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Brazil

Transparency and Oversight in Infrastructure Repair Processes (BR0105)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Brazil National Action Plan 2018-2021

Action Plan Cycle: 2018

Status: Active

Institutions

Lead Institution: Ministry of Transparency and Comptroller General of Brazil – CGU

Support Institution(s): Ministry of Transparency and Comptroller General of Brazil – CGU Government Secretariat of the Presidency of Republic – SEGOV/PR Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic Ministry of National Integration - MI Renova Foundation Human Rights Clinic/UFMG Environmental Services Management Lab/UFMG Conectas

Policy Areas

Capacity Building, E-Government, Infrastructure & Transport, Public Participation, Public Service Delivery, Subnational

IRM Review

IRM Report: Brazil Design Report 2018-2020

Starred: Pending IRM Review

Early Results: Pending IRM Review

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information , Civic Participation , Technology

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion: Pending IRM Review

Description

Commitment 6: Implement instruments and transparency actions, access to information and the development of capacities to expand and qualify the participation and public oversight over the repair processes.
Lead government institution Ministry of Transparency and Comptroller General of Brazil – CGU
Civil servant in charge for implementing at lead government institution Adenísio Álvaro de Souza
Position - Department General Coordinator/Federative Cooperation and Public oversight Coordination
E-mail adenisio.souza@cgu.gov.br
Telephone (61) 2020-6516
Other involved actors Government Ministry of Transparency and Comptroller General of Brazil – CGU
Government Secretariat of the Presidency of Republic – SEGOV/PR
Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic
Ministry of National Integration - MI
Civil Society Renova Foundation
Human Rights Clinic/UFMG
Environmental Services Management Lab/UFMG
Conectas
Status quo or problem/issue to be addressed Lack of efficient communication, participation and public oversight over the repair process
Main objective Promote transparency, public oversight and access to information with people involved on the repair process.
Commitment short description Promote transparency and public oversight actions over the repair process of Mariana as well as at other municipalities in the region, due to dam ruptures.
OGP Challenge addressed by the Commitment Support civic participation
Commitment relevance Ensure that the affected people be informed about the operations related to the repair process.
Goal Increase the society participation and promote public oversight actions on the Marianas repair process as well as in other municipalities involved by dam ruptures.
Situation Initiated in October 2018
Results description Not available
Implemented until July/2020

Verifiable and measurable milestones to fulfill the Commitment Start date: End date: Responsible:
1. Mapping process to identify requested information, on the Transparency Portal, coming from the affected ones and its Municipalities

10/01/2018

11/30/2018 Renova*
SEGOV/CT – CPDCS (Technical Communication, Participation, Dialogues and Public oversight Chamber)
2. Development of the Renovas Transparency Portal, with accessible language, prioritizing data in open formats.

12/01/2018

07/31/2019

Renova Foundation*
3. Held of dissemination campaigns over the Transparency Portal
08/01/2019
07/31/2020 Renova Foundation*
CGU/MI
CDH-UFMG
4. Viability study over the establishment of a technical scientific knowledge repository

10/01/2018

07/31/2019
Chief of Staff Office/PR*
5. Promote training over transparency and access to information for managers and technicians, on affected states and municipalities

01/01/2019

12/31/2019
CGU*
Renova Foundation
SEGOV
6. Promote training to the affected ones in order to promote monitoring processes over public policies in articulation to technical advisory services

08/01/2019

06/30/2020

CGU*
SEGOV
7. Training workshops about risks managing over dam ruptures to the Municipalities City Halls

01/01/2019

12/31/2019
Ministry of National Integration*

IRM Midterm Status Summary

6. Transparency and Public Oversight over Mariana’s Reparation Processes and Other Municipalities in the Region

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“Promote transparency, public oversight and access to information with people involved on the repair process.”

6.1. Mapping process to identify requested information, on the Transparency Portal, coming from the affected ones and its Municipalities

6.2. Development of the Renova’s Transparency Portal, with accessible language, prioritizing data in open formats

6.3. Held of dissemination campaigns over the Transparency Portal

6.4. Viability study over the establishment of a technical scientific knowledge repository

6.5. Promote training over transparency and access to information for managers and technicians, on affected states and municipalities

6.6. Promote training to the affected ones in order to promote monitoring processes over public policies in articulation to technical advisory services

6.7. Training workshops about risks managing over dam ruptures to the Municipalities City Halls

Start Date: January 2018                                                                           End Date: July 2020

Editorial note: to see the complete text, visit https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/brazil-national-action-plan-2018-2020/.

