President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed, this Thursday (4), the decree that recreates the Council for Sustainable Economic and Social Development (CDESS), the so-called Council. The space is intended to discuss agendas and topics of interest to the most diverse segments of society. “It is not a space for people to speak well of the government, just to make a diagnosis, it is a space for you to help govern the country and say how you want things to be done”, Lula told the councilors, during the installation of the collegiate, in the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasilia. Created in 2003, the Conselhão operated for more than 15 years, until it was extinguished in 2019. Lula highlighted that policies such as Minhas Casa, Minha Vida, the Growth Acceleration Program, payroll loans and the policy of valuing the minimum wage emerged of collegiate dialogues. For the president, the council will play an important role in overcoming challenges such as hunger, inequalities and environmental emergencies. President Lula, accompanied by the first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, and several ministers, at the 1st Plenary Meeting of the Council Photo: José Cruz/ Agência Brasil “Each sector and each movement represented here sees these and many other challenges differently what lies ahead”, he said. “We need to improve our educational policies, resume our role in global forums, rethink new work relationships mediated by platforms and bring innovation to take advantage of the best of the digital economy”, added Lula. In a speech during the event, the philosopher, writer and anti-racism activist, Sueli Carneiro, a member of the board, said that the collegiate is a privileged space for discussions on a series of issues. For her, the answers to the challenges depend on “the ability or not of Brazilian society to opt, this time, for a sustainable development that allows the radicalization of democracy with gender equity, racial equity and social justice”. “Is it ethically acceptable to persist in a country project that doesn’t mind leaving most of its population behind in its development process? Is this uneven development model that characterizes our history capable of making Brazil join the list of developed and civilized nations or are we satisfied with having islands of modernity and prosperity surrounded by backwardness and human indigence on all sides? if [a resposta é] no, are we willing to pay the necessary price for a structural change in sustainable economic and social development, which presupposes the correction and reparation of persistent historical and contemporary injustices in our society, in favor of the realization of citizenship for all and all?” , questioned Sueli. There are 247 councilors on the collegiate. Among the sectors represented are social movements, financial sector, business, agribusiness and fintechs. For Lula, no government, “no matter how competent, responsible and humanist it may be”, is capable of solving a country’s problems on its own. “The debates that will take place here will not magically result in solutions that suit each individual point of view. But these debates will certainly make it possible for us to identify points in common between the most different perspectives and experiences, in search of a common denominator”, highlighted the president. Dialogue According to the Presidency, the Council’s model provides for the representation of workers, businessmen and sectoral entities, “in order to synthesize the plurality and diversity of Brazilian society”. The new counselors will participate in qualified debates, which will subsidize the formulation of public policies, in direct advice to the President of the Republic. “There are those who consider the heterogeneous composition of this council a defect when, on the contrary, that is precisely its main virtue, the dialogue between the different”, said Lula. “The first fruits are already being harvested right now, right here in this plenary. These fruits are called civility and democratic dialogue,” added the president. Sociologist and rancher Teresa Vendramini, representative of the Brazilian Rural Society in the Council, agrees that dialogue is needed and said that political polarization is preventing the evolution of some guidelines for the country, citing the indigenous issue and land regularization. “I want to ask and talk so that we walk in the equation [desses desafios] with balance and social justice for all sides”, he said. On behalf of rural producers – small, medium and large – she mentioned that the sector’s main agendas are legal security, the right to private property and free enterprise. “That’s what we need to produce, to walk,” she said. Sustainability The Institutional Relations Secretariat will be responsible for coordinating the collegiate. According to the Presidency, the new Council has a strong emphasis on innovation, in addition to bringing concerns about sustainability and the plurality of society to the center of the debate. The term “sustainable” was used in its name to “draw attention to the country’s environmental potential in the current scenario of climate change”. The administrator and social entrepreneur, Marcel Fukayama, member of the Council, said that it is necessary to redefine the word sustainability, not only as a concept of conservation and mitigation of damages, but for the concept of regeneration. According to him, civil society has already been articulating with the government the creation of a national green economy strategy, to place the climate agenda transversally in public policies and promote the reindustrialization of the country in line with this new economy. “Faced with the emergency we are experiencing, climate change, inequalities, there is simply no more time to be sustainable. Our institutional legal framework is designed to mitigate damage, so if I generate jobs and income but I have a negative social and environmental impact, it’s okay. And that cannot be the social function of companies, companies must generate positive social and environmental benefits,” said Fukayama. Businesswoman Luiza Trajano participates in the Council’s plenary session. Photo: José Cruz/ Agência Brasil After the installation of the council, thematic working groups will be created that will deal with specific discussions of each area, where the council members will have the “shared purpose of thinking about the country’s development in a democratic environment of debate ”. Traditionally, the council was made up of civil society representatives from different segments, “in a broad and plural composition”. In the new format, the government intends to make it even more representative, with citizens from different groups and social classes, with increased female participation and greater search for ethnic-racial and regional diversity. More than 40% of Council seats are occupied by women.
Agência Brasil
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