Activities to combat violence in Brazil are in need of a common basis of operations, especially when it comes to youth violence. These activities are still very diffuse, split between the efforts of non-governmental organizations and those of the government.
These activities are still very diffuse, split between the efforts of non-governmental organizations and those of the government.
This is the view expressed by the representative of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Helena Oliveira Silva.
She said that one of the goals of the National Conference on Violence Against Children and Adolescents is to form a work group to deal with this problem.
The Conference, which is being held in the capital of São Paulo, is being sponsored by the UNICEF in partnership with the United Nations (UN) and the Brazilian Ministry of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation.
Silva observes that "Brazil has a very rich array of projects to prevent violence, but the indices of youth mortality continue to grow." In her opinion, the Conference represents the initial step towards the creation of a national platform to confront violence against children and adolescents.
At the end of the event, she said, a group will be formed made up of representatives of civic and governmental institutions and international agencies linked to the UN. "The function of this group will be to detail and refine the proposals presented for activities and goals to consolidate the platform."
The second phase will be to "irradiate" all the conclusions of the platform in order to formulate activities or government policies in the sectors of education, health, and social development.
"I believe that we shall thus arrive at new strategies for combating violence against young people," Silva declares.
Agência Brasil