Tag Archive for: Public Advocacy

Carolina Tamagnini, Executive Director of Fundeps, was elected as a substitute during the last election process for the Executive Committee of the Argentine Network for International Cooperation.

“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”.

RACI is a federation made up of more than 150 Argentine Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that constantly works to strengthen and promote coordinated actions with the sector. Fundeps has been part of this space since 2016 and this year we decided to renew our commitment by applying to be part of its Executive Committee.

During the last Assembly of RACI Members, the results of the elections of the members of the new Executive Committee were announced. Said Committee is in charge of carrying out political actions in line with the medium and long-term strategy, as well as contributing to the implementation of the annual planning of the Network. On this occasion, Carolina obtained the necessary votes to become part of said space, and will be occupying a substitute role for the period 2020-2022.

We celebrate the renewal of RACI authorities and be able to accompany their continuous growth and federalization process, thus contributing to the strengthening of civil society in Argentina.

More information

New RACI Executive Committee

Contact
Carolina Tamagnini – carotamagnini@fundeps.org

Following the opportunity represented by the change of management at the municipal level, we want to express ourselves on key issues for the future of our city. Therefore, we jointly address other Cordoba organizations to the new Mayor of Córdoba, Martín Llaryora, with the aim of making recommendations regarding structural problems that cause serious damage to human rights.

“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”.

Within the framework of the assumption of the new municipal management, there are unattended situations for years that need an urgent response. Through an open letter, we announce in ten points what these problems are and we make ourselves available to the new cabinet to work in an articulated way.

The ten points are summarized in:

  1. Environmental and health emergency in the Chacras de la Merced neighborhood
  2. Solid Urban Waste
  3. Urban Planning and Development
  4. Gender parity in the cabinet
  5. Trans labor inclusion and quota law
  6. Access to Legal Disruption of Pregnancy in Primary Care Centers
  7. Application of the Micaela law
  8. Access to public information
  9. Healthy school environments
  10. Smoke-free environments and protection of the non-smoker

These are 10 points, which are not exhaustive or exclusive of other problems, but require an urgent response because of the critical situations they represent. We hope that in the next 4 years we can articulate a joint work to continue advancing in the fulfillment of the human rights of the Cordoba community.

Access the full letter

Contact

Carolina Tamagnini, carotamagnini@fundeps.org

Given the facts of public knowledge related to the report of the Environmental Police Directorate of the province of Córdoba regarding the malfunction of the Edar Bajo Grande plant, we insist on the claim presented in May of this year, by Fundeps with Las Omas and neighbors of the neighborhoods Chacras de la Merced, Villa La Merced, Ciudad Mi Esperanza and Parque 9 de Julio against the mayor Ramón Mestre, requesting a hearing this time in order to seek alternatives to solve the problem.

“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”.

On May of the current year, we presented together with neighbors from different neighborhoods immersed in the problem of Chacras de la Merced, an administrative complaint. In this, we demanded that the Municipality of Córdoba Municipality comply with the mitigation plan prepared by the municipality itself to temper and correct the problems that afflict said area of ​​our city due to environmental degradation mainly from the Purification Station of Wastewater of Bajo Grande (hereinafter Edar).

Due to the lack of responses by the Intendancy, and to the facts of public knowledge about a report by the Environmental Police Directorate of the Province that again highlights the malfunction of the Edar plant, and the consequent contamination environmental that this causes, is that we insist on that claim. In turn, considering the next change of government and the urgency required to address the problem, we request a hearing from the Administration in order to bring perspectives, evidence and alternatives to address the problem tending to achieve respect for rights. fundamental humans who are currently affected.

Likewise, in the insistence claim we once again realized the serious situation that affects Chacras de la Merced, mainly related to health conditions in the communities and socio-environmental conditions that make it difficult to develop their life plan. Situation that is recognized by the Municipality of Córdoba at least since 2014 when it declared for the first time the environmental and sanitary emergency of the EDAR plant and the areas located downstream, status that remains to this day. In the same way, we reiterate the request to make public the information about the tasks carried out by the Municipality in relation to the Mitigation Plan, which has not been provided before repeated requests for access to public information submitted by Fundeps.

The systematic and continuous aggravation of the living conditions of the population of Chacras de la Merced linked to environmental degradation caused by the Edar, and the inaction of the Municipality, who, with its omission, consolidates day-to-day human rights involvement, is that again we demand a definitive solution to the problem of those who suffer from forgetting and environmental discrimination in the city of Córdoba.

