Pact for the Social Development of Paraíba
State Secretariat of Development and Municipal Articulation

A. Problem Analysis

 1. What was the problem before the implementation of the initiative?
Before the creation of the Pact for the Social Development of Paraíba initiative in 2011, Paraíba State Government had no government tool that provided the cities with access to public resources with transparency and taking into account the regional unbalances, social vulnerability of the population and economic dynamics of the 14 geo-administrative regions, contemplating all 223 Paraíba cities. The management model of the state up until 2010 concentrated the works of infrastructure, public services and government actions in the greater urban centers, harming the access of the most socially vulnerable population to them and inducing the exodus to the peripheries of the greatest cities, concentrating 80% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in only 10% of Paraíba cities. The State Government actions were concentrated in specific sectors grounded in a single political-party outlook that benefitted only a few cities, in a historical structure of old conservative administration of the state that was based on patrimonialism and patronage. The consequence of the lack of public policies focused on the most vulnerable and needing population led Paraíba, according to data from the 2010 Demographic Census from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), to the following social-economic indicators: 313 thousand families under the line of poverty; an illiteracy rate of 23.39% of the adult population; a child mortality rate of 21.67 to each thousand children; high income concentration rates (a 0,61 Gini index); 20% of the population without access to asphalted roads; and a public health service network concentrated on the capital João Pessoa and the city of Campina Grande.

B. Strategic Approach

 2. What was the solution?
• The Social Pact was created, providing cities with access to resources through public call notices; • The Pact promoted the universalization of public resources in the state, attending all regions but prioritizing those of greater social vulnerability; • It also established the Solidary Counterpart, aligning health, education and social assistance rates with UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDG), now 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

 3. How did the initiative solve the problem and improve people’s lives?
With the creation of the Pact for the Social Development of Paraíba, the State Government's actions were decentralized from the great urban centers and there was a process of inversion on the investments to the most socially vulnerable regions, enhancing the infrastructure of access with asphalted roads and mainly interiorizing health services, strengthening the basic attendance and attention in small cities. On the area of education, actions were built to widen the access of all to a quality education, prioritizing the population residing in the rural zone. With the improving and consolidation of the Pact for Social Development, the improvement of the quality of life to the population is visible when we observe the reduction of the illiteracy rates and the number of impoverished families and the rise of the MHDI (Municipal Human Development Index) to above the average value of the country, according to data from UNDP's MHDI Radar. Consequentially, there was a rise in the life expectancy rates of Paraíba's population.

C. Execution and Implementation

 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
which ways is the initiative creative and innovative? (200 palavras) The initiative is innovative because no Federative Unit in Brazil has such a tool to transfer resources or donate goods to the cities through public call notices, with no financial counterweight. The initiative is also creative because it fomented Solidary Counterpart, which laid down, through a term of commitment, indicators and targets to be achieved throughout the cities with actions aimed towards the social development of communities, prioritizing the most vulnerable populations and universalizing public resources to all Paraíba regions, as well as aligning with the 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). From its 2013 edition, the Social Pact created an information management platform called "SGI-PACTO", which is defined by classifying the users by type (state or city) and area (education, health, social, the State Secretariat of Development and Municipal Articulation – SEDAM, the State Controller General, the Governor's Office and the State Court of Auditors – TCE), enabling a wider access to transparency in the utilization of public resources to the population.

