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We launched the website “Emergencia Agroquímica”

We launched a participatory website where environmental conflicts related to the use of agrochemicals in the province of Córdoba are made known, as well as providing legal tools and the possibility of making visible the existence of other conflicts of said nature.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The website is structured based on three objectives. The first of them aimed at the visibility of socio-environmental conflicts related to the use of agrochemicals in the province of Córdoba. Second, it seeks to provide information and legal resources as necessary tools for the empowerment of communities and for the protection of their rights to health and a healthy environment. Third, it seeks to reinforce the visibility of conflicts through a collaborative platform in which new conflicts can be incorporated, thus expanding the content.

For such purposes, a conflict mapping was prepared based on an analysis of information compiled since 2008, mainly from newspaper articles and online publications related to 18 communities affected by the application of agrochemicals.

The examination of the data revealed relevant characteristics regarding the problem. In this way, it was observed that the vast majority of these conflicts arise from illegal or irregular fumigation, residues of agrochemicals deposited in prohibited places (uncultivated land and fields), fumigating machines that transit through urban centers, damage to biodiversity by the application of chemical products and as a consequence of all the irregularities mentioned, the serious problems in the health of the members of the fumigated communities.

Likewise, the survey revealed similar concerns and demands on the part of the communities regarding the application of agrochemicals. Thus, as a common denominator, these require: ordinances that establish Environmental Reserved Areas with respect to urban areas; the completion of the provincial law that regulates the requirements and minimum distances of application, the carrying out of health studies, among other claims. Other populations, as is the case of the town of Dique Chico, tend to an alternative to “agroecological reconversion” guiding the production from a sustainable and healthy perspective.

The survey work carried out demonstrates the “agrochemical emergency” that exists in numerous localities in the province of Córdoba. The use of agrochemicals without adequate control by the authorities, the non-compliance with current regulations regarding application distances, which also become ineffective for the protection of populations, are factors that not only affect the environment but also constitute a serious public health problem.

In this sense, the statistics show alarming data regarding the existence of certain diseases. For example, from the year 2017 onward, more than half of the deaths in the town of Canals, had their origin in a carcinogenic disease; or the case of the Monte Maíz locality in which the cases of deaths due to cancer exceed three times the average, in addition to being observed in all the localities surveyed numerous cases of malformations, respiratory diseases, spontaneous abortions and other infrequent diseases such as lupus, rematoidea arthritis, among others. These data shed light on the urgent attention that the problem deserves on the part of those who have the responsibility of adapting the controls in the application and to formulate a law respectful of the environment and health, paying attention above all to the needs of those populations most affected.

Access to the site Emergencia Agroquímica 

Authors

Ananda Lavayén

María Laura Carrizo

Contact

Juan Bautista López, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

The summit OGP left more questions than answers

During the week of May 27 to 31, the Global Summit of the Open Government Partnership took place in Ottawa, Canada. Governments, civil society and fans of transparency issues met to discuss the benefits of government openness. What did the conference leave us?

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The Open Government Partnership (OGP or Alliance for Open Government), is a multilateral initiative formed in 2008 at the suggestion of the President of the United States, Barack Obama before the General Assembly of the UN. Since then, the imprint of this ‘institution’ has been to get governments around the world to implement more and better public policies of transparency, openness and citizen participation.

Through action plans that last two years, the States commit themselves to design policies closer to the citizen’s reality, which transparent the acts of governments and allow social participation. It is about short and concrete actions, whose purpose is to achieve the construction of more solid, inclusive and reliable institutions.

The OGP, from its conception, carries out ‘Global Summits’ that serve as a space for the exchange of experiences and good practices in terms of open government. In 2019, the sixth summit was held, with more than 1000 participants from approximately 90 countries of the world and more than 80 panels of experts and experts.

However, after having toured the Summit and participated in the discussions, more questions and doubts appear, than answers. Although the spaces of the Global Summits serve to know the reality of open government in other parts of the world, the real objective is to ensure that this exchange provides tools to bring the government closer to the general public. The key idea has always been How to make government openness change people’s lives and bring solutions to current social problems?