On the other hand, and in relation to the problem, we submit a request for access to public information before the Environmental Police Directorate in order to request the Report made by said agency in which it reports Edar’s malfunction. Said report was presented to the Municipality of Córdoba as it transcended, but was not publicized, even before the relevance and public interest that it has while the samples collected by the Environmental Police of the liquids that enter and are discharged without treatment to the River are analyzed. Drought and that, as it transpired, show the serious environmental damage caused by Edar.

More information

Contact

Juan Bautista López, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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.

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

On April 17, the Superior Court of Justice ruled in favor of a cassation appeal filed by Fundeps and Fundación Ciudadanos 365, through which they questioned the Chamber’s decision to reject the amparos for delay in accessing information. and for containing a limited conception of public information.

“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 case

In 2010, the Administrative Appeals Chamber of the Second Nomination of Córdoba rejected nine appeals lodged by the organizations because of the failure to provide public information by various departments of the provincial Executive Power.

On that occasion, the foundations had submitted several requests for public information to the Executive Power of the province and the municipalities of Córdoba and Carlos Paz on finances and public procurement (contracting, bidding and funds of small boxes of the provincial Ministries). None of the requests was answered with the information requested nor were the legal deadlines met, so judicial safeguards were carried out due to default of the Administration in the terms of art. 8 Provincial Law 8803 on Right to Access to Knowledge of State Acts.

Said injunctions were rejected by the Chamber, with fundamentals that do not arise from the text or the spirit of Law 8803, and that even incur in the grounds for a ruling that contradicts previous decisions of the same Chamber. These foundations restricted the Right of Access to Public Information widely recognized by the Provincial, National Constitution and by the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights.

On the one hand, the ruling contained a totally restrictive interpretation of the concept of “public information”, limiting it to that information linked to a specific administrative act that has already been dictated. In addition, it established that citizens could only control the management of public funds through the Legislature and the Court of Auditors, thus cutting off the space for active participation of citizens through a restricted conception of democracy. On the other hand, it omitted to carry out an analysis of the content of the information provided by the State, to verify whether it is “truthful, complete, adequate and timely” with respect to the information requested. Finally, it imposed the costs of the process on the information requester, making the judicial recourse used to access public information expensive.

To challenge this ruling, Fundeps and Fundación Ciudadanos 365 filed an appeal for cassation.

The judgment of the Superior Court of Justice

To begin with, the Superior Court recognizes the active legitimacy of the amparista organizations, adopting a broad notion of the right to information contemplated in local legislation (Law 8803) and in accordance with the provisions of the international treaties on human rights with constitutional hierarchy (cf. Arts 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 13.1, American Convention on Human Rights; 19.1, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, III, Inter-American Convention against Corruption and 13.1, Convention on the Rights of the Child). In short, it states that “the human right of access to public information must be analyzed from a broad and holistic point of view” and that “this right belongs to every person without having to show any interest or special legal status, receiving a broad legitimacy which includes both the action in administrative headquarters and in court. ” (Considering No. 14)

On the other hand, the judgment establishes that the individualization of an administrative act linked to the requested information is not necessary, since it does not arise as a requirement neither from the letter nor from the spirit of Law 8803. According to the Inter-American Court, a budget The basic principle of a democratic society is that all information held by the State is presumed to be public, accessible and subject to a limited regime of exceptions. (Considering No. 15)

Regarding the existence of legal limits to access information, the Court understands that “the causes that the Administration can evoke to refuse to provide information are truly exceptional and exhaustive, so that only those expressly provided by the Legislator can be admitted.” Therefore, if there is no exception exception explicitly stipulated in the legislation, “the principle according to which all information held by the State is presumed to be public, in order to guarantee access to data, control, is operative. citizenship and democratic participation.”(Considering No. 16)

Next, the judgment establishes that the lack of clarification of the presentation formulated at the time of requesting the information does not justify the refusal of the administration not to provide the information it has. Even when part of that required information finds limitations tending to avoid that sensitive information is provided about private and public persons in the power of the State, that is, limitations established to protect the confidentiality of the protected data and prevent the aggravation of third parties through access indiscriminate to the specific bases. Even in those cases, the Administration must inform about all the points that are not closed, that is, it must provide the information required in a partial manner (Considering No. 17).

