Security for Development

It is Global Action Week against Armed Violence and we need to follow up on two important processes: internationally, the Geneva Declaration, and in Brazil, the new National Plan of Public Security and Citizenship.

The Geneva Declaration on armed violence and development is an initiative of the Swiss government aimed at reaching a resolution on this issue at the UN General Assembly by the end of 2008 and defining goals for security and development.  Unfortunately, the important issue of security was not one of the eight millennium goals targeted by the UN Program for Development (UNPD).

The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development’s first regional consultation with Latin American and Caribbean countries was held in Guatemala City at the end of April.

Brazil, which signed the declaration together with 42 other countries in June 2006, was represented by its chancellors and by the NGO, Viva-Rio.

The Latin American and Caribbean region was strategically chosen to hold the first regional consultation on the declaration because it leads worldwide statistics concerning armed violence and is responsible for 42% of firearm-related homicides. Two other consultations will be held in Africa and Asia to gather signatories for the declaration.

Supporting the declaration and its developments makes sense for Brazil. Despite an 8% drop in firearm deaths since the new federal law on arms control known as the Disarmament Statue was enacted in 2004, Brazil continues to top lists of death by firearms. There is an urgent need to consolidate a national agenda to control, reduce and prevent armed violence by focusing on integrated security policies and development.

For many years, state governments relied on repression, which has been shown to be necessary, but not sufficient. An intelligent agenda for controlling and reducing armed violence needs a comprehensive approach.

A comprehensive approach means that simultaneous actions must encompass diverse areas with security policies that range from gun control to police reform. These need to go hand in hand with social programs that include accelerated schooling and job training for youths combined with urban policies that improve the quality of life for community residents. Cooperation among federal, state, municipal governments and civil society is crucial for the success of the program.  It is a challenge that requires commitment and cooperation at all levels of society and government.

The Ministry of Justice is currently designing a National Plan for Public Security and Citizenship, a preliminary version of which was presented by President Lula on May 31, 2007. According to the Minister of Justice, the plan has a three-pronged approach to violence prevention involving integrated public security policies based on social actions, special attention to children and adolescents, and territorial actions concentrated in metropolitan regions.

The proposal will involve the Ministries of Labor, Sports, Urban Development/Cities and Culture and calls for the cooperation of the federal, state and municipal spheres. If the plan is implemented, it will also serve to signal that by signing the declaration governments abide by its recommendations not just in theory but in practice.

Brazil has just accepted the invitation to be part of a group of countries that will push for the implementation of the Geneva Declaration throughout the world. This group is currently comprised of ten countries: Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Holland, Kenya and Guatemala. Brazil’s inclusion demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to the issue, in keeping with the Minister of Justice’s proposed National Plan of Public Security and Citizenship.  It is in Brazil’s interest to use its influence to jump start this extremely important initiative in the Southern Hemisphere.

Because of Brazil’s tragic history of armed violence, we must take the lead and react by addressing other countries, stimulating specific investments in development and working with other nations to find solutions so we can stop being the international gold medalist of firearm deaths. We must be seen as a country of opportunities and a country of the future, with a future.

Ilona Szabó de Carvalho is the coordinator of the Viva Rio Human Security Program.

Article published in the Opinion Section of "O Globo" Newspaper,  June 11, 2007

Translated by Cecília Pessoa Piquet and Barbara Harrington