Population ageing in the Caribbean: An inventory of policies, programmes and future challenges

“We must be fully aware that while the developed countries became rich before they became old, the developing countries will become old before they become rich”. This statement made by Gro Harlem Brundtland, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, at the World Assembly on Ageing in 2002 in Madrid, reflects the challenges that the developing world is facing in the twentieth century. Population ageing is a global phenomenon, which is having and will have major implications on all aspects of human life in every society. This process is enduring and irreversible, as observed from differing patterns and distinct paces in various regions and countries all over the world. The United Nations has undertaken various efforts to repeatedly draw governments’ attention to the growing demand for answers to these encompassing and profound demographic changes. Various initiatives on the global as well as on the regional and subregional level have been undertaken to highlight the pressing need for concerted action. Of importance in this regard are the numerous agreements reached at the global conferences on social development, population and women orchestrated by the United Nations in the 1990s, which all refer to ageing as an issue of particular concern. The year 1999 was proclaimed by the General Assembly1 of the United Nations as the Year of Older Persons to recognize ageing as one of the major achievements but, at the same time, as one of the major challenges all populations have to cope with in the twentieth century. This continuous call for action culminated in the Second World Assembly on Ageing, which was held in Madrid 2002, where governments agreed to the implementation of a global action plan. This new Plan of Action focuses both on political priorities such as improvements in living conditions of older persons, combating poverty, social inclusion, individual self-fulfilment, human rights and gender equality. To an increasing degree attention is also devoted to such holistic and overarching themes as intergenerational solidarity, employment, social security, health and well-being. Mandated by the Second World Assembly on Ageing, the Population Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CELADE) has convened the Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing in November 2003 in Santiago, where a regional strategy for the implementation (ECLAC, 2003b) of the commitments reached in Madrid has been adopted. Further, a background document (ECLAC 2003a) on the situation of the elderly in the Latin American and Caribbean region, of which this document is a substantive part, has been presented to the meeting. Participating government officials formally committed themselves to work on a national follow-up strategy and to report on the progress made in the implementation of their commitments to the Ad hoc Committee on Population and Development to be convened in 2004.

Inclusive social development: The next generation of policies for overcoming poverty and reducing inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Foreword by Alicia Bárcena

Logistics and mobility policies for sustainable development and regional integration: conceptual framework and regional experiences

This FAL Bulletin summarizes the main findings and proposals contained in the document “Políticas de logística y movilidad para el desarrollo sostenible y la integración regional”, recently published by the Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division (NRID), ECLAC. It contains a proposal for a paradigm shift in the formulation of national logistics and mobility policies, with common guidelines for Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Do ABC ao Planalto: a cultura política do petismo

Pós-graduação em História - FCHS

Trabalho escravo nas fazendas do Estado do Pará

O artigo reflete sobre uma espécie de racionalidade econômica das formas de trabalho escravo no Brasil contemporâneo. Este sistema de engajamento se sustenta na disponibilidade de trabalhadores, no exercício de ameaças, coerção física e terror. A pesquisa busca estabelecer os nexos entre a expansão do capitalismo no Sudeste paraense, com o aumento de denúncias de trabalho escravo e as políticas governamentais ocorridas no regime militar. A questão examinada diz respeito à conjugação desses elementos e a possibilidade de entendimento da dinâmica do trabalho escravo, prática comum na referida região.

Do ponto de vista da caserna: memórias do cotidiano e experiências de militares da aeronáutica em Belém durante o regime militar (1964-1985)

Este estudo discute as percepções da população belenense sobre o período do Regime Militar de 1964, centrando a análise no segmento militar: Militares Graduados da Aeronáutica. Buscamos compreender a vivência destes no cotidiano da capital paraense no período de 1964-1985. Tal se manifesta para além da política e da economia, retratando aspectos da sociedade relativos ao trabalho, ao lazer e à vida privada, na qual as diferentes realidades e instâncias são vivenciadas e adquirem variados sentidos e significados no dia-a-dia. Temos o intuito de compreender os sentidos atribuídos pelos militares a suas atividades diárias, seja no âmbito institucional, seja no meio civil. Utilizamos para esta percepção a documentação (registros fotográficos, jornais internos, cartazes) do Primeiro Comando Aéreo Regional sediado em Belém (I COMAR), além de entrevistas sistematizadas de militares e seus familiares. Essas duas esferas – Civil-Militar – são cruzadas enfocando suas vivências no âmbito civil e podem ter uma relação direta ou indireta com as esferas políticas, econômicas e sociais do Regime Militar.

