Unicamp signed a technical-scientific cooperation agreement with the City of Campinas for the implementation of the Campinas Municipal Early Childhood Plan - PIC. Through the partnership, studies will be developed to survey indicators and prepare technical materials to support public and intersectoral policies. The research will be carried out by the Public Policy Studies Center (NEPP) at Unicamp, through the Childhood and Adolescence Observatory.
"The NEPP's mission is to evaluate the implementation of public policies and verify whether they reach citizens. Campinas City Hall proposed to the Childhood and Adolescence Observatory to work on the production and dissemination of materials on early childhood policies in the city", explains Carlos Etulain, NEPP coordinator. The cooperation agreement was signed by the rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, by Mayor Dário Saadi and by Thiago Ferrari, general coordinator of the PIC.
Approved in October 2019 by Municipal Decree No. 20.518, the PIC aims to create an intersectoral plan to qualify the care of children during early childhood, in accordance with the provisions of the National Early Childhood Plan and the Legal Framework for Early Childhood . The partnership with Unicamp arises from the need to raise demands for the creation of effective public policies, in addition to implementing an early childhood observatory in partnership with universities, complying with goal 17 of the PIC.
The first phase of the partnership took place between 2020 and 2021, shortly after the creation of the Childhood and Adolescence Observatory at Unicamp, in September 2019, coordinated by researcher Stella Telles. The new cooperation agreement continues the PIC's monitoring work in the city, with the production of studies and technical materials. "This partnership will make it possible to take advantage of all academic expertise to produce indicators that support public policies in our city. We want to look at the vulnerabilities involving early childhood and build effective policies", points out Thiago Ferrari.
Based on the studies, methodologies will be developed to analyze early childhood in Campinas and indicators that should guide public policies in the city. The results should also highlight existing inequalities in the municipality. "We need to know where the risks are, which public policies should be implemented in regions where school dropouts or a higher rate of infant mortality are identified. This allows management to be done well and we can serve the entire population", highlights Vandercleya Moro , municipal secretary of Social Assistance, Persons with Disabilities and Human Rights.
The rector of Unicamp highlights the benefits of working together not only for the development of public policies, but also for a change in the profile of the University. "There is a movement to internalize an agenda for training people that is closer to society's needs. The formation of the Childhood and Adolescence Observatory at Unicamp already shows this change", reflects Antonio Meirelles
For Dário Saadi, cooperation represents an advance in the development of public policies. "The partnership between NEPP and the Municipal Plan for First Childhood of Campinas brings indicators, science, knowledge, establishes goals for the program to be implemented. I am sure that the indicators will serve as a basis not only for early childhood in Campinas, but example for the entire country", analyzes the mayor.
Reference in the evaluation of public policies
Unicamp's NEPP is a reference in the scientific world and among public and private organizations in studies aimed at the formulation, implementation, execution and effectiveness of public policies in various sectors. The Center is characterized by interdisciplinarity in the areas of activity and in the training of its members.
Cooperation with the PIC in Campinas is not the first partnership signed between the unit and the municipal public authorities. "We have already contributed to public policies linked to income transfer in the city, health and educational policies", details Carlos Etulain.
According to him, the creation of the Childhood and Adolescence Observatory to monitor the PIC allowed relationships to be established with scientific groups that study early childhood in other Latin American countries, in Spain and Italy, which contributes to the development of the group itself. . "We have formed a network of excellent researchers to develop indicators and diagnoses on the topic."
