The First Municipal Conference of Policies for Migrants (2013) had the motto "We are all migrants" and instituted a participatory process that involved the unprecedented migrant population, in the municipality of São Paulo and throughout Brazil. It was convened with the aim of deepening the debate among the actors and developing proposals and guidelines for the municipal, state, and federal levels. The Second Municipal Conference on Migrant Policies (2019) had the slogan "We are all citizens.

The objectives of this edition were the deepening of the debate on migration and the promotion of the social and political participation of migrants, the monitoring, validation and strengthening of municipal policy, the elaboration of proposals and guidelines aimed at the local level (which have served as inputs for the construction of public policies for this population), and the proposal of principles for the creation of a municipal plan.

The municipality of São Paulo has a population of approximately 361,000 migrants of different nationalities and has been a benchmark in addressing local policies for migrants, both nationally and internationally. Unprecedentedly in Brazil, in 2013 the municipality instituted the Coordination of Policies for Migrants and the Promotion of Decent Work, under the Municipal Secretariat for Human Rights and Citizenship (SMDHC). It is a cross-cutting body, responsible for implementing local policies aimed at the migrant population and mechanisms for active participation in decision-making, with the Municipal Conferences on Migrant Policies (SMDHC, 2020) as the main milestone.

Subsequently, Municipal Law No. 16,478 was adopted on July 8, 2016, which instituted the Municipal Policy for the Migrant Population (PMPI). This policy has the objectives of: guaranteeing the access of the migrant population to social rights and public services; promoting respect for diversity and interculturalism; preventing human rights violations; promoting social participation; and developing coordinated actions with civil society (Article 1). With regard to the latter objective, the Act provides for the establishment of the Municipal Council for Migrants and the establishment of a permanent dialogue between public authorities and civil society, especially through hearings, public consultations, and conferences (art. 5).

The conferences assume the role of promoting the social and political participation of the migrant population, in addition to being spaces for dialogue and deepening the debates between this population and the municipal public administration. In them, the priority themes and guidelines are defined by the population and serve as an input for the construction of local public policies.

First Municipal Conference

• It was held from November 29 to December 1, 2013, at the initiative of the Municipal Secretariat of Human Rights and Citizenship of São Paulo, through its Policy Coordination for Migrants. It was organized together with 13 municipal secretariats and 14 civil society entities. It counted with 695 participants from 28 nationalities.
It was structured around four thematic axes: (1) promotion and guarantee of access to social rights (including the right to education) and public services; (2) promotion of decent work; (3) social inclusion and cultural recognition; (4) federal legislation and national migration and refugee policy.
• 463 proposals were developed. 57 were approved. The issue of access to education was one of the contents presented by the proposals (SMDHC, 2013).

Second Municipal Conference

• It was held from November 8 to 10, 2019, at the initiative of the Municipal Council of Migrants, the Organizing Committee, and the Municipal Secretariat of Human Rights and Citizenship of São Paulo, through its Policy Coordination for Migrants. In this second edition, the organizing committee was composed of 15 representatives of the public sector, 15 of civil society, and 17 invited organizations. There were 970 participants, from more than 40 nationalities.
• It was structured around eight thematic axes: (1) social participation and the role of migrants in local migration governance; (2) access to social assistance and housing; (3) valuing and promoting cultural diversity; (4) protecting human rights and combating xenophobia, racism, religious intolerance, and other forms of discrimination; (5) women and the LGBTI+ population: access to rights and services; (6) promoting decent work, generating employment and income, and professional qualifications; (7) access to comprehensive education, teaching the Portuguese language for migrants, and respect for interculturalism; (8) access to comprehensive health, leisure, and sport.
• 467 proposals were developed. 78 were approved (10 from the education thematic axis) (SMDHC, 2020).

It is important to mention that the final proposals adopted at the second conference served as the basis for the elaboration of the First Municipal Plan of Policies for Migrants in 2020. The plan contains guidelines for the development of the Municipal Policy for the Migrant Population, to be fulfilled by the local government until 2024. It consists of 80 intersectoral, intersecretarial and intersectional programmatic actions within eight axes. The axis concerning access to comprehensive education consists of ten actions. It includes the teaching of the Portuguese language for migrants and respect for interculturalism.

Migrant population according to the definition presented by Municipal Law No. 16.478 (July 8, 2016) which institutes the Municipal Policy for the Migrant Population:

For the purposes of this law, a migrant population is considered to be all persons who move from their usual place of residence in another country into Brazil, including migrant workers, students, refugees, stateless persons, as well as their families, regardless of their migratory and documentary situation (Article 1, single paragraph).

Municipal Law No. 16,478 of July 8, 2016, which establishes the Municipal Policy for the Migrant Population (PMPI), determines that this must be implemented with permanent dialogue between the government and civil society, through hearings, public consultations and conferences. While Decree No. 57,533 of 15 December 2016, which regulates the PMPI, authorizes the Municipal Council of Migrants to hold, every two years, municipal conferences and public consultations.

Municipal Decree No 54.476/2013 convenes the first conference.

Resolution No. 1/CMI/2019 convenes the second conference.

• Key informant 1: Vinícius Duque - Coordinator of Policy Coordination for Migrants and Promotion of Decent Work
• SMDHC (2020). Relatório Final da 2ª Conferência Municipal de Políticas para Imigrantes (2019). São Paulo, 2020. Available at https://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/direitos_humanos/imigrantes_e_trabalho_decente/conferencia_imigrantes/index.php?p=280479
• SMDHC (2013). Final Document of the 1st Municipal Conference on Immigrant Policies. São Paulo, 2013. Available at https://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/upload/direitos_humanos/Doc%20Final_Conf%20Mun%20Imigrantes%20de%20SP_2014.pdf
• SMDHC (2020). I Municipal Plan of Policies for Immigrants. São Paulo, 2020. Available at https://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/upload/direitos_humanos/MIGRANTES/PUBLICACOES/Plano%20Municipal_Produto%20Final_Atualizado_02.pdf

• WALDMAN, Tatiana Chang; BREITENVIESER, Camila Barrero. Caminhos da participação social na formulção de políticas públicas: infância e migração internacional em São Paulo. Zero-a-Six, Florianópolis, v. 23, no. 43, p. 627-651, Jan./Jun., 2021. Federal University of Santa Catarina. Available at https://periodico.ufsc.br/index.php/zeroseis/article/view/73428
  

  This article presents reflections on migrant children in the context of the city of São Paulo and the two Municipal Policy Conferences for Migrants held in 2013 and 2019. The objective is to analyse how the issue of children emerges in the two conferences, in the thematic axes defined, in the proposals drawn up and approved, in the number of children present and in the way they participated in the conferences.

• International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights (ICPDH-UNESCO). Catalogue of Inclusive Local Public Policies (PPLI Catalogue). Available at https://www.cipdh.gob.ar/catalogo-politicas-publicas/politica-publica/conferencias-municipales-de-politicas-para-migrantes/
  

  The Catalogue of Inclusive Local Public Policies is a tool of the International Center for the Promotion of Human Rights (CIPDH-UNESCO) that gathers, systematizes and disseminates experiences of local public policies in terms of equality and non-discrimination implemented in cities in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Good practices of educational inclusion of migrants

Author: UNESCO IIEP Buenos Aires, Oficina para América Latina; Education Cannot Wait; United Nations Children's Fund.

Year of publication: 2021.