Media Education and Brazilian Educational Policies for the Enhancement of Learning

As media education concepts and practices have been disseminated and strengthened in European countries and Americas, the policies responsible for that expansion remain little known, particularly in countries where the achievements have been recently noted. That is the case for Brazil, where there have been new opportunities for media education, considered as a valuable resource to help accomplish goals of the educational system. This paper looks into the contribution of media education to the enhancement of teaching and learning in the context of innovations brought by recent policies of the Brazilian Ministry of Education. After educational reform programmes which brought the opportunity for emerging fields such as media education, we produced teaching material and conducted a series of workshops with students and teachers from state secondary schools. By reading and producing multimedia information about local public services available to young people, pupils learned about democracy, citizenship, civic engagement, media language, and identity. Lessons from our experiment are discussed against the backdrop of education policies being implemented to ameliorate harsh conditions resulting from the recent economic crisis. We suggest that media education can help by creating a learning environment in which the students become aware of the value of educational attainments.

Plano real e a nova realidade brasileira

This paper analyzes the Real Plan and its effects on two administrations of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC), a period which extends from 1995 to 2002. To this end, the study includes a brief review of the problems faced by previous plans, especially the Cruzado Plan and the reasons for the belief that it has been successfull in relation to inflation control. Additionally, seeking to describe the process of moving to the new currency towards stabilization, the paper describes the theoretical foundations of the Plan. In sequence, it defines the backround of both international and domestic monetary reform which was one important part of the Plan and therefore the reasons for the implementation of the monetary reform. Subsequently the paper deals with the effects of the Plan on the economy as a whole, covering also the way the economic measures were taken concerning the Mexican and Asian crisis, the policies used fot the exchange rate, interest rate, fiscal accounts, balance of payments, among other factors and the relationship between them. Hence, it describes the immediate and the long-term consequences of stabilization program in terms of output, employment, public deficit and debt. Therefore, it is important to note the various junctures to which the economy was exposed, and also to point out the challenges and obstacles arising from these changes for growth, which was sometimes fast, sometimes slowing down - the so-called stop and go. Of course, facts as the moving to floating exchange rate regime, the adoption of inflation targeting regime and the adoption of fiscal responsibility law along with the primary surplus policy were able to create a new economic environment and to contribute to later success of the Cardoso years

Historiografia da inserção do Brasil no regime internacional de acumulação nas eras FHC e Lula: do regional ao multilateral

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

As dimensões internacionais das políticas brasileiras de combate ao tráfico de drogas na década de 1990

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Implementing inflation targeting in Brazil: an institutional analysis

The paper shows the advantages and handicaps of implementing an inflation target (IT) regime, from a Post-Keynesian and, thus, an institutional stance. It is Post-Keynesian as long as it does not perceive any benefit in the mainstream split between monetary and fiscal policies. And it is institutional insofar as it assumes that there are several ways of implementing a policy, such that the chosen one is determined by historical factors, as it is illustrated by the Brazilian case. One could even support IT policies if their targets were seen just as “focusing devices” guiding economic policy, notwithstanding other targets, as, in the short run, output growth and employment and, in the long run, technology and human development. Nevertheless, an IT is not necessary, although it can be admitted, mainly if the target is hidden from the public, in order to increase the flexibility of the Central Bank.

The role of the state in health public policies: an overview of the debate on the concept of State and the Brazilian case

This article is the result of a narrative literature review. The objective is to show the development of an overview on the ideological debate on the design of state health policies. We argue that the role of the state in the development of health policy, even under the pressure of the global market, may create alternatives to promote and drive economic and social development, meaning they are not subject to economic constraints imposed by the liberal ideal of market. Here is a part of a theoretical discussion about the construction and presence of the State in Latin America, particularly in Brazil. We take the approaches of the Marxist tradition and liberal to the issue as reference. This discussion allows us to understand the historical role of the state in the maintenance of social policies, specifically health, is an alternative to public control eases the intense capital mobility promoted by economic globalization. In this sense, the theme makes the Brazilian health an important issue of social sciences, why is the historicity of the construction of the Brazilian health system, as a public policy that can mirror the actual reconstruction of the institutional framework of the Brazilian state with the establishment instances of negotiation between the various spheres of power that strengthen the state in this process of democratization of Brazilian society.

Impactos da idéia de pobre e de pobreza na institucionalização de crianças e adolescentes em regime de abrigamento

Pós-graduação em Ciências Sociais - FFC

Novo regime automotivo brasileiro: desafios e oportunidades da região sul fluminense

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

Educação, Estado e Poder: o ensino médio em debate na Revista Brasileira de Estudos Pedagógicos (1962-1972)

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC