Outcome BRA_D_1.1

Women, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, increasingly participate in decision-making processes; and influence formulation, implementation and monitoring of national and subnational laws, policies, plans and budgets.

In 2021, women still experienced significant barriers in participating in decision-making, influencing laws, policies, plans and budgets. However, progress was made as the Parliament adopted a new law on Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWP), women influenced policy-making at the local level, and Indigenous women’s movements successfully positioned their rights in the national and international agendas. The Brazilian Parliament approved Law #14.192/20211 that tackles VAWP – the first-ever piece of legislation on this subject. It also approved the Constitutional amendment #111/2021 , which generates incentives for parties to elect women and black candidates; Congress rejected four bills (CA #125/2011, CA #18/2021, Bill #1951/2021 and Bill #112/2021) that would result in setbacks for women’s political participation. Parliament now also monitors data and evidence on women’s political participation through the new Observatório Nacional da Mulher na Política . These developments represent a contribution towards the political participation of women and are, partially, an outcome of UNW’s efforts, working closely with key stakeholders to advocate for women in politics, resorting to evidence-based advocacy, technical advice and campaigning. The CO has also fostered an intersectional approach that relies on global norms and standards. As a result, VAWP is now positioned in the political agenda and key government institutions are collaborating to introduce concrete prevention and response measures. In 2021, for the first time, the federal government and the Judiciary started to discuss joint actions to grapple with VAWP, in a working group created and facilitated by UN Women. Local governments The planning and some policies of the Maranhão state’s women’s machinery for the first time included measures to address the needs of Indigenous and Quilombola women, demonstrating that decision-makers now plan policies based on sustained dialogue with CSO and evidence on gender and race inequalities. UNW’s partnership with the government of Maranhão through awareness-raising and integrated policy advice enabled this change to happen. The state women’s machinery played a pivotal role in mobilizing other government bodies, and the collaboration will continue until 2023, supported by Norway. With UN Women’s capacity building and technical advice to the authorities and support to civil society, the 2022-2025 Pluriannual Plan for the municipality of Itabira for the first time included measures targeting Quilombola communities and is committed to introducing a municipal plan for women’s rights and a racial equality plan. Additionally, the newly elected mayor publicly committed to installing a racial equality body, generating race-disaggregated data and building the capacity of civil servants to tackle institutional racism. The collaboration between the Municipality and UN Women through the project Cidade 50-50 : Itabira enabled this change to happen. Indigenous women As a result of continued movement-building and advocacy efforts, Indigenous women successfully positioned their rights in the national and international agenda and continued to mobilize remotely through the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of Indigenous women running for local elections surged from 473 (2016) to 707 (2020); the number of Indigenous women elected jumped from 15 (2016) to 44 (2020). Additionally, Indigenous women now have a coordinated strategy in place to actively participate in and influence local and national elections. This comes after seven years of UN Women’s partnership with Indigenous women and support to movement building. In 2021, UN Women worked closely with the Articulação de Povos Indígenas d o Brasil (APIB) and with the Articulação Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas Guerreiras da Ancestralidade (ANMIGA), with the following contributions: Indigenous women installed a nationwide network to advocate for their rights : UNW’s support to Indigenous women’s mobilization throughout the pandemic resulted in the creation of the first national Indigenous women’s mobilization network, ANMIGA and the 2 nd March of Indigenous Women. Indigenous women took part in international advocacy efforts: UNW supported ANMIGA’s participation in the Amazon Indigenous Women’s Summit in Colombia, in which the advocates discussed strategies to influence COP26 and demand the inclusion of Amazon Indigenous women in decision-making pertaining to climate change.

Women, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, increasingly participate in decision-making processes; and influence formulation, implementation and monitoring of national and subnational laws, policies, plans and budgets.

In 2022, women still experienced significant barriers to participating in decision-making, and influencing laws, policies, plans and budgets. Some progress was made as the Parliament passed new special measures to improve women candidates’ access to campaign funds, activists influenced policymaking at the state and municipal levels, and indigenous women’s movements successfully positioned their rights in the national and international agendas. However, the lack of policy frameworks hindered the implementation of measures to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWP). Congress approved Constitution Amendment #177/2022, reaffirming a prior decision of the Electoral Court mandating that the distribution of public campaign funding by parties for women candidates should be proportional to the number of women and people of African Descent running for elections, observing the minimum of 30 per cent of the funds for each of these groups. Nevertheless, while women of African Descent were almost 18 per cent of the candidates in the 2022 elections, they received only 11 per cent of the resources of the public electoral fund. Women’s participation was hindered by the lack of coordination and definition of institutional roles to enforce the legislation on VAWP adopted in 2021 and generate evidence (ONMP, 2022). To tackle the existing gaps, the Electoral Court and the Electoral Attorney General’s Office established a joint response protocol, as a result of their enhanced knowledge of VAWP. The observatory of women in politics chaired by the Chamber of Deputies ( Observatório Nacional da Mulher na Política – ONMP) launched a pilot for monitoring data on VAWP, as a result of their increased access to knowledge on interventions to prevent VAWP made available by UN Women. These developments represent a contribution towards the participation of women in public life and are, partially, an outcome of UN Women’s efforts with key stakeholders to advocate for women in politics, resorting to evidence-based advocacy, technical advice and campaigning. The CO also fostered an intersectional approach that relies on global norms and standards. The federal government and the Judiciary discussed joint actions to grapple with VAWP, in a working group created and facilitated by UN Women. As a result, VAWP is now positioned in the political agenda and some of the key government institutions are collaborating to introduce concrete prevention and response measures. Local governments Women subject to multiple forms of discrimination increasingly influenced decision-making in the states of Maranhão and Pará, and for the first time, the state plans on policies for women in both federal units integrate measures to address the needs of indigenous and quilombola women – namely the III Plan of Policies for Women of Maranhão state and the of III Plan of Policies for Women of Pará – , as a result of enhanced capacities to formulate and implement gender, race and ethnicity-responsive policies. In Maranhão, the government also launched the second edition of the programme Mulheres Guardiãs, aimed at enhancing women’s mobilization and human rights awareness, which for the first time specifically targeted indigenous and quilombola women, as a result of the government’s enhanced capacity to respond to their needs. In Maranhão, in the municipality of Penalva, the mayor appointed a coordinator for policies for women for the first time, In the Grajaú municipality, also in state of Maranhão, the women’s council includes an indigenous representative, who for the first time was appointed by the civil society . The changes demonstrate that decision-makers now plan policies based on sustained dialogue with CSOs and evidence on gender and race inequalities. UN Women’s partnership with the government of Maranhão and Pará and municipalities through capacity building and integrated policy advice enabled this change to happen. The women’s machinery in the states of Maranhão and Pará played a pivotal role in mobilizing other government bodies, and the collaboration will continue in 2023, supported by the Government of Norway. In the municipality of Itabira (state of Minas Gerais), authorities increasingly used evidence and an intersectional approach to policy-making. For the first time, the municipal administration provided quilombola women with training on the use of agroecological logbooks. The municipality also revised essential services protocols to avoid the revictimization of women and girls subject to violence. These results come after years of collaboration between the municipality and UN Women through the project Itabira: Cidade 50-50. Indigenous women As a result of enhanced capacities for advocacy and social mobilization, indigenous women successfully positioned their rights in the national and international agenda and elected two members of the Articulação Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas Guerreiras da Ancestralidade (ANMIGA, a national articulation of indigenous women) for the Lower House: Ms Celia Xakriabá and Ms Sonia Guajajara – later appointed by elected President Lula to be the first Minister of Indigenous People. Also in 2022, ANMIGA developed its first national strategy of articulation and mobilization in the territories, which reached 15 states and 189 indigenous peoples and provided technical advice to 13 candidates. This comes after eight years of UN Women’s partnership with Indigenous women and technical support for movement building, including for the national strategy.

Women, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, increasingly participate in decision-making processes; and influence formulation, implementation and monitoring of national and subnational laws, policies, plans and budgets.

In 2023, women continued to face significant barriers to participating in decision-making processes and influencing legislative, policy, and budgetary frameworks. Despite these challenges to increase participation, notable advancements were observed. The government progressed in mainstreaming gender in policies and budgets, as well as in designing policy frameworks to address violence against women in politics (VAWP), while activists exerted influence on policymaking at state and municipal levels. Additionally, indigenous women's movements effectively advocated for their rights, elevating them on national and international agendas. The Pluriannual Plan (PPA) 2024-2027 incorporates gender and race equality as well as the elimination of all forms of discrimination within its vision and directives. Three dedicated programmes focus on women's rights, emphasizing economic autonomy, equitable decision-making, power distribution, and the eradication of violence against women. "Women" constitutes one of the five cross-cutting agendas of the PPA, comprising 45 programmes, 85 specific objectives, 191 deliverables and 75 normative and institutional measures. Two indicators adopted by the PPA measure aspects of gender inequality: sex-disaggregated homicide rates and income. In contrast, the previous PPA (2020-2023) did not mention gender equality or women's rights, nor did it integrate gender-responsive indicators. The federal government made significant strides towards formulating a national policy aimed at preventing and ending VAWP with the establishment of an Inter-ministerial Working Group . UN Women, Legislative agencies and Judiciary bodies integrate the group as consultive and technical advice partners. Through integrated policy advice, data and evidence analysis, and advocacy, UN Women has played a pivotal role in shaping the discourse and catalysing action on this critical issue in the past years. Local governments The state of Pará inaugurated three Secretaries focusing on women, indigenous affairs, and racial equality, marking a significant step towards state-level governance for marginalized groups. As reported by the former head of the state women’s machinery, the collaboration between the state government and UN Women, coupled with the creation of government bodies at the federal level, contributed to generating commitments related to gender equality at the highest level of the government, prompting the governor to create the State Secretariat on Women. Moreover, UN Women's advocacy efforts and initial dialogue with the Deputy Governor of Pará in 2022 resulted in the establishment in 2023 of a Chamber of Policies for Women, led by the state women’s machinery. This chamber serves as a platform for coordinating gender equality initiatives and driving policy reforms in the state. In addition, the state Secretary of Environment and Sustainability included for the first time an indicator of gender-mainstreaming among the criteria to assess the institutional performance, demonstrating a commitment to addressing intersectional challenges and promoting sustainable development in the region. In Penalva (a municipality in the state of Maranhão), the Executive Branch passed a law project to restructure the Municipal Council for Women's Rights, enhancing the municipal women's rights policy, and establish the Municipal Fund for Women's Rights. UN Women's integrated policy advice was instrumental in shaping these policies, including the reinstallation of the women’s machinery, fostering a more conducive environment for gender-responsive governance. Women’s groups In Mocajuba (Pará), quilombola women launched a Baixo Tocantins region-focused women’s network dedicated to advocating for human rights and demanding participation in decision-making related to development projects affecting their territories. For the first time, women engaged with decision-makers in the Executive and Legislative Branches to voice their claims and concerns. Technical support, which included workshops and advisory on advocacy, and financial support provided by UN Women to Malungo - Coordenação das Associações das Comunidades Remanescentes de Quilombos do Pará were key to achieving these results. In Penalva (Maranhão), quilombola women effectively raised awareness, forged alliances, and engaged with authorities to establish, for the first time, a quilombola women network spanning eight regions in the municipality. UN Women, in partnership with Associação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas do Maranhão - ACONERUQ supported quilombola women in advocacy and social mobilisation efforts to participate in the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of policies and plans. Also as a result of the collaboration, the grassroots groups in Grajaú and Santa Luzia do Pará secured additional financial resources to support women’s mobilization. Indigenous women from Grajaú secured resources from the Coordenadoria Ecumência de Serviço - CESE to participate in the Third Indigenous March in Brasilia, while quilombola women from Mocajuba received support from Fundo Elas for the sustainability of their network.