 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
The initiative was implemented by the State Government of Paraíba, through the State Secretariat of Development and Municipal Articulation (SEDAM), covering 96% of Paraíba's cities (215 in total) and serving a population of 2.6 million residents, which represents 65% of all Paraíba population.
 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
Based on a diagnostic approach and on what the 2010 indicators showed, Paraíba Sate Government implemented, by way of a legal landmark, a strategy to help improve citizens' lives. The first administrative attitude was to edit Provisory Measure 160, creating the State Democratic Budget (ODE) with the purpose of carrying out plenaries in all 14 geo-administrative regions of Paraíba to converse directly with the population in an effort to collect demands for government actions and programs, consolidating and assuring structural works into the Pluri-Annual Investment Plan (PPA) of 2102-2015, as well as to make necessary adjustments to the Annual Budgeting Law (LOA) and the Budgeting Guidelines Law (LDO). ODE soon became an important instrument to empower the people, as it gave the opportunity of free expression to all the actors involved. ODE's audience cycle is performed annually in all 14 regions, and the demands presented as systematized and forwarded to the respective secretariats responsible for the actions. After that, through Law 9.350, dated April 12th of 2011, the Government created the State Secretariat of Development and Municipal Articulation (SEDAM) with the objective of articulating in the scope of public power all governmental programs intended for municipal social development, prioritizing the actions for those municipalities of lower MHDI (Municipal Human Development Index) scores and socializing the application of public resources in the health, education and social assistance areas. After the dialog space was open between government managers and municipal representative entities, the State Government, through Decree 32.168 dated May 27th of 2011, created the Pact for the Social Development of Paraíba, allowing partnerships to be firmed between the State Government and the city governments by way of public call notices aiming to support the social development of the cities without financial compensation. The innovation of the Program is in creating the Solidary Counterpart, which is firmed through a term of commitment, with previously set indicators and goals aligned with the MDGs, now SDGs. In the first edition of the Social Pact in 2011, the main objectives set were: (1) improving the number of enrollments in the city school system (school frequency); (2) reducing illiteracy; (3) reducing child mortality; (4) increase the number of pre-natal medical appointments; (5) acquiring family agriculture produce for school meals; and (6) formulating gender oriented public policies. It should be noted that the presented objectives were aligned at the time with MDG 1 - To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; MDG 2 - To achieve universal primary education; MDG 3 - To promote gender equality and empower women; MDG 4 - To reduce child mortality; MDG 5 - To improve maternal health; MDG 6 - To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. The resources moved on the four editions of the Pact for the Social Development of Paraíba all come from the State Treasury, making up a total of R$ 133.8 million (Brazilian reais), distributed equally among the Geo-administrative Regions of Paraíba, universalizing its application. On February 14th of 2017, by occasion of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the State Government and UNDP, to adhere to the 2030 Agenda, a new public call notice was released with an order of R$ 72 million (Brazilian reais) exclusively mobilized for investment in education. The Solidary Counterpart is the adhesion of cities to the Learning Success Program, totally aligned with SDG 4. Thus, all the resources mobilized in the six years of the Pact's existence make up a total of R$ 200 million (Brazilian reais).

 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
• Paraíba State Government; • State Secretariat of Planning, Budgeting and Management (SEPLAG); • State Secretariat of Development and Municipal Articulation (SEDAM); • State Democratic Budget (ODE); • State Secretariat of Education; • State Secretariat of Health; • State Secretariat of Human Development; • State Secretariat of Women and Human Diversity; • City Halls; • City Secretariats of Education; • City Secretariats of Health; • City Secretariats of Social Assistance; • City Councils; • Organized Civic Society; • Federal Association of Cities (FAMUP); • Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB); • State University of Paraíba (UEPB); • Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG); • Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Paraíba (IFPB); • Support Service to Micro and Small Businesses of Paraíba (SEBRAE-PB).

 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
The success of the Program can be evaluated by the following results: a) The Program covered 96% of Paraíba's cities; b) The universalization of public resources application in all Paraíba territories; c) When compared to cities outside the Pact, considering data from the Basic Education of Brazil Census run by the Ministry of Education of Brazil (MEC), the participants showed an increase in access to education with emphasis on Adult and Youth Education (EJA), which resonated in a 23% reduction on the illiteracy rate between 2010 and 2014; d) In the health area, by data from The Ministry of Health's Information System on Living Newborns (SINASC), there was a 25% reduction on teenage pregnancy rates in 2014 and a positive effect of 4.69% on the number of pregnant women with at least 7 pre-natal medical appointments, reflecting the improvement on these women's health; e) The Solidary Counterpart and the term of commitment firmed with the cities are totally aligned with SDGs 3 and 4. In a comparative of socioeconomic indicators of Paraíba based on data from the Human Development in Brazil and UNDP's MHDI Radar between 2010 and 2014, in the exact period when the Social Pact was active, a significant improvement can be noticed. The Child Mortality rate (for each 1.000 living newborns) was 21,67 in 2010 and 17.97 in 2014, a -17.07% variation. The Adult Illiteracy was 23.39% in 2010 and 18.01% in 2014, a -23% variation. The Impoverished Families rate was 28.93% in 2010 and 12.95% in 2014, a -55,24% variation. The Gini index was 0,61 in 2010 and 0,51 in 2014, a -16,39% variation. And the MHDI was 0,66 in 2010 and 0,7 in 2014, a 6.06 variation. It should also be highlighted that all these indicators have improved at a faster rate that the country's average.

