Popular Center of Human Rights – CPDH
Human Education and Affirmation: Re-existence of Rights in the Coque neighborhood
Pernambuco
Objetivos e público prioritário
Promotion of human rights in the Coque neighborhood of Recife (PE) through social research, a training course aimed at youth and adults, public debates and the production of media materials on the human right of housing.
Main activities
• Research, registration and interviews with residents affected by urban mobility projects for the World Cup;
• Systematization and editing of data collected together with residents and the public authorities;
• Dissemination of information and debate on the right to housing and to the city, through holding forums, exhibitions of videos and the creation of a web site where, among other contents, the research results will be available.
Context
The community of Coque, considered a ZEIS (Special Social Interest Zone) has been occupied by low-income families since the 1950s, having been established as the residence for a population of around 40,000 people, who have been suffering a process of expulsion due to the area’s strategic location in the city of Recife (PE).
In 2013, owing to the implementation of urban mobility projects associated with preparations for the 2014 World Cup, more than 230 resident families in Coque received letters calling for them to appear before the State Attorney General for the negotiation of indemnity payments related to their eminent removals. Of those, 181 properties were cleared, but 56 were able to be saved thanks to a reversal by the public authorities caused by significant public pressure by civil society. However in both cases the situation was the same: the projects did not look out for the integration of the community with the rest of the city, didn’t offer any means for the residents to continue living within the neighborhood in which they had built their livelihoods and finally, offered laughable indemnities far below market value.
About the organization
The Popular Center of Human Rights (CPDH) aims to promote and defend the culture of human rights through popular training sessions, mobilizations and legal assistance to the communities, informal workers and vulnerable groups, emphasizing the development of critical thought and social empowerment, and bolstering networks among diverse actors who seek the construction of greater human rights and a more just and equal society.
Partnerships
The Popular Center of Human Rights (CPDH) incorporates the Communitarian Struggle Collective (CLC), the Coque (R)Exist Network (in Portuguese "X" is pronounced more like an "S"), the Pernambucan Forum for the Right to Communication (Fopecom), Human Rights Commission of the Order of Attorneys of Brazil (CDH of the OAB/PE), Commission for Sexual Diversity and the Combat Against Homophobia of the OAB/PE (CADSCH) and Democratic People's Advocacy Network (Recife).
Results
Young people in the Coque community participated in communication training in human rights, which included presenting the video “Sítio do Cajueiro: To Remember is to (R)exist”. Research was developed by looking for previous residents of Sítio do Cajueiro, interviewing residents expropriated by the Joana Berra Integrated Terminal construction project and submitting information access requests to the state government and the Recife prefecture. The systematization of the data collected during the research resulted in the production of texts published on the Blog of the Project Narramundo. Workshops and film debates were held in order to disseminate the research and video.
Funding Line
Mega-Events (2014)
Year
-
Total Granted
R$ 29,819.30
Duration
12 months
Main Themes
The right to just and sustainable cities
