In São Paulo, Brazil, the housing movements have successfully the state and federal governments to work together to finance and subsidize construction of 30,000 units of social housing. Our correspondent Brian Mier has more.
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00:00And in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the housing movements have successfully the state and federal governments
00:06to work together to finance and subsidize construction of 30,000 units of social housing.
00:12Correspondent Bramir has more.
00:16Over the last 35 years, Brazil's largest urban social movement,
00:21the União Nacional por Moradia Popular, or National Union for Popular Housing,
00:26has helped guarantee housing ownership for hundreds of thousands of poor families
00:30through self-managed construction projects, led by working-class women,
00:35like those building the Carolina Apartment Complex on Sao Paulo's Near East Side.
00:42We, who live out on the periphery and work downtown, have to make huge sacrifices.
00:47When we start living closer to downtown through an opportunity like this,
00:52which we gained through a lot of struggle,
00:54we'll be able to get to work a lot earlier.
00:58We'll be closer to our jobs, and when we're at work, we'll be closer to our children's schools.
01:02This will open all kinds of opportunities for us.
01:07The UNMP scored a major victory this month when, after two years of pressure tactics,
01:13the state government agreed to add a 600 million real subsidy
01:16to the construction of 30,000 low-income housing units
01:20that had received financing from the federal government,
01:23after the movement convinced it that Sao Paulo's higher costs compared to the rest of the country
01:28meant building would be impossible without more funding.
01:31We held protests in the state housing ministry.
01:36We held a public hearing in the state parliament,
01:39where lawmakers summoned state government representatives to debate with us.
01:44We helped create a bill for new housing policies that was introduced in the state legislature,
01:49but most importantly we convinced the state government
01:52that a social housing project for state residents is important for them.
01:56Future residents receive training and work one day per week
02:01painting, laying tiles, installing wiring and doing other finishing work.
02:05Once they've moved in, they receive their ownership deeds
02:08after paying five years of monthly installments which range from 80 to 360 AIs
02:14depending on income, with the rest subsidized by the government.
02:18We do what is within our reach.
02:21It's a struggle.
02:22And this struggle never stops.
02:24Even though we may get our own apartment,
02:27we'll keep fighting so that other families can get their housing.
02:30The new subsidy from Sao Paulo's state government
02:33means that hundreds of social housing projects
02:36that have been on hold for years will finally get underway.
02:40Brian Meir, Telesur, Sao Paulo.