Viva Rio

Viva Rio is a non-governmental organization, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Its main goal is to promote a culture of peace and social development through field work, research and formulation of public policies.

The NGO was founded in December 1993 by representatives from different sectors of civil society. It was a response to the growing violence in Rio de Janeiro. Viva Rio has developed and strengthened a wide range of successful activities and strategies.

Solutions created by Viva Rio through research, development and field tests are initially deployed on a smaller scale. Once positive results are achieved these efforts are expanded and can become public policies to be reproduced by the State, the market and other NGOs.

Viva Rio was created in a reaction to local issues and it remains locally committed. However, due to the multiple nature of security matters, Viva Rio has become more international, therefore the solutions have to be thought of on both local and global perspectives.

Viva Rio has therefore identified the following scenario in reference to urban violence:

- Risk groups: youngsters in low income neighborhoods make up the group with higher exposure to armed violence.

- Vector: firearms are the main vector of the violence epidemic. Firearms render conflicts more violent and lethal crimes become trivial; firearms are a symbol of the lack of security.

- Critical areas: shantytowns (favelas, in Portuguese) and poor suburbs are critical areas. Social work has to be developed in sync with processes of urban rehabilitation.

There are no simple answers as to why poverty and social exclusion are associated to armed violence. However, when violence breaks out, these three factors feedback into one another creating a vicious circle. It is therefore necessary to integrate safety, social inclusion and development to interrupt this cycle.

Based on these principles, Viva Rio works on three different levels – Community Actions, International Human Safety and Communication.

Viva Rio in Haiti

Viva Rio has been working hard in Haiti since 2005 - we are working even harder since Jan 12th 2010. After the earthquake, we decided to proceed with a “dual strategy”: humanitarian assistance in the terrain, and mobilization elsewhere. This will support emergencial aid and will help Haitians to establish the first steps towards reconstruction.

Viva Rio has been working hard in Haiti since 2005 - we are working even harder since Jan 12th 2010. Our 9 Brazilian employees in Haiti are ok, but we have a total of 350 employees and they are all Haitians - and we still have not heard from all of them.

After the earthquake, Viva Rio decided to proceed with a “dual strategy”: humanitarian assistance in the terrain, and mobilization elsewhere. This will support emergencial aid and will help Haitians to establish the first steps towards reconstruction.

In Haiti, Viva Rio is sheltering 320 families or approximately 1600 people in “Kay Nou” (literally means “our home”, and it is our community center inside Bel Air). They have shelter, water, and some first aid - food is short, as well as medicine. Apart from Viva Rio workers, a great help in Kay Nou is also coming from the Community Brigade, a group of people previously trained by Viva Rio and by the Brazilian Battalion to rescue and to provide first aid in cases of emergencies.

In terms of mobilization, Viva Rio has launched a campaign to receive water, food, medical supplies (especially first aid), pills for water purification, new medicines, and clothing. As of today, January 21st, there are 5 places in the city of Rio de Janeiro to which Brazilians can bring their contribution: Viva Rio (Glória), Forte de São João (Urca), Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (Gávea), Pier Mauá (downtown), and Ação da Cidadania (Praça Mauá).

Apart from that, because of the partial destruction of the airport and the unnoperative harbor, and with the situation of logistics steadily improving, Viva Rio is also receiving money. Two bank accounts have been set for this matter:

BRASIL
VIVA RIO DOAÇÕES
Banco do Brasil
Branch (Agência): 1769-8
Account: 5113-6
CNPJ: 00343941/0001-28

USA
VIVA RIO
Banco do Brasil
Ag. New York- 600 5th Avenue 3rd floor
New York, NY 10020
Account: 100065090
ABA 026003557
Swift code: BRASUS33