This 2019, the panels and talks were very focused on the question of the principles of Open Government, rather than on the solutions that this paradigm can provide. In general terms, there was a feeling of ‘going back’ in the discussions, taking up old problems and leaving out important issues such as: health, the environment, climate change, public services, access to water, education, natural resources, among other rights. Although at one point, from OGP, the idea of starting to pay attention to the most concrete issues where a contribution could be made was promoted, this Summit did not seem to pick it up.
In 2017, at the Regional Summit for the Americas of OGP, the motto was to take a step forward with the idea of Open Government, to see concrete results. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be present in today’s discussions. Despite having managed to include the gender issue through the creation of the Feminist Open Government, there are still gaps to be addressed in human rights issues in general.
In 2019 the motto was ‘inclusion’. However, the Summit was not inclusive. Those that are intended to be included in open government discussions were not present in that space: indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, vulnerable and marginalized groups, among others. Empowering those who are already empowered, does not make sense. Convincing those of us who are already convinced that open government works, either.

To achieve progress in this area, it is crucial to be able to include those who do not have access to technology, those whose rights are violated and those who do not have a voice when making decisions.

Within the debates of this year, the little and almost negligible number of commitments related to citizen participation and inclusion was highlighted. In spite of this, it was good to know that Latin America is the most powerful region in this regard, with more than half of the commitments in this area. It’s enough? No. There is still a long way to go and solve. Without going any further, Latin America is also the most dangerous region for human rights defenders.

In what way can open government correct this contradiction? We are the region that has made the most progress in terms of transparency, but the most dangerous for those who seek to participate in decision-making. The general levels of openness have improved, but people have never been more suspicious of institutions. The space of the Summit should have served to put these problems on the table.

It is important to be able to discuss what happens after transparency, what happens after the publication of data, how does that translate into higher quality, informed and participatory public policies? How can we be more inclusive and ensure that these policies represent all social groups? At the summit many problems were raised but few solutions. It is necessary to get governments committed to developing more transformative plans that strengthen the institutions from their foundations, and not initiatives of two years (or less) that then do not translate into stable practices. Again, how is the transcendence of open government achieved? How can we prevent this from becoming a passing fad that changes when the governments in power give way to new political actors?

By the year 2020, Argentina will have the presidency of OGP and the Global Summit will move here. It will be an excellent opportunity to include those who were not present this year, and to discuss the issues that take us away from our places of conformity and privilege. It is time for ‘open government’ to stop being something that is discussed in circles of ‘enlightened’ and elites, so that it finally achieves that those who should be included can participate effectively and without fear.

More information:

Global Summit of OGP 2019

Regional OGP Summit for the Americas 2017

Contact:

Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org

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We participated in a talk about the problem of Chacras de la Merced in the Siglo XXI University

On Friday, May 24, a talk was organized by the Environmental Law Chairs of the Lawyer’s career and the Social Sustainability Center of the Siglo XXI University, in which members of the Omas de Chacras de la Merced Organization participated. and the Fundeps environment team.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

During the meeting, members of the Omas organization reported the structural and environmental problems that have been affecting the Chacras de la Merced district for years, the current situation and the strategies adopted. From Fundeps, we share the actions carried out throughout these years, the legal and advocacy tools used in public policies, and the possible strategies to follow in the face of lethargic, if not non-existent, action by the Municipal, Provincial States. and National.

The articulation between diverse actors was shaped as a fundamental pillar in the struggle for the respect of human rights, from the contributions that each civil society organization can provide for such purposes. Then, the students participated together with the teachers, expressing their concerns, reflections and contributions from a human rights and environmental perspective.

We appreciate the invitation made by the Siglo XXI University through the chairs of environmental law of the career of Advocacy and its Social Sustainability Center. We consider propitious these spaces of encounter and debate, not only for the articulation of actions of incidence and fight in pursuit of the environment, but as spaces of reflection and commitment with those problems that afflict certain sectors of our society, by those who for years we participate in them, and of those students who in the near future will be part of the fight for the right.

