Experts visit Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay

Last week, between June 12 and 15, the consultants Dr. Pedro Cabrera and Dr. Santiago Bachiller made a technical visit to Uruguay, ending the round of diagnostic visits to the six countries that currently make up the Latin American Street Network. Both professionals have solid knowledge and extensive experience in policy research for people on the street in Europe and especially in Latin America, so they have been entrusted with the task of preparing a diagnosis on the state of the art of policies for people in street situation, in the framework of the revision of national policies for people in street situation that the Network proposes.

As foreseen by the project, in January of this year, this phase began, with the aim of identifying strengths in the implementation, aspects to improve, and learning to share with the rest of the countries of the Network. Each of the teams counterparts of the participating Ministries prepared and approached the consultants a selection of documents, research and normative frameworks in preparation for the visit. From the Ministry of Social Development of Uruguay, members of the team that develops the coordination of the Project accompanied the consultants during this process.

During the visits, instances of work and exchange were maintained between actors of the Administration, civil society and the Academy as a methodological strategy and as a contribution to cooperative and coordinated work. The care centers for people living on the street were visited and interviews were held with managers, technicians and users.

CHILE: The cities of Santiago de Chile and Valparaíso were visited from January 22 to 26, 2018.

In Chile, the visit focused on knowing the experience led by the Division of Promotion and Social Protection of the Ministry of Social Development of Chile (MDS). Likewise, dialogue was held with institutional representatives of the Ministry of Health, the National Disability Service (SENADIS), the National Service for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Consumption (SENDA), the Civil Registry, the Social Security Institute and SERNAM, within the framework of the Intercalle Technical Board. In the Metropolitan Region of Santiago and in Valparaiso they were visited by different types of devices: reference centers, Day centers, shared houses and Hospederías.

The visit generated the framework for Chile to formalize its integration into the Network, through the signing of the commitment memorandum by the Minister of Social Development, Marcos Barraza.

COLOMBIA: The cities of Bogotá and Medellín were visited from March 14 to 17, 2018.

In Colombia, the visit was organized by the Office of Social Promotion of the Ministry of Health, institution that exercises the national leadership of this topic. The proposed agenda included meetings with political decision-makers and technicians from the central level and work with the teams of the Mayors of Medellín and Bogotá. Exchange spaces were also created with researchers and civil society organizations that have an active role of participation and social accountability. Operating services were visited in both cities.

The District Department of Social Integration of Bogotá, organized a discussion session in the framework of the visit: "How are we going in the public policy of Street Dweller: Challenges and advances", where technical teams of the Project Prevention and Comprehensive Attention of the Habitability Phenomenon participated in Street, academics, representatives of third sector organizations and responsible for the issue at the level of the Mayor's Office and the Ministry of Health.

COSTA RICA: The cities of San José, Punta Arenas and Alajuela were visited from March 19 to 23, 2018.

In Costa Rica, the Presidential Social Council leads the national policy for people on the street and is responsible for intersectoral coordination, within this framework the work agenda included instances with authorities from the sectors involved: Vice Minister of Human Development and Social Inclusion , Director of the Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Director of the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs, Municipality of San José, Director of the Joint Institute of Social Assistance, Ministry of Health. Network centers and projects were visited in San José, Puntarenas and Alajuela. To conclude the visit, a Conversation called "Actions directed to street dwellers inside and outside of Costa Rica" was held, which included the participation of the Ambassador of the European Union in Costa Rica, Pelayo Castro Zuzuárregui and the Minister of Human Development and Inclusion Social, Emilio Arias Rodriguez at the opening of the event. The central conference oversaw the consultant Pedro Cabrera.

BRAZIL: The cities of Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and Foz de Iguazú were visited from May 21 to 24, 2018.

In the case of Brazil, the visit focused on knowing the different levels: federal, state and municipal in the implementation of the national policy for street population. The coordination at the national level corresponds to the Ministry of Human Rights and the implementation is through the National Secretariat of Social Assistance of the Ministry of Social Development of Brazil (MDS), which is executed at the municipal level. The developed agenda included interviews with the teams of the Municipal Secretariats of Belo Horizonte and Foz de Iguazú, in both cities it was possible to know different centers of the assistance network for the street population. The delegation was also able to see projects underway or already completed, promoted by civil society, such as the Tracos Magazine and the Human Rights Defense Center of M.A.S. in Acao Humanitaria.

PARAGUAY: The city of Asunción was visited from May 25 to 29, 2018.

The visit was organized from the Institute of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Health, with institutional competence in the subject of older adults, so the visit to centers for people on the street of this age range was prioritized in the agenda. From the exchange with the consultant team and the coordination of the Red Calle project, it was possible to expand the agenda and visit dependent centers of the National Secretariat for Children and Adolescents of Paraguay; know a project of the Municipality of Asunción and a recent initiative the San Francisco neighbourhood housing project - carried out by the National Government, through the Itaipu Binacional and the National Secretariat of Housing and Habitat (Senavitat).

URUGUAY: The cities of Montevideo, Las Piedras and La Paz were visited from June 12 to 15, 2018.

In Uruguay, the visit allowed the consultants to make contact with the different actors involved in the policy cycle implemented by the Ministry of Social Development. In this sense, two working groups were held with technical teams that are in charge of the management and design. and the evaluation, they also met with authorities of the Ministry, and in the recooridas in the field they made contact with supervisors, technicians and users of the attention centers. At the intersectoral level, the consultants participated in the monthly inter-institutional coordination called Intercalle, convened and led by the Vice Minister of Social Development Ana Olivera, where representatives from the Ministry of Housing, Ministries of the Interior, Inau, Bps, Intendency participate. of Mdeo, Dinali, Inisa, Asse, Directorate of Mental Health, National Board of Drugs and Judicial Power. At the level of links with the academy, an exchange facility was created with researchers from the Department of Social Work and the Department of Sociology of Udelar.

What will come....

As a result of these field visits, the consultants will deliver a first report to the heads of the Administration of each country, which will serve as exchange and discussion material with the rest of the countries. This is a fundamental input that will be worked on in the International Seminar to be held next August in Montevideo.