Focusing on human rights, Conectas engages in advocacy in the Transitional Government
The organization participated by identifying the public policies adopted during the Bolsonaro administration that need to be reviewed or discontinued for conflicting with human rights
O presidente eleito, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, visita pela primeira vez o centro de transição no Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) e se reúne com parlamentares das bancadas aliadas.
With the goal of contributing to the construction of public policies in the field of human rights, Conectas is one of the civil society organizations that is accompanying the Transitional Government set up to map the current state of the policies for the various federal ministries and identify priorities to be presented to the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Conectas participated by identifying the public policies adopted over the past 4 years of the Bolsonaro administration that need to be reviewed or discontinued for conflicting with human rights and the measures that should be included among the priorities for the first 100 days of government.
“We work by mapping and sending proposals through the formal channels of the Transitional Government and by participating in listening sessions organized by Technical Groups with civil society and experts,” said Camila Asano, program director at Conectas.
Among the topics and proposals sent by Conectas are the relationship between business and human rights, the migration and asylum situation in Brazil and gun control. Conectas also signed public statements addressed to members of the Transitional Government, including a letter requesting Brazil’s withdrawal from the Geneva Consensus Declaration, an ultra-conservative alliance that opposes sexual and reproductive rights.
In addition to its advocacy work, Gabriel Sampaio, coordinator of the program to Combat Institutional Violence at Conectas, was asked to join the advisory group that provides technical insights to the transition team responsible for the new government’s guidelines on public security. The contribution involves a mapping of public policies that have been discontinued or that need to be reviewed to bring them in line with human rights. These include the resumption of gun control policies, which were strongly attacked during the Bolsonaro government, and the tackling of homicides, with a particular focus on defending the lives of the black population.
How the Transitional Government works
The Governmental Transition Cabinet, established by Decree No. 01 and published in the Federal Gazette on November 8, 2022, is intended to gather information on the functioning and the work of the bodies and agencies that make up the federal government and to prepare the first acts of the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, starting in January 2023.
The vice president-elect, Geraldo Alckmin, is the coordinator of the Transition Cabinet. The coordination structure is formed by four other subordinate areas: Executive Coordination, under the command of Floriano Pesaro; Coordination of Political Negotiation, led by Gleisi Hoffmann; Coordination of Technical Groups, under the control of Aloizio Mercadante; and Coordination of Organizing the Inauguration, under the command of Janja da Silva, which guides and coordinates the activities related to the inauguration ceremony on January 1, 2023.
The executive coordinator advises the vice president, manages and supervises the activities of the administrative units and drafts the final report to be submitted for approval by the transition coordinator.
The purpose of the work of each technical group is to produce a final report, with a comprehensive diagnosis, gathering information on the functioning and the work of the bodies and agencies that make up the federal government. They need to identify the risks, issue alerts and point out illegalities and the need for checks by the control bodies. Furthermore, they may propose measures that require decision making at the start of the new government.
