Exploitation of Brazilians

Last week, on April 11, there was excitement in Brazil with the “recent launch of the new UNICEF and British Telecom youth participation programme focusing on education and communication in low-income communities in Brazil.”  In past years there have been many issues with keeping children enrolled in school since many girls get pregnant at young ages to produce children in order to have more people for labor to make an income for families.  The program hopes to increase the number of students who complete multiple levels of education since only 4 out of every 10 students who start primary school actually complete secondary education.  “The UNICEF-BT programme will support and train Brazilian adolescents to use a range of communication tools to improve the quality of education in their schools and communities – and to teach them to make better life choices.”  Partners from the Brazilian Communication and Participation Network of NGOs will be responsible for implementing the program in Brazil’s five largest cities; São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Fortaleza.

The youth participation program will provide resources that many people in the United States already have and know how to use on an everyday basis.  Through peer to peer communication the initiative will train young people in Brazil to use the Internet, radio, blogs, photography and video.  “The programme will also provide PCs, digital cameras and other equipment in schools, as well as creating a dedicated website enabling teenagers to publish and share stories and photographs.”  Due to the increase in access to all of these resources there is the possibility for more issues to arise that younger generation consider to be problems.  This is extremely important, as a vast amount of movements today have a following of younger generations with different opinions and ideas of ways to make a difference.  The new youth participation program will allow youths “access to information and communications technology [that] can help to foster new skills, in turn enabling them to pass exams, get a job, play an active role in their communities and achieve their goals in life.”  In the long run this will hopefully help to decrease the social issues of injustice and exploitation currently happening in Brazil.

To learn more about the new program visit the UNICEF website or the following article:

BT And UNICEF Join Forces To Work With Young People In Brazil