Questions/Answers

The main objective of the “Plano Mais IDH" (More HDI Plan, free translation) is to reduce extreme poverty and social inequalities in urban and rural areas in the State of Maranhão, Brazil, through a sustainable territorial development strategy. The “Plano Mais IDH” is initially focused on the 30 municipalities of Maranhão with the lowest HDI and its actions are based on the emergence of facing the low social indicators existing in these municipalities. The priority action of the Plan in municipalities with the lowest HDI is justified by the fact that Maranhão faces a serious contradiction: it has grown economically in recent years, being today the country's 16th GDP (of 26 States and one Federal District); however, it occupies the 26th place in the Human Development Index, that is, it has the second worst HDI in Brazil, according to the Atlas of Human Development (IBGE, 2013).

The “Plano Mais IDH” is being nominated to the second category, “Ensuring integrated approaches in the public-sector institutions”, specifically related to the first SDG, “No poverty”. It is directly linked to the category by the fact that it is a program executed by 19 Secretaries of State and other public offices, in order to end the extreme poverty in one of the poorest States of Brazil. The Secretary of Human Rights manages the Plan, that involves more than 40 actions, orchestrating the information e connecting all the partner and executors of this immense policy.

Just like the United Nations’ SDG, the “Plano Mais IDH” is about transversality. It is made upon six approaching areas: (1) Education, (2) Work and Income, (3) Infrastructure, (4) Management, Citizenship and Popular participation, (5) Health and sanitation, (6) Gender, Race and Youth. The Plan is promoting the sustainability massage within the SDGs through the execution of its more than 40 actions. Besides, the Government of Maranhão’s 4-year planning is based on the SDG, so all the actions executed by the State indicates which Goals they promote and are related to. It connects with Goals: 1-6, 8-10 and 14.

The State of Maranhão has the second lowest HDI in Brasil (IBGE, 2013). With that being said, you could easily identify one of many shortfalls through a territory as big as France. The illiteracy rates are, as well the second worse in the country, and the elderly represents almost 50% of the total number (over eight hundred thousand people) inside the State. Two subprograms within the Plano Mais IDH attack this: “Sim, Eu Posso” (Yes, I Can) and “Programa Basil Alfabetizado” (Literate Brazil Program), they have already changed the future of more than 20.000 maranhenses (people born in Maranhão), teaching them how to read, write and, when it is the case, giving than vision correcting glasses. The most powerful subprogram in the “Plano Mais IDH” is the “Escola Digna”, (School with Dignity). More than 30 new schools have been opened to substitute school made with dry mud (taipa, in portuguese), so children can have the necessary structure to learn in a clean, pleasant and healthy environment. There are several other initiatives in that matter, which includes “Carreta da Mulher” (Woman’s Truck), which brings speeches and health instructions to woman, to improve their confidence and independence.

Historically, the northeast region of Brazil has hold the lowest HDI indexes of the country and all the indicators related with social inequality. It comes from the Colony times when the region was owned by few people, but it has been kept informally in the same way until now. The “Plano Mais IDH” brings a public policy, for the first time, that involves integrated sub actions which allow the poorest population of the State to flourish, through education, health, infrastructure, work and income, not forgetting the differences caused by gender, race and age.

It is an innovation. Targeting the cities with the lowest HDI is something never done before in the country. The index, the Plan and the SDG have more than one focus and more than one component, that way, this new approach demands a new way of executing a public policy. Integrated and executed by several players, with the notion that the local population must be heard and indicate which of the 40 sub actions will be added to the city, the “Plano Mais IDH” is a challenge and a new manner of combating the social inequalities of Maranhão.

The initiative has been the face of a State that has taken a different direction, compared to the Federal Government in the last couple of years and to the promises that the next President has made. For being different and innovative, some State Governments have met with us to understand the Plan and its strategy, but it has not been duplicated yet. Although it is totally doable, the Plan demands courage to invest in the poor during time of crises, which is not always the main concern of an economic liberal government.

