InterCement Institute brings 15 city representatives to discuss the importance of infancy
Taking place in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil, the objective of the meeting was to raise awareness of the Baby’s Week, an initiative that has been happening for seven years and already a legal implement of 13 Brazilian cities.
After seven editions that left behind a legacy of 13 city legislations for the Baby’s Week, an intersector and interdisciplinary movement towards valuing infancy — covering pregnancy up six years of age — InterCement Institute brought 15 city representatives to Guarulhos, São Paulo, on March 13th and 14th, to discuss the theme and strengthen activities for 2019. The event also had the goal to help allocate more public funds to the issue. According to a study by the Brazilian Network of Infancy (Rede Nacional da Primeira Infância), it is estimated that only 0.3% of the Brazilian GDP resources are targeted towards infancy.
The meeting brought 43 professionals acting as volunteers, partnered with government organizations and InterCement in their locations, among which included: Bodoquena (MS), São Miguel dos Campos (AL), Santana do Paraíso (MG), Pedro Leopoldo (MG), Ilha do Bispo (PB), Ijaci (MG), Campo Formoso (BA), Candiota (RS), Nova Santa Rita (RS), Conde (PB), Itaoca (SP), Apiaí (SP), Cajati (SP), Cezarina (GO). Professionals present during the activities included psychologists, teachers, nurses, doctors, health department representatives of city governments, civil and environmental engineers and even people in charge of social assistance in their cities.
“We are very proud to say that InterCement Institute promotes actions that positively affect our society,” says Carla Duprat, director of InterCement Institute, “but more than that, we act as catalysts between society and the governments of each region. “We are also proud to have 60% of our employees involved in continuous volunteering activities. It’s a belief towards transformation”, Duprat adds.
InterCement’s strategic partners were also present, promoting lectures and debates to answer questions and help improve the sustainable development of the regions involved. Among the lecturers were Marina Fragatta Chicaro of Maria Cecília Souto Vidigal Foundation, who discussed the importance of actions focused on infancy care and how to monitor them, and José Mario Carneiro of the City Workshop, who showed the main challenges and precautions in management to implement joint actions with the government. At the end, Childhood’s Itamar Batista promoted the important dynamics of actions taken with children and teenagers survivors of sexual abuse, showing clarifications about the Certain Hand (Mão Certa) program, which was carried out in partnership with InterCement, as well as Brazilian law 13,431/17, focusing on special resources for children to improve treatment and heal trauma.
In addition to these lectures, the event included a technical visitation to Unidade dos Maristas in São Miguel Paulista, an institute serving over 400 children and teenagers. There, representatives were able to share experiences on the main actions towards infancy in each city.
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