Ibase
Only the participation of citizens can change a country
The Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses (Ibase) was founded in 1981. It has the status of a federal nonprofit charitable organization, with no links to any religious institution or political party. Its mission is to build democracy by fighting inequalities and stimulating citizens’ participation.
To put it in a radical and simple way, democracy for Ibase is above all active and participatory citizenship made up of social subjects struggling and working in their communities to build civil society, economy, and power, all this in a spirit of equality in diversity.
To succeed in its mission, Ibase pursues certain goals. These include lending visibility to specific issues, demands, and proposals from sectors living in poverty and social exclusion - especially women and Afro-descendants - in political debates and agendas, for the purpose of consolidating collective subjects and the public sphere.
A the same time, Ibase implements actions to influence public policies in order to prioritize equality - especially gender and race equality - and democratic and sustainable human development.
Eradicating poverty and fighting against unequal access to goods and resources are other pledges made by Ibase, whose work is also geared to defending, valorizing, and strengthening the participation of social groups and communities living in poverty and excluded from decision-making processes.
Demanding transparency from elected representatives and managers of public funds; insisting on ethical behavior and social accountability from business sectors; and establishing strategic alliances to promote democracy and to strengthen civil society and planetary citizenship, linking the global to the local: these too are fundamental steps in building a truly democratic society.
Among Ibase’s themes and fields of action are the process of the World Social Forum, democratic alternatives to globalization, civil society participation in the public sphere, monitoring public policies, democratizing the cities, food security, solidarity economy, and social accountability and ethical responsibility in organizations.
Our target public is composed of social and grassroots movements; community organizations; family farmers and landless rural workers; leaders, groups, and entities of active citizens; schools, students, and teachers of the elementary and secondary public school system; community radios and other alternative communications experiments; opinion makers in the mass media; parliamentarians and advisors; and public-policy managers.
Strategies for action
 Stimulate the emergence and strengthening of actors capable of intervening effectively in the process of building a democratic society.
Produce sound critical arguments to defend the causes to which Ibase is committed.
Propose actions that can potentialize the democratic struggle.
Valorize knowledge, analyses and experiences that spring from the effective practice of citizenship, social movements, public groups and the democratic sectors of civil society.
Question practices and values of society that restrict democracy, stimulating citizens’ participation.
Monitor and evaluate public policies and business practices, autonomously and independently.
Seek networks and build partnerships with strategic allies.
Objectives
Lend visibility to the demands and proposals of sectors living in poverty and social exclusion – particularly women and Afro-descendants – in the debate and political agenda, and consolidate collective subjects and the public sphere.
Develop actions towards fostering public policies for prioritizing human democratic and sustainable equality and development.
Fight to eradicate poverty and combat unequal access to goods and resources.
Defend, valorize and strengthen citizens’ participation in social groups and communities in situations of poverty and exclusion from decision-making processes.
Demand transparency on the part of elected representatives and managers as regards the use of public resources.
Insist on ethics and citizenship-minded social responsibility on the part of all the organizations in society.
Establish strategic alliances to promote democracy and strengthen civil society and planetary citizenship, linking the global to the local.
Commitments to valuing diversity
Guaranteeing that women, Afro-descendants and people over 45 years old enjoy equal opportunities in our selection processes.
Guaranteeing that incentives to personal and professional improvement – including those meant to raise the level of formal schooling – are by priority applied to lower and/or abolish gender and ethnic-racial inequalities that exist in the personnel structure.
 Guaranteeing that representation in external activities and/or instances of political participation where Ibase is active is made by women and Afro-descendants – whether they belong or not to the personnel structure – by implementing procedures to stimulate this representation and striving to achieve the same equilibrium in head positions and in the spheres of internal participation in the personnel structure.
Seeking gender and ethnic-racial equilibrium among the members of the Curator and Fiscal Boards, the List of Associates and editorial boards, making sure that the hiring of providers of services and consultation also follow the same criteria, whenever possible.
Making the gender policy of affirmative language explicit in all Ibase communications products and guaranteeing diversity of gender and racial ethnics in images, photos or illustrations included in them.
Making gender and ethic-racial inequalities explicit in research activities and intervention in public debate in general.
Offering means for skill-building and spaces for debate so that gender and ethnic-racial diversity is part of Ibase’s public agenda.
Not allowing manifestations that discriminate against women, Afro-descendants, homosexuals or handicapped persons.
Showing preference – in the processes for selecting traineeships – for hiring people in circumstances of social exclusion.
Guaranteeing conditions to include people with physical handicaps in the staff and creating specific conditions of accessibility.
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