Context and Objectives

In 2015, a privately owned dam broke, destroying Mariana city and its surroundings and killing 19 people. [36] The Samarco disaster is described as one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazil’s recent history. [37] Samarco exposed the complex legal system and policy aspects surrounding disaster recovery in Brazil, [38] including the challenge of claiming damages, holding government and private sector actors responsible, coordinating collective claims, and evaluating the impact of public policies in areas such as labor and environment. This commitment aims to promote transparency, public oversight, and access to information regarding these recovery processes.

Citizen monitoring is vital to ensure an effective disaster recovery process and to avoid future disasters, a threat identified for other dams in the region. [39] Sadly, a similar disaster, the Vale disaster, occurred in the region in 2019, killing more than 200 people in the city of Brumadinho. [40]  The commitment proposes mapping information requests from the Transparency Portal initiated by those affected by the Samarco disaster. The portal was deployed as a joint project by government and civil society (Milestone 6.1). [41]

The commitment also involves developing and launching a thematic transparency portal, in partnership with the civil society organizations (CSOs) in charge of the portal (as authorized by the government). [42] This portal would group the information and activities already done for recovery in certain areas and among certain populations. The new portal will include technical, scientific knowledge and use open data standards (6.2–6.4). Similarly, it will train citizens to use the portal to prevent future disasters (6.5–6.7).

The commitment is specific enough to be verifiable. It has a component related to the dissemination of information to the public (e.g., information on repairs is published online) and another component of civic participation (e.g., the government has empowered civil society to run the initiative).

Raquel Aparecida Pereira from the Comptroller-General’s Office of the Union (CGU) [43] notes the commitment’s contribution to transparency through aspects related to freedom of information, civic participation, and the use of established councils, including those directly related to subnational administrations. Valdênia Santos Souza (also CGU) commends the commitment’s impact on public accountability, [44] arguing that access to information in such contexts leads to opportunities for social control.

Nevertheless, according to IRM standards, in order for a commitment to be relevant to public accountability, it must effectively provide a mechanism for government to justify its actions. This commitment does not fulfill that requirement. As argued by both sources, however, the access to information and civic participation activities do promote citizen use of the governmental process of damage repairs, either by easing access to public information or by offering contact channels to start the process outside of the portal.

The innovations of this commitment include a formal collaboration agreement between the Renova Foundation, a CSO established to address the Samarco disaster, and the CGU. The commitment also allows any user of the portal to suggest policies and encourages new forms of civic participation. [45]

The commitment has a moderate potential impact. Its objective mainly aims to improve public accountability, but the milestones are restricted to access to information and capacity building activities. Additionally, the fact that the Renova Foundation, and the portal, date prior to the start of the commitment makes it difficult to evaluate what the contribution of the commitment will be during the action plan period. However, the broad scope of the commitment should be noted. It includes a wide range of partners from civil society and government. In addition, the activities listed in the portal related not only to the Samarco disaster but also to other natural events that have taken place in the region.

The transparency portals and collaborative mechanisms will allow civil society not only to monitor the recovery, but also to partner with the government in assessing affected individuals requiring compensation. This will accelerate the process and allow civil society to act as witness to the recovery progress. These are innovations for Brazil. For example, before the commitment, all victims had to individually gather resources and sue for relief, despite being members of the same family. The main new portal allows families to seek relief en masse. Another transformation is the capacity of both portals to advertise events and align stakeholders, thereby increasing the efficiency of repairs. In terms of transparency, both portals track which materials are scarce. This is important given the recurring nature of such disasters in the region.

Next steps

The commitment should be prioritized in future action plans. Similar threats to dams and other environmental disasters could be monitored. The innovations from this commitment can strengthen open government initiatives in disaster recovery and mitigation. One key area of improvement is to shift action on environmental disasters from being reactive to being proactive. This can be done, for example, by promoting civic participation activities for specifically monitoring public or private infrastructure.

To increase the commitment’s potential impact, its milestones could highlight activities conducted by the Renova Foundation portal. These activities include establishing on-site offices to guide civic monitoring and repairs in the region, creating accountability materials, constructing budget transparency tools, and documenting best practices for future use.