The financial resources are mainly provided by the Maranhão’s treasure and loans from the BNDES (Banco Nacional do Desemvolvimento), a public bank created to stimulated the nation’s development. The Water and Sanitation programs are paid by the public company of the State responsible for that area, named CAEMA, for example. The human resources are dived by workers of the own government, and the very own beneficiaries of the policies, whether hired by the companies working in those cities or as voluntaries in the local Committees, created by the Plan to control, fiscalize and contribute with ideas to the city’s development.

There are three aspects of sustainability here to be argued. Socially, the projects within the “Plano Mais IDH” guarantees the resources for the citizen to emancipated yourself with education and self-consciousness (Education, Gender, Race and Youth). Besides, it brings Work and Income trough “Family Farming”, for example. The Infrastructure allows the production to be connected with the buyers. It guarantees the economic aspect of the sustainability. The great amount of money spent on the beginning of the project does not need to be spent again, so the necessary money decreases with time, while de population income grows. The environmental aspect of this is plain and simple: family farming is sustainable, sanitation is crucial and education glues all the learning of this multi-action Plan. All of the actions are fiscalized by the State Secretary of Environment and have the SDGs as parameter of execution as well.

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The “Plano Mais IDH” is evaluated internally. The evaluation takes place in each month of the calendar year and is summed up in a final annual report, as one attached to this submission (2018). It is held by the Human Rights Secretary of State, responsible by the management of the Plan. It is organized in Excel online tables that are fed with information by each Secretary responsible for the execution of the actions related to its original purpose, for example, the “School with Dignity” is executed by the Secretary of State for Education.

Considering that the “Plano Mais IDH” is the gathering of more than 40 actions, the indicators vary from objective ones to subjective one, depending on the theme of the action. If you check the “2018 Project Report”, attached to this submission, you can verify in each action which indicator are used, from “number of literate” population from “raised money” in the Family Farming action, for example. All the actions have a general goal, subjectively, related to the fight of poverty and other SDG and other numbers that are checked annually, as answered in the last question.

We have come to some conclusions after doing the last of 4 annual evaluations, which is the duration of a Governor’s term in Brazil. If we are keeping the Plan in 2019, what is our main goal, we have to improve some aspects, but recognize some correct point as well. We managed to execute all the actions we planned in the begging, but we should integrate the cities’ mayors and civil leadership a little more, in order to give strength to the actions inside the cities, besides, the information gathering and evaluation would be improved.

The “Plano Maid IDH” was based on Maranhão’s Government way of making their policies: popular hearings. During the 2014 elections, the then-candidate Flávio Dino travelled around the states’ 331.983 area and understood there was a historic debt between the state’s oligarchs and the people. The social inequalities and extreme poverty would not allow any growth here. The people are the main stakeholders in the Plan and they were heard from the beginning. We have some other partners, as loaners (BNDES, as said before), and technical ones (like the MST – People with No Land’s Movement or companies taking care of the infrastructure projects). They receive the periodic reports as well, with emphasis in their parititpacion, whether if it financing the Plan or executing the actions. There is an Execution Committee that meets regularly and is a space where the own Government and stakeholders can share ideas, results or anything else related with the improvement and continuation of the Plan. For example, a local University gave an idea of using alternative material (found in our own environment, sustainably) to build the houses in the “My House, My Maranhão” action, which was welcomed and is about to be executed.

As answered in the eighth question, some points are must-needed improvement for the “Plano Mais IDH” to keep its success and even improve its impact. We learned that the executive Secretaries of State must understand and legitimate the Human Rights Secretary as the manager of the Plan and give the information needed, when demanded. Also, the territory around the 30 cities in the Plan must be better structured as well, guarantying a general growth of infrastructure and consuming power. Finally, the own people must be empowered to direct the actions towards the need of the local communities.