We regret that this process has been extended for 9 years and that only now is guaranteed access to public information that we requested almost a decade ago. This situation draws attention to the standards and the way in which Law 8803 on the Right to Access to Knowledge is implemented to State acts. The Supreme Court uses standards both from the National Law on Access to Public Information and recommendations from human rights committees, which favors access to information. However, there are important aspects of provincial law that could be strengthened as well as public administration practices that should facilitate access to public information.

We celebrate that we have been guaranteed the right to access public information and the recognition by the Court that the State has a positive obligation to give the information that it has in its possession to its citizens. We understand that only through access to public information is it possible to exercise true citizen control of public administration and in the key of transparency.

Contact

Mayca Balaguer,  maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

During the month of December 2016, the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies decided to carry out a survey process in the neighborhood of Chacras de la Merced, in order to obtain accurate information about the state of situation of the community there.

“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”

Since 2015, FUNDEPS has been working with the recently mentioned neighborhood of the City of Cordoba, in relation to the problems of the sewage treatment plant (WWTP). The proven malfunction of the plant, located in the area since 1984, has caused numerous problems in the nearby population, as well as in the ecosystem there.

The purpose of this survey process was to be able to discover the perception of the neighbors of the neighborhood with respect to the plant, as well as of other problems that they could identify as an emergency. The instrument used was intended to compile the perception of the community of Chacras de la Merced about the operation of the sewage treatment plant, the environmental situation of the area, the performance of the government authorities towards the neighborhood and its interest Engage in control activities.

In this sense, within the results obtained, below are presented those of greater relevance.

An 83% (44 families) does not feel calm with the environmental situation of the district Chacras de la Merced.

Five issues were mentioned and respondents were asked to prioritize among themselves, establishing from 1 to 5 the urgency with which they believed they should be addressed by government authorities. Of the total families surveyed, 34 (64%) of them gave the number 1 priority and urgency to the pollution caused by the sewage treatment plant.

The respondents were then asked whether or not they knew the work that EDAR does, and 58.8% said they did not know with certainty the work and operation of the WWTP. 50.9% said he was very badly informed about the issues that relate to the operation of the plant. Consistent with this, 79.2% of neighbors said they do not trust the information provided by the municipality of Cordoba on the operation of the plant.

Notwithstanding the lack of knowledge, 86% consider that the plant is not functioning properly; And opined in reference to the factor considered to cause malfunction. 37.2% of the respondents said that the plant does not work properly due to lack of municipal controls that verify the correct functioning. Likewise, 46.5% consider that the malfunction of the plant causes the immediate contamination of the river.

He wondered about the confidence that respondents had in certain institutions and organizations. Entrepreneurs, the provincial government, the municipal government, the police, the legislature, the judiciary, political parties, trade unions and the national government receive nothing from the neighbors of Chacras de la Merced. Private and public universities; Environmental organizations, social organizations, religious institutions, and the media are receptive to the trust of neighbors. The neighbors opined, undoubtedly with 77% (41 families), who do not trust EDAR.

It is important to note that 76.9% of the neighbors do not have / had information about the bidding process carried out by the province for the expansion of the sewage treatment plant. Likewise, with regard to the opinion about the expansion of the plant, it is surprising that despite the declared distrust of the authorities and the information they provide; 58.5% of the residents are confident that the work will improve the quality of life of the community.

88.7% of the respondents believe that they should (people from the neighborhood with civil society organizations) participate in monitoring spaces to the actions of the state in the area of ​​environmental control. It was also consulted about the inclination towards participation in monitoring spaces of the actions of the municipality and the province in the process of construction of the new plant. 56.6% expressed that they would be willing to participate in these spaces if they arose.

The survey also aimed to know about the health history of the neighbors, consulting about symptoms and diseases they have had, their frequency, the diagnosis provided and the treatment indicated. In this regard, 69% said they had suffered from one of the listed symptoms.

The results of the survey process show that the community of Chacras de la Merced is in a serious situation of vulnerability due to the confluence of numerous factors that lead to the violation of their most basic rights. Álida Weht, director of the Las Omas grassroots organization whose objective is to improve the quality of life of the neighbors, has stated that: “the results constitute the visibility of a pollution situation that dates back several decades and a community Which has been immersed in an immediacy of problems for the same time.

In the context of the recent events related to the overturning of the Suquía River, both from company waste and from raw sewage, it is necessary to highlight the emergency in which the Chacras de la Merced neighborhood is located.

Full survey report

More information

Contact

Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org