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"MMJBODF volume 1 humber z lune zc1c XXXBMMJBODFNBHB[JOFPSH

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inIeracI wiIh local auIhoriIies in order Io gain access Io
basic social services Ior members and Iheir Iamilies.
However, Ihough iI comprises over oo associaIions
and cooperaIives, MNCR reaches only a liIIle over - per
cenI oI Brazil's IoIal wasIe pickers' populaIion, which
is esIimaIed aI 8oo,ooo. More widely, sIudies indicaIe
IhaI less Ihan ao per cenI oI wasIe pickers in IaIin
America are organized in cooperaIives or oIher Iorms
oI associaIion. Working wiIh Ihe wasIe pickers' move-
menI Io increase Ihe proporIion who are organized
and sIrengIhen Ihose organizaIions Ihus represenIs
a huge opporIuniIy Ior achieving large-scale social
change among a populaIion oI Ihe very pooresI.
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Seeing Ihe poIenIial oI Ihis emerging movemenI Io ad-
dress poverIy, in :oo AvINA esIablished iIs SolidariIy
in SusIainable Recycling iniIiaIive. In addiIion Io po-
IenIial, however, Ihere were challenges.
SupporIing a social movemenI is quiIe diIIerenI Irom
Lnancing an NCO or a projecI. Social movemenIs are
much more dynamic and encompass greaIer Iension
and diversiIy oI leaders and leadership sIyles. We soon
realized IhaI readiness Io Iake risks is crucial Ior Ihe
developmenI oI Ihis sorI oI sIraIegy: wiIhouI iI no in-
novaIion will happen. jusI as imporIanI is exibiliIy:
by adapIing inIernal procedures Io Ihe dynamics oI
social change and invesIing in areas|iniIiaIives IhaI
oIher organizaIions will noI invesI in such as advocacy|
lobbying, neIworking|dialogue building, new business
models, seed|angel capiIal, AvINA can make Ihe besI
use oI iIs resources while allowing Ior new paIhs|solu-
Iions Io emerge. AI Ihe same Iime, iI is imporIanI Io
keep Iocus. 1he dynamic naIure oI Ihe process means
you have Io sIrike a diILculI balance beIween adhering
Io Ioo rigid a view oI Ihe concepI on Ihe one hand and
losing sighI oI Ihe underlying aims on Ihe oIher.
Finally, we Iound IhaI iI was criIical Io develop rela-
Iionships based on IrusI and muIual respecI which
recognized Ihe diIIerenI sIrengIhs IhaI each parIner
brings Io Ihe Iable in order Io advance Iowards a com-
mon goal.
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While Ihere was greaI poIenIial Ior scaling up Ihe im-
pacI oI Ihe movemenI, iI lacked Ihe means Io do so
wiIhouI speciLc Iypes oI supporI. In order Io respond
eIIecIively, AvINA's key roles have included IosIering
dialogue among diverse acIors and secIors, promoI-
ing Ihe building oI common acIion agendas, invesIing
and leveraging new resources, building bridges and
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1he Brazilian NaIional MovemenI oI WasIe Pickers
|MNCR) was Iormally esIablished in :ooa, on Ihree
Iounding principles: eradicaIion oI wasIe dumps
and child labour in Ihem; paymenI Ior wasIe pickers'
services; and invesImenI in Ihe developmenI oI Iheir
enIerprises. Beside represenIing iIs members and car-
rying ouI advocacy acIiviIies, MNCR also organizes
local producIive clusIers. 1hese share Iechnical assisI-
ance and services and creaIe joinI commercial ouIleIs
Ior recyclable maIerials, Ihus reducing cosIs, increas-
ing producIiviIy and scale, and obIaining beIIer prices
by selling direcIly Io Ihe indusIry. 1hese clusIers also
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0TDBS'FSHVU[
is a proeramme
ofcer at Fundacion
AvIhA. Email 0scar.
Fereutz@avina.net
0TDBS'FSHVU[
Municipalities in the third world spend between c and c per cent of
their operational budeet in waste manaeement; yet they only collect
between c and 8c per cent of the refuse.
waste pickers account for an estimated 16c,ccc informal workers in
Chile and rouehly 1cc,ccc in Areentina. 8uenos Aires alone buries
1,ccc tons of waste every day.
In 8razil, approximately 8cc,ccc workers survive or complement their
income by collectine and selline recyclable materials, as estimated by
MhCk (hational Movement of waste Pickers.
It is estimated that, takine into account only three towns near Mexico
City-0F, the business of informal collection eenerates uS$1o million
annually.
