Launch of "CrianÇa 2000"

BRAZIL: The Brazilian metalworkers' union CNM-CUT and the Italian metalworkers' federation FIM-CISL, both affiliated to the International Metalworkers' Federation, met in mid-December in Belém, the capital of the northern Brazilian state of Para, in the Amazon region, to launch "Criança 2000", a project to fight against child labour. In the last two years, the Italian union, in the framework of the IMF's international campaign against child labour, has been running a national campaign in Italy - with seminars and meetings in local unions and plants - to collect funds in support of the project in Brazil, and during which 300 million lira (US$150,000) have been contributed so far. Also, the CNM president, Heriberto Della Bella Navarro - known as "Guiba" - visited Italy last year to discuss and present the project to union activists. Fighting child labour implies a holistic and integrated approach focused on the family. Three hundred families will be helped, with children going back to school and parents finding jobs in small community projects. The local administration of Belém still operates some projects, such as alphabetisation, educational training, sport activities, cooperative work, etc., and "Criança 2000" will be working in this integrated net. "The role of the union in society is not only to represent and defend workers, and to establish rules for international framework agreements, but also to fight poverty and exclusion in cooperation with civil society forces, in well-designed projects," remarked Toni Ferigo, on behalf of IMF. The importance of continuing such cooperation was also stressed by the leadership of the Italian and Brazilian metalworkers' unions.