The Brazilian Government recently announced that it would not evict around 55,000 from their homes in Santo Amaro.
In a surprise announcement at the World Urban Forum in Rio de Janeiro, representatives of the State Government of Pernambuco said that they would instead regularize the area which has been under dispute for 46 years.
Through its Global Land Tool Network, UN-Habitat has been supporting Brazilian non-governmental organization Espaco Feminista, part of the Huariou Commission, to lobby the government on the issue. Their efforts culminated in success on the second to last day of the world’s largest conference on urbanization.
Delight as Brazil government authorities announce the planned regularization of Santo Amaro at the World Urban Forum
The surprise and relief was obvious on the faces of the members of the lobby groups who were moved to embrace the Brazilian officials with whom they had been fighting for so long.
Patricia Chaves of Espaco Feminista said, “This represents a 46 year struggle for the communities involved and the majority did not believe it could ever happen. I am delighted.”
In describing the process she went on to say, “We built and engaged in different partnerships with a special emphasis on partnering with federal and state of Pernambuco government bodies. What is most important for us is that through these partnerships we built awareness of the importance of land regularization of the area from a historical and political aspect.”
Several donor country representatives, including the Junior Minister from Norway and the State Minister from Sweden’s Ministry of Finance were present to witness the announcement. Both promised long term funding to Global Land Tool Network in their speeches.