[36] Adriano de Oliveira Dias, Gustavo Silveira da Luz, Viviane Kraieski de Assuncao, and Teresinha Maria Goncalves. “Mariana, the Biggest Environmental Disaster in Brazil: An Analysis of the Social and Environmental Conflict,” in Territorial Planning and Management: The Sustainability of Urban Ecosystems (Criciuma, SC: EDIUNESC, 2018), http://bit.ly/2OEVbPp.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Mariane Morato Stival and Sandro Dutra e Silva, “The Disaster of the Mining Dam in Mariana and the Impacts on International Environmental and Brazilian Law,” Revista Direito Ambiental e Sociedade 8, no. 2 (2018), https://bit.ly/2WKYZh8; Carlos de Freitas, Mariano da Silva, and Fernanda de Menezes, “The Samarco Mining Dam Disaster—Exposed Fracture of Brazil's Limits in Disaster Risk Reduction,” Cienc. Cult. 68, no. 3 (July/September 2016), https://bit.ly/2G2oBiW.
[39] Nathalia Passarinho, “Dam Inspection: Federal Control Agency Is 2nd Most Exposed to Fraud and Corruption, Says TCU,” BBC, 13 February 2019, https://bbc.in/2Klyuu0. 
[40] Renata Okumura, “Sobe para 224 o Número de Mortos Identificados na Tragédia de Brumadinho,” Estadão, 7 April 2019, http://bit.ly/2T3YE8x; “Repeated Tragedy: Brumadinho Barrier Breaks and Punishes Minas Gerais Again,” GI, 27 January 2019s, https://glo.bo/2Uk9LK3.
[41] Fundação Renova website, https://www.fundacaorenova.org/.
[42] The Pathway to Reform website, https://www.caminhodareparacao.org/.
[43] Interview with IRM researcher, 21 March 2019.
[44] Interview with IRM researcher, 21 March 2019.
[45] Carolina Gonçalves, “Government Publishes Resolution Determining Dam Inspection,” Agência Brasil, 29, January 2019, https://bit.ly/2G8SbVx.

Commitments

  1. Subnational Good Governance

    BR0100, 2018, Capacity Building

  2. Open Data Policy

    BR0101, 2018, Access to Information

  3. Scientific Data Governance

    BR0102, 2018, Access to Information

  4. Capacity-Building and Oversight on Nutrition Policy

    BR0103, 2018, Capacity Building

  5. Transport Data

    BR0104, 2018, E-Government

  6. Transparency and Oversight in Infrastructure Repair Processes

    BR0105, 2018, Capacity Building

  7. Increase Participation in Legislative Process

    BR0106, 2018, Capacity Building

  8. Urban and Rural Land Registers

    BR0107, 2018, E-Government

  9. Climate Change Policy Evaluation

    BR0108, 2018, E-Government

  10. Water Resource Management

    BR0109, 2018, Capacity Building

  11. National Electronic System/ATI implementation

    BR0110, 2018, Access to Information

  12. Open Data on the Federal Government

    BR0084, 2016, Access to Information

  13. Transparency of Public Funds

    BR0085, 2016, Capacity Building

  14. Access to Information Policy in the Federal Government – Promptness and Effectiveness to Information Requests

    BR0086, 2016, Access to Information

  15. Access to Information Policy in the Federal Government – Requesters’ Personal Information Safeguard

    BR0087, 2016, Access to Information

  16. Effectiveness of National Policy for Social Participation Mechanisms

    BR0088, 2016, Capacity Building

  17. Starred commitment Digital Educational Resources

    BR0089, 2016, Capacity Building

  18. Open Data and Information Governance in Health

    BR0090, 2016, Access to Information

  19. Prevention to Torture and Mean, Inhuman, or Humiliating Treatments in the Penitentiary System

    BR0091, 2016, Access to Information

  20. Innovation Spaces for Management in Public Services

    BR0092, 2016, Capacity Building

  21. Assessment and Streamline of Public Services

    BR0093, 2016, E-Government

  22. Open Innovation and Transparency in the Legislative

    BR0094, 2016, Capacity Building

  23. Fostering Open Government in States and Municipalities

    BR0095, 2016, Capacity Building

  24. Transparency and Innovation in the Judiciary

    BR0096, 2016, Access to Justice

  25. Social Participation in Federal Government’S Planning Cycle

    BR0097, 2016, E-Government

  26. Open Data and Active Transparency in Environment Issues

    BR0098, 2016, Access to Information

  27. Mapping and Participatory Management for Culture

    BR0099, 2016, Access to Information

  28. Probity Defense and Asset Recovery

    BR0033, 2013, Anti-Corruption

  29. Development of a Methodology for Social Participation on the Monitoring of the Pluriannual Plan (PPA) and on the Formulation of the Federal Public Budget