 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
The obstacles may fit into two axes: • Axis 1 – Initial format of the Program • Axis 2 – Program Evaluation, Control and Monitoring tool On the Social Pact's first edition in 2011, the main difficulties were to explain the Solidary Counterpart and juxtapose the terms of commitment with the indicators and city objectives, as well as the distrust of city managers, keeping in mind the political-administrative practices before 2010. With the improvement of the Program, from its second edition (2013) forward, the Social Pact started counting with a virtual platform called "SGI-PACTO", allowing all partnership processes with the cities to be handled transparently, with efficiency and effectiveness, from the access to the public call notice, to the formalization of the agreement and monitoring its execution until the accountability reports, promoting more transparency in every intergovernmental relation between state and cities.

D. Impact and Sustainability

 10. What were the key benefits resulting from this initiative?
All along its implementation, the Social Pact presented a covering of 96% of Paraíba's cities. All Geo-administrative Regions of the state, indistinctively, benefited from the program, with a special look at cities with smaller populations and minor socioeconomic conditions. From the program's total resources, 92.63% were forwarded to areas such as education and health, improving key indicators such as school dropouts, the Education Development Index (IDEB), age-school year distortion rates, illiteracy, child mortality, access to pre-natal medical appointments and teenage pregnancy proportions. The program contemplated about 65% of the total state population, which translates to 2.6 million people benefitted. Among the program's actions, we highlight the reformation and expansion of 15 hospitals and maternity homes, 8 Health Basic Unities (UBS) and 4 polyclinics. Additionally, 6 new UBS, 10 laboratories and 1 therapeutic unit for chemical addicts' treatment were built, and 138 ambulances equipped for pre-hospital urgency and emergency care were transferred. In educational terms, 637 new classrooms, 38 new computer rooms, 5 lab rooms and 9 auditoriums were constructed, reformed and expanded. All investments made achieved their goals. Thus, from the Social Pact, an adequate structure was allowed to be built on the health and education systems capable of promoting access to less favored populations. It should be noted that about 85% of the benefitted cities may be considered small sized, as they present a population of less than 20 thousand habitants.

 11. Did the initiative improve integrity and/or accountability in public service? (If applicable)
The accountancy referring to the Social Pact is done through an online Information Management System named SGI-PACTO. In it, each manager makes their respective accountancies, allowing more efficiency, control, agility and transparency in the use of public resources. All of these procedures were capable of increasing the inspection and leading to less probable corruption incidence in all the investment system of the Social Pact. It's important to notice that the investments are fruit of the local demands presented in the public audiences of the State Democratic Budget, in which common people play a leading role in deciding what is to be offered by the public sector in each period. That way, the citizens have full control over the local needs and know what can be done with the pact's resources.

 12. Were special measures put in place to ensure that the initiative benefits women and girls and improves the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable? (If applicable)
Through the Social Pact, specifically its 2013 edition, agreed measures were directed to quench gender inequality. Among these measures, specific organisms were crated to deal with policies for women in the cities. In 2013, there were already 27 organisms turned to this question, and today Paraíba State already counts 48. Besides that, Women's City Councils were created with wide participation from the organized civic society as well as women's movements. There are 20 councils in total, distributed throughout the state. That way, it's understandable that these initiatives aim to promote mechanisms to empower women. Some of the main objectives agreed in that sense were the creation of women's councils and city organisms of policies for women, stimulate the woman's financial autonomy and promote qualification, capacitation and professionalizing courses. In time, it should be said that the benefits achieved with the improvement of education and health are universal, also being effective on the specific demands of women and girls.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   State Secretariat of Development and Municipal Articulation
Institution Type:   Government Department  
Contact Person:   Rubens Germano Costa
Title:   Secretary of State  
Telephone/ Fax:   +558332185074
Institution's / Project's Website:  
E-mail:   premiogovpb@gmail.com  
Address:   Rua Rodrigues de Aquino, 496
Postal Code:   58015-040
City:   João Pessoa
State/Province:   Paraíba
Country:  

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