Contact:

Juan Bautista Lopez – juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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For the 8th time the IVE project to the Congress is presented

Today, May 28, on the International Day of Action for Women’s Health, Campaña Nacional por el Aborto Legal, Seguro y Gratuito, which brings together more than 500 feminist, social and political organizations, presents for the eighth time, the bill of legal interruption of pregnancy

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

May 28 is the International Day of Action for Women’s Health. It was proclaimed 32 years ago in Costa Rica, during the meeting of members of the World Network of Women for Reproductive Sexual Rights held at the end of the V International Meeting on Women’s Health. The purpose of this date is to reaffirm the right to health as a human right of women that they must access without restrictions or delays or exclusions of any kind, and throughout their lives.
In this context, the Campaña Nacional por el Aborto Legal, Seguro y Gratuito, Safe and Free, will present for the eighth consecutive time before the National Congress, the Law of Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE). Already in 2018, the bill achieved the average sanction in the Chamber of Deputies being rejected in the Senate. Since 1921, the Penal Code establishes in article 86 inc 1 and 2, that abortion is legal if the pregnancy represents a danger to the life or health of the person or if it is the product of a violation. However, there were always difficulties for the implementation of public policies that guarantee full access to legal abortion.
In 2012, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation issued the ruling F.A.L s / self-satisfying measure, where it instructed the State to end the practice of judicializing, obstructing and / or delaying access to legal abortions. Likewise, he urged the national, provincial and city authorities of Buenos Aires to implement the highest standards and through hospital protocols, to train in good practices and remove all barriers that limit access to health services. In this regard, in 2015 the Ministry of Health of the Nation published the “Protocol for the Comprehensive Care of Persons with the Right to Legal Interruption of Pregnancy”, which represented a major step forward in accessing abortion for women and people with the ability to gestate.
Even so, those who require access to a non-punishable abortion continue to face constant obstacles, such as the institutional violence exerted on them by health professionals, being conscientious objectors and not making the corresponding referrals. These actions and practices, naturalized in the health system, prevent access to safe abortions even in cases where they are protected by law. Particularly in our province, access to this type of abortion has been hampered since 2012 by the amparo filed by Portal de Belén. Even after the favorable ruling of the Superior Court of Justice in this case, the situation that prevents the application of the Provincial Guide for the care of non-punishable abortions has not changed.
In this regard, the World Health Organization states that the criminalization of abortion and restrictive measures, not only affect the exercise of a human right, but generate a serious public health problem because it leaves vulnerable and pushes clandestine and insecure practices that constitute one of the main causes of maternal mortality. The right to abortion is a matter of public health that impacts the lives of girls, adolescents, women and people with the ability to deliver. Sexual and (non) reproductive health are human rights, that is, they are for everyone without any discrimination.
Therefore, on Tuesday the streets will be filled with handkerchiefs, with interventions and rallies in all the cities of the country and various parts of the world. In Córdoba, the federal handkerchief will be at the Museum of Anthropology at 4:00 pm and there will be invited bands. In a collective cry for legal abortion, safe and free, the green wave, returns to the streets and Congress, to be able to decide on our bodies and lives.

Sex education to decide

Contraceptives not to abort

Legal abortion to not die.

¡QueSeaLey!

Author

Laura Villanueva

Contact

Cecilia Bustos Moreschi, cecilia.bustos.moreschi@fundeps.org

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National government seek to agree a new model of food labeling

In a context of alarming prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight, Argentina aims to move towards a new model of food labeling. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Production seek to agree on the model to be followed in our country.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

At the national level, according to the World School Health Survey (2012), in the last five years, in the group of adolescents aged 13 to 15 years increased excess weight from 24.5% to 28.6%. In turn, the prevalence of obesity increased from 4.4% to 5.9%. The seriousness of the current situation of overweight and obesity in Argentina and in particular the fact of seeing alarming trends among children and adolescents urgently requires health protection policies.

