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Viva Rio

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Economic and Social: Children Citizenship and Governance Climate Change Crime Prevention Culture Development Disarmament Drug Control Education Environment Extreme poverty Family Financing for Development Food Governance HIV/AIDS Habitat Human Rights Information International Law International Security Justice Labour Media Micro-Credit Minority Rights Peace and Security Population Private Sector Religion Safety Social Development Sports for Peace and Development Statistics Sustainable Development Technical Cooperation Torture Values Volunteerism Water Women Women/gender Equality Youth Financing for Development: Addressing systemic issues Increasing financial and technical cooperation for development Gender Issues and Advancement of Women: Capacity building Education and training of women Human rights of women Information and communication technologies Men and boys Millennium Development Goals Policy advice Research Service provision Violence against women Women and HIV/AIDS Women and armed conflict Women and health Women and poverty Social Development: Conflict Employment Poverty Social policy Technical cooperation Youth Statistics: Crime and criminal justice statistics Demographic and social surveys Development indicators Household Statistics Sustainable Development: Biodiversity Capacity-building Climate change Education Energy Freshwater Health Human settlements Information for decision-making and participation Integrated decision-making International law Partnerships Poverty Sanitation Waste (solid) Waste Management
Geographic scope:	International
Country of activity:	Colombia Mexico Brazil South Africa El Salvador Jamaica Angola Haiti
Millennium Development Goals:	Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Develop global partnership for development
Mission statement:	Viva Rio is a civil society organization based in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), created in December 1993 as a direct response to the increasing levels of armed violence in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Our main goal is to promote peace and development at the local level, creating means of overcoming urban violence and social exclusion. Viva Rio relies on the idea of human security as a guiding concept, also dealing with “development, peace and security and human rights as interlinked and mutually reinforcing” (2005 World Summit Outcome, UN General Assembly A/60/l.1). Although there is no simple causality linking poverty and social exclusion to urban armed violence, once violence starts, those three factors reinforce each other in a vicious circle. To break this circle, security, social inclusion and development must be integrated in specific policies. To achieve its goals, Viva Rio has developed and consolidated a broad set of actions and strategies in its working areas: (1) small arms control; (2) public security (security sector reform); (3) youth and armed violence; (4) drug policy; (5) culture of peace; and (6) peace operations. Our methodology encompasses research, design and test specific solutions that effectively deal with the complex set of problems at stake. Moreover, Viva Rio’s ultimate purpose is to promote those successful solutions through advocacy and communication strategies, for them to gain scale, to become public policy and to get replicated by the State, the market or other NGOs. Through its working methods, Viva Rio has an effective engagement with direct projects in the field, also dealing with public mobilization campaigns, advocacy, research and communication. In 15 years of existence, Viva Rio has acquired a solid network of partners, supporters and donors, and has participated in several national, regional and international networks in its themes of expertise. Viva Rio has become a known institution in its fields of expertise not only in Brazil but also in other Latin American countries and some African countries. Particular attention is brought to the presence of Viva Rio in Haiti; since 2005, there are several projects on peacebuilding, gender and public health.
Year established:	1993
Year of registration:	1994
Organizational structure:	Viva Rio has two broad divisions: Management and Projects. Each of them will be detailed below. MANAGEMENT DIVISION The management division is composed by a Board of Directors and an Executive Director, both of them being supported by two smaller bodies: Management / Finance and the Management Commission. The Board of Directors is composed by 20 members from different sectors of civil society, such as businessmen, lawyers, union leaders, community leaders, media owners, journalists, athletes, and others. The Executive Director has the mandate to implement the decisions taken by the Board. There are two special projects under his direct responsibility (Haiti Project and Drugs Policy). The two other bodies are composed by the Executive Director, the four area coordinators and several financial accountants. PROJECTS DIVISION The project division is divided into three main areas: (1) Local Actions; (2) Human Security Program; and (3) Communications. Each area has also its own subdivisions, as shown below. 1. LOCAL ACTIONS Concentration and implementation of human security projects in poor and violent neighborhoods; contribution to the formation of local development platforms, with multiple partnerships, valuing local actors SUB-AREAS: (a) Education, Citizenship and Market Access; (b) Sports and Culture; (c) Gender and Family Planning; (d) Public Security and Mediation; (e) Viva Comunidade; (f) Micro-Credit. 2. HUMAN SECURITY PROGRAM – POLICY-ORIENTED RESEARCH Comprehensive policy-oriented research, training, and knowledge management on human security issues at both local and regional levels. SUB-AREAS: (a) Youth and Armed Violence; (b) Gun Control; (c) Drug Policy; (d) Public Security; (e) Culture of Peace; and (f) Peace Operations (including but not limited to the Haiti Project). 3. COMMUNICATIONS Mobilization and advocacy through public campaigns and new technologies, in the organization’s priority areas and target audiences. SUB-ÁREAS: (a) Viva Favela (www.vivafavela.com.br); (b) Comunidade Segura (www.comunidadsegura.org.br); (c) Press Relations Office; (d) Events.
Number and type of members:	There are approximately 600 (six hundred) employees in Viva Rio. About 100 (one hundred) work at the headquarters level (in the city of Rio de Janeiro), with different functions, such as researchers, consultants, analysts, interns, secretaries, and others. The field projects correspond to a much larger area, in which there are about 500 (five hundred) employees, directly linked to Viva Rio, with jobs and tasks as different as teachers, social assistants, psychologists, pedagogues, project coordinators, and others. There are no institutional members (this does not apply in the case of Viva Rio).
Affiliation with NGO networks:	“International Network for Small Arms”; “Rede Latino-americana de Policiais e Sociedade Civil""; “Rede Desarma Brasil”; “Coalición LatinoAmericana para la Prevención de la Violencia Armada”; Civil society network to InterAmerican Court of Human Rights
Funding structure:	Fees for providing consulting or research services Donations and grants from domestic sources Foreign and international grants
Funding structure other:	Apart from grants and donations from domestic and international donors, there are also contracts and/or other specific agreements signed with public and private enterprises, both domestic and international. This corresponds to most of Viva Rio's revenue.

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