Popular World Cup Committee of the Federal District

The World Cup in the Schools project looks to get children and adolescents in the public school system involved in the debate over how mega-events directly and indirectly influence the lives of the city population. Special attention will be given to raising awareness about the risks of sexual exploitation and human trafficking in the scope of the mega-events.

– Production of informative and educational pamphlets on topics such as: elitization of football, public transportation, informal labor, sexual exploitation;

– Comparative exposition – through videos and images, content will be shown with a historical, economic and political summary of the mega-events in other countries in order to cause students to see similarities between the recent events in Brazil and their possible outcomes;

– Debates after the exhibition of readings and documentaries with a focus on human rights violations and cities hosting mega-events;

– Cultural production: paintings, text, oral and audiovisual expositions related to the topic of mega-events;

– Participation in the First Encounter of those Affected by Mega-Events and Mega-Projects in Brazil.

Despite the official propaganda, what we have witnessed take place is that in the name of the World Cup, large amounts of public resources have been devoted to enterprises, real estate developers, corporate networks, instead of those investments demanded by the population. It isn’t for nothing that mobilizations and protests grew during the Confederations Cup (2013) and the World Cup (2014) is questioned throughout Brazil.

One of the greatest risks of violations during the games, as detected by the Popular Committees, is to be found in the absence of preventative policies to protect children and adolescents from sexual exploitation and human trafficking. In the Federal District, school vacation periods were declared to coincide with the World Cup, which would leave adolescents idle and vulnerable to solicitations. Unfortunately, the governments do little or nothing to prevent this. Brasília, it should be mentioned, is the city that will host the greatest number of games (seven) and therefore where the risk of exploitation is greatest.

The Popular World Cup Committee of the Federal District looks to guarantee the spread of information to the population, with the goal of raising awareness and provoking a debate on the violation of human rights due to mega-events, as well as assist in the mobilization and coordination of organized civil society and social movements to combat the exceptionalist model of the city, the commercialization of sports and negative social, environmental and economic impacts due to the World Cup.

The World Cup People's Committee of the Federal District consists of representatives from various social and student movements: Cáritas, Socialist Youth of the Federal District, the Metropolis Observatory, Insurgency, People's Youth Uprising, Peace Wheels. It partners locally with urban movements related to housing, public transport and rights of children and adolescents. Nationally the committee is part of National Network of Popular World Cup Committees (ANCOP).