By Decree, Bolsonaro Dismantles Council for Protection of Children’s Rights

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With the stroke of a pen, President Jair Bolsonaro targeted CONANDA (National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents) and virtually abolished the body.

In practice, the measures, published in a decree on Thursday, September 5th, reduce the council’s power to make decisions and issue positions on the protection of the rights of minors.

It is not news that CONANDA has been weakened by Bolsonaro’s government. In May, the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, to which CONANDA answers, suspended the payment of fares and daily allowances so that councilors could attend the assemblies.

The councilors represent civil society and are not paid to take part in the meetings. The State is only responsible for paying for travel and accommodation in Brasília.

In August, some members even paid their own expenses to take part in the assemblies, but the absence of government members prevented a quorum from being reached.

In the last week, the minisry also dismissed CONANDA’s executive secretary without the decision being submitted to the body. Scheduled to be held in October, the National Conference on Children’s Rights has also been canceled.

According to the decree published this Thursday, the current members are dismissed, the number of civil society councilors is reduced to nine, meetings will be held quarterly instead of monthly and by video conference for those who are not in Brasília.

Re-appointment is also vetoed, and the selection process will be conducted by the Ministry of Family, Women and Human Rights–the president of CONANDA will be appointed by the president of the Republic. The president of CONANDA will be replaced by the national secretary of Children and Adolescents of the MFMDH.

CONANDA was founded in 1991 and its mission is to supervise actions and develop rules and guidelines to ensure the protection of children and adolescents’ rights in Brazil.

In a statement, the ministry said that it had adopted all the necessary measures to ensure the continued operation of the collegiate body, but that it needed to make changes due to the cuts in spending.

The dismantling of CONANDA takes place one day after Brazil won the 2019 edition of one of the world’s major international awards in the field of education, the Wise Awards of the World Summit on Innovation for Education.

The award acknowledged the work developed by the federal government’s Happy Child program. Launched in 2016, the initiative works to expand the network of assistance and comprehensive care for children in early childhood, considering their families and their living circumstances.