    BR0034, 2013, Capacity Building

  30. Development of the Monitoring System for the Social Movements Demands

    BR0035, 2013, Capacity Building

  31. Capacity-Building of Educators, Political Agents, Public Managers, Councilors for Social Policies and Community Leaderships

    BR0036, 2013, Capacity Building

  32. Encourage States and Municipalities to Endorse the OGP Four Principles

    BR0037, 2013, Capacity Building

  33. Implementation of the ODP.Nano

    BR0038, 2013, Fiscal Openness

  34. Strengthening of the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU)

    BR0039, 2013, Anti-Corruption

  35. Online Accountability of Resources for Education Within the National Fund for Education Development

    BR0040, 2013, E-Government

  36. Generation of Knowledge and Capacity-Building of Managers and Public Resources Operator’S Partners and of Councilors for Social Control

    BR0041, 2013, Capacity Building

  37. National Program for Strengthening School Councils

    BR0042, 2013, Capacity Building

  38. Development of a Unified and Interactive Information Panel on the Implementation of the Water for All Program, Which Can Be Publicly Accessed Through the Internet

    BR0043, 2013, Capacity Building

  39. Digital Inclusion of Health Councils

    BR0044, 2013, E-Government

  40. Starred commitment Development of Tools for Increasing Transparency and Enhancing Land Governance

    BR0045, 2013, E-Government

  41. Implementation of the Document Management Policy in the Federal Government

    BR0046, 2013, Capacity Building

  42. Development of the “Access to Information Library”

    BR0047, 2013, Access to Information

  43. Disclosure of Data from the Execution of the Union Budget and from Government Purchases

    BR0048, 2013, Access to Information

  44. Dissemination of the Public Open Data Culture to the Local Governments

    BR0049, 2013, Access to Information

  45. Development of Support Technologies and Licensing Models for the Disclosure of Open Data

    BR0050, 2013, Access to Information

  46. Disclosure of Information from Government Systems in an Open Data Format

    BR0051, 2013, Access to Information

  47. Corporative Information Management in Social Security (E-Governance)

    BR0052, 2013, E-Government

  48. Improvement of Active Transparency and of the Unique Health System’ Ombudsman Unit

    BR0053, 2013, Access to Justice

  49. Strengthening of the National Audit System of the Unique Health System (SUS)

    BR0054, 2013, Anti-Corruption

  50. Increasing Public Transparency of the Labor Relations Secretariat of the Ministry of Labor and Employment

    BR0055, 2013, E-Government

  51. Disclosure of Recommendations to Carry Out Public Audiences to Serve as Reference for the Government

    BR0056, 2013, Capacity Building

  52. Development of a Database of the Federal Public Administration Purchases Prices

    BR0057, 2013, Anti-Corruption

  53. Participatory Audits on the Constructions of Brazilian Host Cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup

    BR0058, 2013, Anti-Corruption

  54. Development of an Indicators Model for Transparency of Brazilian Municipalities Institutional Development

    BR0059, 2013, Capacity Building

  55. Development of a Brazilian Portal for the Open Government Partnership (OGP)

    BR0060, 2013, E-Government

  56. Development of Monitoring Reports on the Electronic Citizen Information System (e-SIC)

    BR0061, 2013, Access to Information

  57. Encouragement of Social Participation

    BR0062, 2013, Anti-Corruption

  58. Formulation and Implementation of the Ministry of Defense’S Information Management Policy

    BR0063, 2013, Records Management

  59. Development of a Database of Administrative Documents Produced by Brazil’S Navy

    BR0064, 2013, Public Participation

  60. Open Educational Data

    BR0065, 2013, Access to Information

  61. Improvement of Data Transparency from the National Consumer Protection Information System (Sindec)

    BR0066, 2013, Access to Information

  62. Restructuring of the Brazilian Federal Government Transparency Portal

    BR0067, 2013, Access to Information

  63. Electronic System for Public Consultations

    BR0068, 2013, E-Government

  64. Improvement of Health Services Through the Increased Use of the National Health Card

    BR0069, 2013, Health

  65. Participatory Development of the Federal Ombudsman System

    BR0070, 2013, Justice

  66. “Brazil Transparent” Program

    BR0071, 2013, Access to Information

  67. Development of the Unique Health System Letter

    BR0072, 2013, Health

  68. Digital Cities Project

    BR0073, 2013, E-Government

  69. Development of the National System for the Promotion of Racial Equality (SINAPIR)

    BR0074, 2013, Human Rights

  70. Improvement of Mechanisms for Social Participation in the Formulation of Public Policies

    BR0075, 2013, Public Participation

  71. Brazilian Portal for Social Participation

    BR0076, 2013, E-Government

  72. Open Data in the Ministry of Justice

    BR0077, 2013, Access to Information

  73. Improvement of the Pro-Ethics Company Registry

    BR0078, 2013, Private Sector

  74. Expansion of the Database of the National Debarment List (CEIS):

    BR0079, 2013, Anti-Corruption

  75. Monitoring of the National Plan for Food and Nutrition Security (PLANSAN)

    BR0080, 2013, Health

  76. Development of an Information System on the Maria Da Penha Law (Law No. 11,340/2006)

    BR0081, 2013, Gender

  77. Development of Processes for Prior Consultation Under the 169 Convention of the International Labour Organization’S (ILO)

    BR0082, 2013, Labor

  78. Redesign of the Current Protection Programs

    BR0083, 2013, Access to Justice

  79. Capacity Building Programs

    BR0001, 2011, Access to Information

  80. Distance Education Program

    BR0002, 2011, Access to Information

  81. Guide for Public Officials on Access to Information

    BR0003, 2011, Access to Information

  82. Information Services Model

    BR0004, 2011, Access to Information

  83. Diagnostic Study on the Transparency Values of Executive Branch

    BR0005, 2011, Access to Information

  84. Diagnostic Study on Role of Federal Ombudsman Units (FOUs)

    BR0006, 2011, Access to Information

  85. Research Study to Identify the Demands of Society in Regard to Access to Information

    BR0007, 2011, Access to Information

  86. Preparation of a Catalogue of Public Data and Information

    BR0008, 2011, Capacity Building

  87. Organization of a Meeting of the Inter-Council Forum Multi-Year Plan 2012–15 (Phase 2)

    BR0009, 2011, Capacity Building

  88. Organization of the 1st National Conference on Transparency and Social Control (1St Consocial)

    BR0010, 2011, Capacity Building

  89. Organization of the 1st National Open Data Meeting

    BR0011, 2011, Access to Information

  90. Organization of the National Seminar on Social Participation

    BR0012, 2011, Capacity Building

  91. Partnership with the Digital Culture Laboratory

    BR0013, 2011, Access to Information

  92. Partnership with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Brazil

    BR0014, 2011, Access to Information

  93. Development of the National Open Data Infrastructure (INDA)

    BR0015, 2011, Access to Information

  94. INDA Capacity Building Plan

    BR0016, 2011, Access to Information

  95. INDA Awareness- Raising Activities

    BR0017, 2011, Access to Information

  96. Launch of the Brazil Open Data Portal

    BR0018, 2011, Access to Information

  97. Resource Transfer Agreements and Contract System (SICONV)

    BR0019, 2011, Access to Information

  98. Aquarius Platform

    BR0020, 2011, Access to Information

  99. Data Warehouse

    BR0021, 2011, E-Government

  100. Restructuring the Transparency Portal

    BR0022, 2011, Access to Information

  101. Facilitate Access to Specific Databases

    BR0023, 2011, E-Government

  102. Interactive School Development Plan

    BR0024, 2011, E-Government

  103. Control Panel for the Integrated Monitoring and Oversight System (Public Module)

    BR0025, 2011, E-Government

  104. United Suppliers Registry (SICAF)

    BR0026, 2011, Access to Information

  105. Registry of National Education Prices

    BR0027, 2011, Anti-Corruption

  106. Contractual Management of IT Services

    BR0028, 2011, Anti-Corruption

  107. Implementation of Pro-Ethics Company Registry

    BR0029, 2011, Private Sector

  108. Systemic Integration of Ombudsman Units

    BR0030, 2011, Access to Justice

  109. Continued Training for Public Ombudsman Units

    BR0031, 2011, Access to Justice

  110. Public Services Portal

    BR0032, 2011, Access to Information

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