Children and Young People Build Participatory Democracy in Latin American Cities

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments 15(2), 2005 Children and Young People Build Participatory Democracy in Latin American Cities Yves Cabannes Graduate School of Design Harvard University Citation: Cabannes, Yves. (2005). “Children and Young People Build Participatory Democracy in Latin American Cities.” Children, Youth and Environments 15(2): 185-210. Comment on This Article Abstract This paper presents case studies from four cities in Latin America—Cotatachi in Ecuador, Barra Mansa and Icapui in Brazil, and Ciudad Guyana in Venezuela—all of which involved initiatives to foster the active participation of children and young people in the governance of their cities. It describes the larger context in each case, the methods used to involve young people, the process as it evolved over time, the challenges experienced, and the impact of the initiatives. All four projects included the adoption of participatory budgeting as an approach to participation by young people. The paper concludes with a discussion of the lessons drawn from these cases. Keywords: Children, youth, local governance, participatory budgeting, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela© 2005 Children, Youth and Environments Children and Young People Build Participatory Democracy in Latin American Cities 186 Introduction This paper presents four case studies from Latin America, all of them focused on efforts over a period of several years, starting in the late 1990s, to assert the right of children and young people to an active role in their cities. The cities in question are Cotacachi (Ecuador), Barra Mansa and Icapui (Brazil) and Ciudad Guyana (Venezuela). These cities vary considerably in terms of their size and other characteristics, but they shared in common the willingness to foster the active participation of young people. The case studies all focus on “Urban Consultations,” the cornerstone of interventions supported by the Urban Management Program (UMP) for Latin America and the Caribbean.1 These UMP consultations aimed to facilitate dialogue between urban administrations and other sectors of the community—in this case, children and young people—with an interest in resolving the community’s most pressing problems, and in strengthening the capacity of local participants to support these improvements. The experiences described in these four case studies all attempted, to a greater or lesser degree, to extend or adapt the phenomenon of participatory budgeting to include young people. Since 1989, participatory budgeting has become an important tool and area of innovation for the promotion of citizenship, democracy and local development in many Brazilian municipalities, and increasingly also in other South American countries and in Europe. The common thread in these participatory budgeting experiences is the involvement of local residents in decisions about the allocation of some part of the municipal budget. Every experience is unique, however, and there are variations with regard to the level of influence exercised by local citizens, the percentage of the total municipal budget involved, the extent of citizen involvement in the control and management of work after the budget has been approved, and the degree of formality or flexibility in the process.2 While these variations are evident in these four case studies involving young people, what they share is perhaps more important. All of them indicate the need, and provide the opportunity, to identify and address the priorities of young people, to provide a space within which they can function as citizens, and to consider the ways in which power can be shared at the local level with these young citizens. Cotacachi, Ecuador: A Municipality “Built on Childhood and Youth” Context The cantón of Santa Ana of Cotacachi, in the north of Ecuador, is geographically, ethnically and culturally diverse. Its three zones, the urban area, the sub-tropical zone and the Andean zone, range from 1600 to 4939 meters above sea level. The population of 37,250 consists of mestizos, blacks and indigenous people, the latter representing around 60 percent. Children and young people between six and 24 years make up 40 percent of the population. Livelihoods revolve around agricultural production, handicrafts, tourism and some Children and Young People Build Participatory Democracy in Latin American Cities 187 hotel industry. Limited access to land and the continuous division of family holdings has meant a sharp increase in rural impoverishment, resulting in considerable outmigration . The population growth rate...