Among them, the advance towards a system of frontal warnings in food products with a high level of critical nutrients (sodium, sugar and fats) is a step in the direction of recommendations by specialized health protection organizations. These measures already have the support of scientific evidence from countries such as Chile, where the warning system has been in force for several years. The Ministry of Health itself recognizes it as the most effective system in its report on frontal nutrition labeling of food published at the end of 2018. In the same sense we have pronounced together with the National Coalition to Prevent Childhood Obesity in Children and Adolescents.

It is very important that the limits to establish these categories are based on guidelines such as the Nutrient Profile of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Based on the experience of other countries, it is expected that the food industry press so that the content levels to which these warnings apply are very high. Therefore, it is important that it be based on guidelines from a specialized public health agency such as PAHO.

Recently, the current Secretary of Health of the Nation said in the Clarín newspaper that a dialogue has been started with the Ministry of Production to reach a food labeling model that informs the population about the content of critical nutrients (sugar, fats, sodium), and that in turn alert when those nutrients are present above the recommended amounts. The combination of a warning system with other labeling modifications to provide better information on all products in general can be positive as long as it is supported by scientific evidence.

In addition, it is important to keep in mind the interests of the different institutions that participate in these dialogues. In a public health crisis, the criteria that must be prioritized are those that protect the right to health and not so much the economic interests that are channeled through dependencies such as the Ministry of Production. In the same sense and from civil society, attention should be paid to possible conflicts of interest that may exist. For example, in the aforementioned Clarín note, the Center for Studies on Food Policy and Economics (CEPEA) is mentioned, which in the report of the Ministry of Health confirms that it receives financing from the food industry.

Contact

Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org

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Organizations promote an Open State law in Salta

After several months of waiting, the government of the province of Salta presented a preliminary draft of the Open State, goal committed by the province in 2017 for the III Plan of the Alliance for Open Government. Organizations from all over the country added contributions to the text of the project.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

After more than a year of delay in fulfilling a commitment assumed by the province of Salta regarding transparency, the organizations finally managed to unblock the discussion and accede to the draft of the Open State Law. It is a commitment that Urtubey undertook within the framework of the Third National Plan of Open Government Action, a work plan signed in 2017 together with areas of the National Executive Power, the Congress, the Council of the Magistracy and other 10 provinces that added subnational commitments.

“Salta does not yet have a law that guarantees access to public information and transparency, if the government fulfills its commitment, and the Open State Law is sanctioned, we will have taken a significant step in terms of institutional and democratic quality.” , says Gonzalo Guzmán Coraita, Director of Transparent Salta.

The bill aims to regulate access to information and transparency in the province, one of the few that does not have this regulation. From the Civil Society the proposal is clear: it is necessary that it be law, and for this the project must finally reach the Legislature and that the debate be open and facing the citizenship to continue participating in the process of formation of the law, for ensure that the regulations are complete and comprehensive, as proposed.

It is fundamental that the regulations reach as mandatory subjects all the powers of the provincial State, that make available not only administrative information but also the relative to the particular work of each area and that are clear the functions and autonomy of the guarantor body, how it will be constituted and its members will be elected.

Salta Transparente, a local organization that heads the work of civil society on issues of transparency, access to information and public ethics, has been working together with the Fundación Directorio Legislativo and provincial organizations to monitor commitments undertaken by governments on transparency and accountability. We worked on recommendations and contributions with organizations from different parts of the country such as Legislative Directory, Citizen Power, Our Mendoza Foundation, Open Knowledge Foundation, Fundeps, CLADH, School of Prosecutors, FEIM, Transparencia Ciudadana Foundation, among others.

On May 21, Governor Urtubey sent the project to the legislature, with some of the changes presented by civil society to the original project. We have not yet received a response and justification on the incorporation of the high comments. The approval of this norm means a great advance at the provincial level in terms of access to information, transparency and open government. It would set a precedent for the advance of the rest of the country in more robust legislation on access to information.

