Federal University of Goiás Work on Indigenous and Quilombolas Community Health Advocacy Plan Wins EU-funded Advocacy Award

On July 28, a collective effort led by Dr. Laís Forti Thomaz of the Faculty of Social Science at the Federal University of Goiás won recognition for their work on a community health advocacy plan for indigenous communities and quilombolas. ACT Health Promotion, a Brazilian non-governmental organization and the Civil Society Working Group that monitors implementation of Agenda 2030 presented the award to acknowledge the practical implementation of knowledge gained from a course taken by Thomaz which they sponsored and which was funded by the European Union.

The purpose of the course was to increase the advocacy skills of communities regarding interests linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly to teach strategies that interest groups can use to have their demands met by public decision-makers.

 To encourage putting the lessons learned into practice, a prize of R$ 1,500.00 was offered for the Advocacy Plan that had most votes from the class participants. The plan presented by the coordinator of the Politicize Extension Program, Professor Laís Forti Thomaz on "Health Assistance to Traditional Communities of Goiás” won the vote.

The winning plan was built on the existing program, Politicize Extension, which provides training and simulation of the practices of the legislative process in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Goiás (ALEGO) and the City Council of Goiânia. Because the usual in-person activities were not possible due to the pandemic, they decided to increase the activities on social media.

One of the focuses of their project is to increase understanding about the Goias State by the people in general. So they created a series called "Tradicionais" in which every week, online, indigenous and quilombolas people from the State of Goias explained their needs and difficulties. It was by listening to these testimonies that the idea of drawing up this plan arose, so that the “Tradicionais” participants and their communities could contribute to the development of public policies to help these communities which are especially vulnerable at this time of pandemic.

 Thus, the winning project that grew out of the coursework focused on giving greater visibility to the needs of indigenous communities and quilombolas with emphasis on SDGs 3, 6 and 17 (Good Health and Wellbeing; Clean Water and Sanitation; and Partnerships for the Goals).

How the plan was developed

For Thomaz, the effort and support of the members of the Politizar team was key. Interns Higor Torres from the City Hall and Valéria Oliveira, André Cançado and Bruno Roque from ALEGO, as well as teachers from the Social Science Faculty of Goiás (FCS-UFG): Diego Magalhães and Rafael Bittencourt and external collaborators from UFG, such as Ludmilla Cabral, and the entire Politizar team from ALEGO were fundamental for the final result being a winner. Thomaz also states, "Politicize Project has a very important function: bringing society closer to public power. This activity is a type of advocacy that aims to empower people to defend their interests and feel represented. This award will be donated to help these communities, and we will continue to work with the local quilombola's leadership to implement the proposed actions".

Torres, a student at UFG from the Advertising and Publicity course, is from the Quilombola Community and participated in the conceptualization of the project. "I belong to the Community Quilombola Vão de Almas, which is part of the largest rural quilombo in Brazil, the Kalunga Quilombo. Since my childhood, I have realized the lack of basic rights, sanitation, problems of transportation to the City, among other issues. As a Student and Communication Coordinator of Politicize, I have more opportunities to contribute to addressing these issues to the Traditional Communities of Goiás. When Prof. Thomaz invited me to be part of this Advocacy Plan, I felt very honored to be able to help in such an important job, it was like a dream coming true. I am very grateful to be able to do this!" declared the student.

The Rector of UFG Prof. Edward Madureira recognizes the work that Politicize Program has been developing: "This award is an important achievement and reinforces the commitment of Politizar Project and UFG to Goiás society, especially in support and development of the most vulnerable communities.”

The Director of FCS-UFG, Izabela Tamaso, also expressed pride in this result: "It is an honor for the Faculty of Social Sciences that the Project Health Assistance to Traditional Communities of Goiás has won first place! Politicize Program has achieved results that honor the history of FCS: the struggle for social justice, strengthening democracy, and the defense of vulnerable groups. We are very happy! We hope that it will be the first of many awards!" 

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