February 16, 2005; Rio: The final version of the paper on which I have been working is posted on the COAV website. Its title is “A Policy for Preventing and Providing Alternatives to Youth Involvement in Urban Violence in Brazil”. It’s about public policies to help youth currently involved, or at risk of becoming involved, with organized armed violence that accompanies the drug trade.

I helped to edit the final draft. I only had a small hand in the larger process that had taken many months to prepare, but I still take pride in its success. The author, Marianna Olinger, was kind enough to include me in her list of acknowledgements.

Here is the link to the English version: http://www.coav.org.br/publique/media/policy%20english%20national.pdf

The paper has been very well received so far. Marianna has already given four interviews with newspapers and on radio about it. The best part of it is that much of the attention has come from the exposure gained by posting it on COAV’s website and through the vibrant network of civil society groups here in Brazil.

Alex Goldmark and Marianna Olinger at the Viva Rio office 2005.The organization, ANDI, or the Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights, which as the name implies, acts as an advocacy organization on issues related to children. They found the paper on COAV’s website and took it upon themselves to publicize it to the media.

The following is their site in Portuguese relating to the paper. http://www.andi.org.br/pautas/?a=6522.

I expect the attention to increase after this first wave of reports and radio stories makes it to Brazilian living rooms this week.

I’ll try to keep everyone posted.