More information:

Contact:

Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org

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What is the national anti-corruption plan that seeks to consolidate “transparency and integrity”?

Corruption is a complex, multifaceted, social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries, with serious consequences. According to the World Bank “… corruption is commonly defined as the abuse of a public or private office for personal gain …”

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Last Thursday, April 11, the government made official, through a decree, the launch of a new anti-corruption plan that will govern in the 2019-2023 period. This measure was promoted by the Anticorruption Office, headed by Laura Alonso, and by the Secretariat for Institutional Strengthening, which is under the command of Fernando Sánchez. The plan is based mainly on four international conventions that have been ratified by our country:

  1. Inter-American Convention against Corruption of the Organization of American States (CICC).
  2. United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
  3. United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.
  4. Convention on the Fight against the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Trade Transactions of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In addition, the evaluations that the monitoring mechanisms have carried out for Argentina have been taken into account.

It is a package of 250 initiatives that will be applied during the next 5 years, in accordance with a variety of priority objectives and strategic guidelines. Each one of them has a specific execution period, whose fulfillment will be in charge of the responsible body that has been assigned to it. The regulations will reach 48 committed state agencies, 22 centralized and 26 decentralized.

According to Laura Alonso, in an interview for the newspaper La Prensa, the new plan is based on “three fundamental axes: promotion of integrity and transparency; the control and punishment of corruption in the administrative sphere; and to commit all the Ministries and the decentralized agencies of the national Executive Power, to propose specific sectoral policies. ”

Among the previously mentioned priority objectives we can find: Institutional strengthening, Modernization of the State and Intelligent insertion to the world, which in turn are related to the strategic guidelines mentioned by the head of the Anticorruption Office. Likewise, as a basis, the plan takes the paradigm of open government and transparency.

Within the proposed reforms and actions, the work is established in:

  • Public procurement systems: everything related to public procurement, establishment of computer systems and the development of participatory tables for the governance of public works are expected to be transparent. Likewise, it seeks to implement integrity programs and open contracting systems.
  • Active focused transparency: refers to the proactive publication of key information on corruption issues: budget, purchases and hiring, staffing, subsidy and transfer beneficiaries, official advertising, financing to political parties, among others. In the same way, the officials involved in public access issues will be trained and an active transparency index will be published.

This series of reforms is a key starting point for the consolidation of an efficient State, with a high degree of transparency and adaptable to the new demands of contemporary society. It is also important that civil society is attentive to compliance and implementation of the measures described in the plan. It is important that a State accompanies measures of sanction and punishment of corruption, with systems of institutional strengthening and transparency that prevent crimes of this type. For this last reason, we celebrate the plan, and we hope it will continue after the 2019 elections. In addition, it is expected that there will be periodic reports showing the progress of the actions underway to complete the proposal.

More information:

Contact:

Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org

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What is the national anti-corruption plan that seeks to consolidate “transparency and integrity”?

Corruption is a complex, multifaceted, social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries, with serious consequences. According to the World Bank “… corruption is commonly defined as the abuse of a public or private office for personal gain …”

Descargar Documento / Download File

Organizations meet with the Federal Council for Transparency for the first time

On May 21, the third meeting of the Federal Council for Transparency in the city of Salta was held. For the first time, a space was opened for the participation of civil society organizations.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The third meeting of the Federal Council for Transparency in the city of Salta was held. On May 21, representatives of the provincial governments attended the first session of 2019 of the body created by the national law on access to public information. In 2018, in Buenos Aires, the first two meetings were held and it was decided that for this year the host provinces should be changing. For the second half of the year it is expected that Tierra del Fuego will host the officials.

What is the Federal Council for Transparency? Article 29 of Law 27275 on access to public information establishes that it is an interjurisdictional body of a permanent nature, whose purpose will be technical cooperation and the conclusion of policies on transparency and access to public information.

