and cultural areas, then we have the presence of a democratic, republican state. We must find a way to overcome this initial of military intervention so that it becomes effective as befitting a democratic republic. That involves a partnership with other actors, not only in the state but also in civil society, in private enterprise and other crucial elements.

Do you believe that as the state begins to provide services and guarantee rights, there will be less need for the police?

We are talking about two different things. Law enforcement has to be present throughout the entire state. There has to be the feeling that the police is there. And once that feeling is guaranteed you need not have so many officers present. The police is necessary at this initial phase because it is simply the first time the police has ever entered these communities to stay. Now as the notion of a state presence starts being internalized in the community, in a progressive manner, one will eventually consider reducing the number of officers.

Translated by Lis Horta Moriconi