The recycline sector in 8razil eenerates over 8kL 8 million a year and is
expandine. 8razil holds the world record for recycline aluminium cans
and is a elobal leader in recycline PET.
"MMJBODF volume 1 humber z lune zc1c XXXBMMJBODFNBHB[JOFPSH
alliances wiIh global acIors, and promoIing shared
knowledge Io supporI learning and innovaIion.
AvINA saw empowering Ihe wasIe pickers, and creaI-
ing Ihe condiIions Ior Ihem Io occupy Ihe leading role
in a process oI broadening Ihe discussions Io areas such
as indusIry and economic aIIairs, as Ihe only way Io
creaIe scalable, lasIing change.
/FXNPNFOUVN
In March :oo8, IogeIher wiIh oIher organizaIions,
AvINA supporIed Ihe asI World Congress oI WasIe
Pickers. HosIed by Ihe IaIin American NeIwork oI
WasIe Pickers, Ihe evenI was held in BogoIa, Colombia,
and broughI IogeIher represenIaIives oI wasIe pickers
Irom : counIries. 1his gave Ihe issue a global perspec-
Iive and helped share lessons and experiences across
conIinenIs.
II also broughI iI greaIer visibiliIy, aIIracIing new and
key supporIers. In OcIober :oo8, AvINA and Ihe Bill
and Melinda CaIes FoundaIion esIablished a Lve-year
co-Iunding alliance in Ihe amounI oI USSb million Io
help Ihe developmenI oI Ihree main sIraIegies:
sIrengIhening Ihe neIwork iIselI, Ihrough Ihe
creaIion oI a secreIariaI Ieam and Iunds Ior
exchanging knowledge, supporIing naIional
movemenIs and innovaIion;
sIrengIhening Ihe Brazilian movemenI as an
organizaIional and economic model Ior Ihe
region;
developing and implemenIing meIhods oI
paymenI Ior Ihe services provided by wasIe
pickers Io socieIy, including innovaIion relaIed Io
emerging susIainable markeIs.
Also in :oo8, AvINA and MNCR signed a USS;. mil-
lion agreemenI wiIh Ihe InIer-American DevelopmenI
Bank's MulIilaIeral InvesImenI Fund, ICCO, Coca-Cola
and Ihe Brazilian governmenI Ior Ihe Socioeconomic
InIegraIion oI CollecIors oI Recyclable MaIerials pro-
gramme - dubbed CaIa Ao. 1he parIners will work
Ior Ihe developmenI oI wasIe pickers' cooperaIives and
Iheir communiIies in Lve ciIies in Brazil over Ihe nexI
Iour years. AvINA and Ihe IDB are also designing a plaI-
Iorm Io connecI Iheir eIIorIs in Ihis Leld in Ihe region
as well as Io coordinaIe wiIh oIher parIners.
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One oI Ihe unanswered quesIions relaIes Io measuring
impacI. InvesImenI by Ihe Brazilian governmenI via Ihe
NaIional Bank Ior Fconomic and Social DevelopmenI
|BNDFS) and Banco do Brasil or Ihe developmenI oI elec-
Iric carIs Io make wasIe pickers' work less hard seem Io
be clear evidence IhaI a loI has changed. 1he growing
numbers oI municipaliIies IhaI are IormulaIing Iheir
wasIe managemenI programmes and policies IogeIher
wiIh wasIe pickers seems Io be anoIher good indicaIor.
BuI hundreds oI people made redundanI by oIher sec-
Iors conIinue Io Iurn Io wasIe picking, and Ihis makes
Ihe siIuaIion so uid - and inIormal - IhaI measuring
how many people's lives are aIIecIed by one's invesI-
menIs|eIIorIs is a challenging goal indeed.
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This is the reeional initiative throueh which Fundacion AvIhA works in this
area in the countries where it operates. Toeether with waste pickers and
other strateeic partners, it works for the inclusion of millions of waste
pickers in a sustainable manaeement of waste. This vision includes:
strenethened waste pickers' oreanizations;
expanded national and international networks;
inteeration of waste pickers in the recycline industry value chain;
inclusion of waste pickers in public waste manaeement systems;
participation of waste pickers in new ereen markets;
inclusive public policies
AvIhA also supports waste pickers in buildine a vision for the future and
in the presentation and validation of their proposals to a wide ranee of
audiences. It has invested approximately uS$.z million since zcc. www.avina.net 'PSNPSFJOGPSNBUJPO
koberto Laureano
da kocha has been
worklne as a waste
plcker for the past
zo years, slnce
the aee of 16. he
ls now a member
of the natlonal
commlttee of
MhCk.