In the Brazilian scenario, a movement for the democratization of the access to justice is gaining momentum. Some particular actions have been encouraged geared to foment the understanding of the needs of civil society and to facilitate their attendance. These actions shall promote the continuous movement forward of the institution.

In 2014, the Department of Justice launched the National Strategy for Non-Judicialization in order to reach a larger portion of the population. Seeking to regain the initiative and decrease the number of processes, the Department identified conflict mediation as one of the viable alternatives. In Bahia, an innovative experience contributes to the implementation of this strategy. The Rights and Citizenship Institute (IDC) facilitates the construction of a more just and egalitarian society.

Conflict mediation is among the actions that the Institute coordinates. It has been carried out since IDC’s inception, in 2004. The Institute currently counts 1,650 of such calls, covering about 3,300 people with legal and social orientation. Through this work, the two opposing parties are encouraged to reflect, discuss and decide upon the course of their stories. The agreed upon decision is officially approved by a judge, such arrangement is the result of a partnership between the IDC and the Justice Court of Bahia.

Besides conflict mediation, IDC provides services such as guidance for accessing public policies and issuance of basic civil documentation – activities that are under the responsibility of IDC’s Citizen Service Centre. Throughout its history, the Institute has conducted more than 370,000 consultations.

Another of IDC’s action fronts is the Education Centre for Citizenship. It gives support for the formation of the Municipal Board for the Rights of Children and Adolescents. Besides this the Institute also enables projects like Treading Paths, which promotes the training of proactive youth and aims at developing their critical potential as well as their citizenship. It also coordinates four Legal Desks in the Nilo Peçanha, Presidente Tancredo Neves, Camamu and Valença municipalities, which offer free services to the population.

The IDC is part of the Odebrecht Foundation’s Governance Pact, through the Development and Integrated Growth Program with Sustainability (PDCIS), which operates in the Environmental Protection Area Mosaic located in the Southern Bahia Lowlands – A region with 11 municipalities and home to 285,000 people.

The PDCIS, coordinated by the Odebrecht Foundation, promotes education, generation of work and income, with citizenship and respect for the environment. Unites the efforts of the Federal, State and Municipal Governments, the private sector and the organized civil society, to make the above-mentioned region prosperous, in a socio-economic and environmentally sustainable manner, keeping the youth in the countryside, fully integrated with their families and into their communities.

About the Odebrecht Foundation

The Odebrecht Foundation, a private, nonprofit institution, established by the Odebrecht Group, turns 50 in 2015. Since its inception, the Odebrecht Foundation focus on contributing to the formation of a structured population in family units, responsible for their own sustainable development. Its mission is to educate for life, through work, for values and the overcoming limits.

The Foundation focuses its efforts on the development of adolescents and their families, based on their abilities and needs, in order to create solutions in conjunction with local communities. The essence of the chosen actions is based on the principles, concepts and criteria of the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology, focusing on education and on work, which enhances human capabilities, such as the willingness to serve and the desire to evolve.