After the law came into effect at the end of 2017, in the year 2018 the Council began to operate. As the text of the regulation makes explicit, it is an organization in which representatives of all the provinces participate, in order to coordinate policies of transparency and access to information. They meet twice a year, and for the first time, space was opened for civil society organizations to participate. The opening of this instance was thanks to the presentation of a letter, made by the Network of Organizations Against Corruption (of which Fundeps is a founding member) at the end of 2018.

During this third session, Fundeps, Poder Ciudadano and Salta Transparente, we were present on behalf of the ROCC to raise our concerns and perspectives on the situation of the right of access to information at the provincial level. We specifically proposed the creation of a national plan of action for the standardization of transparency principles throughout the national territory. In this regard, the possibility was raised of taking as a starting point, the national law of AIP. Likewise, we mentioned the need for the Council to function as a space that embraces the cause of public ethics, and be able to establish specific guidelines on this subject and access to information (especially, as far as affidavits are concerned).

The session in Salta also aimed to review the mandate and status of the Council. According to Eduardo Bertoni (president of the Council and head of the Access to Public Information Agency), the review would include the incorporation of a space for CSOs permanently in meetings. Also, he assured that the standardization of transparency principles throughout the country is the raison d’être of this organization.

The meeting also had the presence of the World Bank, an institution that has been in charge of gathering data about the status of the regulations on access to public information in the provinces. The advances and results were presented and will be available in the coming days. This study was only of legislative analysis, without deepening the questions of implementation of laws in each province. In general terms, what is thrown by the evaluation accounts for a very different picture of what access to information refers to. While there are provinces with advanced regulations in this matter, others (among which Córdoba could be included), have laws that date back many years and that restrict more than guarantee the right to dispose of the data and information in the hands of the State.

As members of civil society, we applaud the initiative and appreciate the space granted. We hope that for the next meetings, a greater number of representatives of the provinces will attend. Unfortunately, this meeting only had the presence of 7 provinces and particularly, Córdoba was not present. It is fundamental that, in order to achieve a true synergy between the State and the citizenship, each provincial representative should be present in this space. Otherwise, it is not possible to advance in the guarantee of the right of access to information in a comprehensive and complete manner in Argentina.

More information:

Law of Access to Public Information

Website of the Access to Public Information Agency

Minutes of the meetings of the Federal Council for Transparency.

Contact

Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org

We denounce TN for media and symbolic violence

In the framework of our work of monitoring public policies regulating the media, we identified and denounced two situations of media and symbolic violence that were exposed in two programs of the Todo Noticias channel last week.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The first situation occurred on May 2, when in a report issued a story is exposed about a woman (former police officer), named Johana, who was stealing cars using a drone. The second one is presented the following day in the newscast of the half day also, in a news about a former employee of the Municipality of La Plata who was dismissed from her job and considers that the dismissal was unjustified. Beyond the specific stories that are exposed in each of the news, we find in common a violent approach as the news is illustrated with photos of women in underwear or swimsuits, exposing a hypersexualization of the protagonists through the display of their bodies. This representation is stereotyped and diverts attention from what is being reported in the news, which has to do with the commission of a crime in the first case, and a labor claim in the other. Illustrating both situations with these images delegitimizes the women in these stories and inflicts media and symbolic violence on them and also on other women who may be in the same situation. That is why from Fundeps we proceeded with the corresponding complaints, which were filed with the Public Defender’s Office, the Radio and Television Observatory of INADI and the National Institute for Women. In a context of social transformation, driven fundamentally by the struggle of the feminist movement, it is inadmissible to tolerate expressions that contain discriminatory gender stereotypes, which fuel the perpetuation of a macho culture that permanently violates the freedom and the body of women. Understanding the role of the media in the reproduction of symbolic violence is that, in addition to executing the corresponding complaints, we urgently see the need to create spaces for training and training of workers of the mass media. communication regarding the gender perspective, considering that it is the only way to guarantee the production and the approach of respectful contents that contribute to the construction of a equality society.

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We demand from the Municipality of Córdoba compliance with the Mitigation Plan of the Bajo Grande EDAR

Along with the Omas and neighbors of the Chacras de la Merced neighborhoods, Villa La Merced, Ciudad Mi Esperanza and Parque 9 de Julio, we filed a complaint against the mayor Ramón Mestre in which we denounced the non-compliance with the mitigation plan for the Bajo WWTP Large and the neighborhoods located downstream and we demand their effective execution.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The communities of Chacras de la Merced, Villa La Merced, Ciudad Mi Esperanza and Parque 9 de Julio, live a few meters away from the sewage treatment plant in the city of Córdoba on the banks of the Suquía river, and have been living with pollution for years. of water, air and soil due to the poor functioning of the Bajo Grande plant.

Derived from this contamination, neighbors must face every day an infinity of problems, the most serious being those related to health (skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases). Similarly, the environment vitiated by the smell of cloacal water overturned raw, makes life more difficult in that place.

The contamination problem of the Suquía river as a direct consequence of the excess of sewage liquids, by virtue of the dumping with minimal treatments or without treatments, carried out by the Bajo Grande WWTP is public knowledge. Even recognized by the Municipality of Córdoba at least since 2014 when it declares for the first time the environmental and sanitary emergency of the EDAR plant and of the areas located downstream. The measure was extended every year being the last extension in the past month of November.

Within the framework of this emergency, the Intendant implemented a Mitigation Plan by virtue of which a number of actions are entrusted to different areas of the Municipality of Córdoba to mitigate the effects of the pollution produced by the plant on the population, particularly in the Suquía and surrounding areas.

The departments included are the Secretariat of Government, Citizen Participation and Social Development, the General Secretariat, the Public Services Secretariat, the Ministry of Health and the Secretariat of Planning and Infrastructure.

Regarding the mitigation measures contemplated in the plan, these are: a) Update of the socioeconomic survey of the affected population downstream of the plant; b) Update of the survey of the health status of the population; c) Distribution of safe drinking water for different uses in areas where provision by network is not possible; d) Preventive sanitary cord; e) Management of the effluents of the E.D.A.R. Under Large; e) Resource monitoring plan and f) Awareness campaign.

Last year, we presented together with Alida Weht, neighbor of the Chacras de las Merced district and member of the Las Omas Civil Association, requests for information addressed to these Secretariats, so that they could inform us about the status of the Mitigation Plan, without receiving answer. Therefore, this year we insist on the orders, as it is public information to which every citizen has the right to access and the Municipal State has the obligation to make known, not only because the actions committed by the municipality have an impact on the health and quality of life of the people living in the neighborhoods surrounding the plant, but of all the people of Cordoba as the Suquía river – at least at one time – one of the sources of most important drinking water in the entire province.

The only distribution that responded was the Ministry of Health and it did so deficiently and with information that does not fit with the reality that exists in the community of Chacras de la Merced.

Motivated by this, and the lack of execution of the successive mitigation plans, is that together with the Omas andneighbors of the neighborhoods located downstream of the plant, we initiated a claim against the Municipality of Córdoba denouncing each of these breaches and demanding their adequate and effective execution.

With respect to the health needs of the area, the deficient infrastructure of the neighborhood Health Center is denounced, which lacks adequate facilities for patient care; It has only two rooms, the spaces are very small, there is no heating, there is only one doctor who can not supply it and he attends only in the morning, sometimes there are not enough medicines to deal with tracer diseases in the area, particularly dermatitis, which leads to the people of the neighborhoods tending to naturalize their ailments due to the deficient medical attention provided by the municipality.

Another of the mitigation measures whose compliance is required is the “Awareness Campaign” under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health – DAPS and the Directorate of Sanitary and Gas Networks. The actions included are: a) Continue actions in favor of improving the communication of environmental risks, b) Continue with informative and educational talks to the school population of the sector and c) Installation of informative posters on the risk of use and consumption of the river water. None of these actions has been carried out, there is widespread misinformation in the sector about the real risks of contamination of the Suquía River. In addition, all along the path of Chacra de la Merced there is a single sign in the area warning that it is forbidden to bathe in the river. In any case, such ignorance is that children continue to bathe in certain sectors of the Suquía and in the lagoons, putting their health and their lives at risk.

In addition, it is reported that there are sectors of the Chacras de la Merced neighborhood where there is no potable water network. Neighbors and neighbors are forced to connect in an irregular manner to the only network that is exclusive to the Bajo Grande WWTP plant, which is also not safe water. Taking into account the health and environmental crisis declared in the area by the pollution of the Suquía River, it is inadmissible that the population lacks safe drinking water.

In short none of the mitigation measures is or has been adequately met by the municipality, which leads to the emergency being extended every 180 days, becoming a formal declaration without being able to give the affected communities a structural solution and definitive to the environmental and health problems that have been going on for years.

The area where these communities are located 40 years ago was part of the “greenbelt” of the city of Córdoba, from there came the fruits and vegetables that supplied the markets, jobs now prohibited by the high levels of contamination of the Suquía River. The neglect of the State transformed this area into a marginal community, with multiple sources of contamination (quarries, tanneries, garbage), which every day struggles to survive and to fight for its human rights to health, a healthy environment and life , all this despite the indifference of the municipal authorities.

The expansion works of the EDAR plant and the refunctioning of the current one, do not matter the improvement of the quality of life of the people who live downstream of the plant. Nor do they result in the termination of the environmental and sanitary state of emergency in the area, while the mitigation actions have not been carried out by the Municipality of Córdoba, which is why we demand that the Mayor take the corresponding measures so that execute the Mitigation Plan prepared for the Bajo Grande plant and the zones located downstream.

The municipality has a pending debt with the population of this sector of the city, and therefore we demand a definitive solution to the contamination of the Suquía River and especially for the guarantee of the rights of those who have been affected.

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Argentina, one step away from repaying a historical debt with childhood

After fourteen years of apathy, at the end of April, the process of appointing the highest authority of the Defensoría de Niños y Adolescentes ended. The Permanent Bicameral Commission “Defender of the Rights of Children and Adolescents” of the Chamber of Deputies agreed to appoint Marisa Graham as head of the body, thus paying off a historical debt to children. In addition, the commission nominated Facundo Hernández and Fabián Marcelo Repetto to fill the positions as deputy. These proposals have yet to be ratified by both Houses of this Congress.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The Law on the Comprehensive Protection of the Rights of the Child, enacted in 2005, provided for the appointment of a child defender with specific powers, including initiating collective actions in defense of this historically violated group and supervising to the public institutions that house them. During the years in which the position was vacant, the organizations complained to international human rights organizations about the appointment of a holder.
After more than a decade, in 2019 a decision was reached that was decided after a transparent process of thorough evaluation of the capacities of the candidates. This process had shortcomings on the road and was delayed more than it should. That is why it is urgent that the selection of Graham lawyer is final, so that the agency begins to operate immediately as stipulated by law.
Having a head of the Ombudsman is essential to ensure full compliance with the rights of the child. The signing of the agreement reached by the bicameral commission is fundamental to avoid further deepening the violations of rights that children and adolescents face every day in our country.

Once again, it is important to emphasize that the result of the process, almost unprecedented in Argentina, was based on the principles of transparency and suitability. The selection of Marisa Graham and the Deputy Advocates respected the demands of civil society and now, it is necessary that their position be fixed.

That is why, together with the organizations of Lawyers and Lawyers of the Argentine Northwest for Human Rights and Social Studies (ANDHES), Nuestra Mendoza and Foundation for the Study and Research of Women (FEIM), we present a note to the National Congress requesting the treatment and ratification of the elected authorities of the Ombudsman’s Office in the next session of each Chamber, so that the Act of Comprehensive Protection of Children is effective and immediate.

Click here to see full note

Contact

Agustina Palencia, agustinapalencia@fundeps.org