Principal investigator: Viviane Pires Ribeiro
Article title: Monitoring and evaluation of the Program for the Eradication of Slave Labor
Article authors: Samuel A. Antero
Location of the intervention: Brazil
Sample size: Program for the Eradication of Labor
Main theme: Crime, Violence and Conflict
Type of Intervention: Effects of the Program to Eradicate Slave Labor in Brazil
Primary variable of interest: Slavery
Evaluation method: Other – Exploratory applied research
Evaluation Context
Even though more than a century has passed since the formal abolition of slavery in Brazil, the roots of slavery still persist, mainly in the country's rural areas. Despite the 1988 Federal Constitution guaranteeing a series of rights to workers, a gap between formal law and everyday labor relations is still observed in practice. News of workers freed from conditions similar to slavery is not uncommon. This occurrence directly undermines the democratic rule of law and represents a serious violation of human rights.
Slave labor goes beyond mere non-compliance with labor laws and occurs primarily due to the excessive interest of business owners in increasing profits at the expense of worker exploitation, being as economically advantageous as it was when slavery was considered a legal activity in the country.
Brazil is internationally recognized for the progress made in eradicating slave labor. Although actions to combat this type of work have existed since 1995, the peak of this effort by the federal government occurred in 2003, when the National Plan for the Eradication of Slave Labor was launched, focusing on inspection, structured in the Slave Labor Eradication Program, part of the 2004-07 Multi-Year Plan.
Workers rescued from conditions analogous to slavery and beneficiaries of the program receive temporary assistance when necessary, guaranteeing the cost of food, lodging, and transportation back to their place of origin. The program also provides for the worker's inclusion in unemployment insurance, with the value of one minimum wage, for three months after their liberation. In this context, according to information from the Labor Inspection Secretariat (SIT), between 1995 and 2006, 21.762 workers were freed in Brazil, and by July 2007, 3.434 workers had been freed. On the other hand, since the program's creation until mid-2007, 352 offenders and 190 employers were included in the registry.
Intervention Details
Antero (2008) sought to capture the monitoring and evaluation practices of the Program for the Eradication of Slave Labor, in order to verify whether they produce relevant information to systematically and objectively judge their relevance, performance and effects, and to check if any changes are necessary to improve them.
This study began with applied, exploratory research using secondary data, including structured (purely quantitative) and qualitative data. Quantitative data were collected from computerized systems such as the Slave Labor Monitoring System (Sisacte), the Planning System (Sigplan), and the Financial Administration System (Siafi). Qualitative data were collected through research in books, journals, and specialized websites, as well as in university thesis databases. The author also conducted detailed research in the documentary collection of the Labor Inspection Secretariat, composed of laws, ordinances, regulations, and fiscal action reports, which allowed for the compilation of the history, guidelines, and information on the results achieved by the program.
Methodology Details
In order to investigate the characteristics of the monitoring and evaluation system adopted by the managers of the Program for the Eradication of Slave Labor, Antero (2008) started from an exploratory applied research, using secondary data. According to the author, monitoring and evaluation are management tools, being procedures by which one intends to systematically and objectively measure the relevance, performance and effects of a given project or program.
The monitoring methodology proposed in the study aimed to gather data on the preliminary, intermediate, and final results obtained quarterly from the Labor Inspection Secretariat and on the conditions (assumptions) for its execution. The main focus was to generate accurate information on the program's progress for quick and reliable decision-making. On the other hand, the evaluation methodology aimed to measure the program's effectiveness, that is, the effects resulting from the eradication of slave labor and the integrated actions promoted by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE).
Results
Research conducted by Antero (2008) identified that the currently adopted system has characteristics that are closer to monitoring than to a true evaluation of the program. This assertion is based on the fact that the data observed during the inspection, clearly stated in the inspection report, pertain to control/supervision functions, strictly fulfilling their legal purpose. Furthermore, the results obtained are rarely shared, there is no feedback, nor a clear definition of criteria or indicators for monitoring the program.
Lessons in Public Policy
Based on a review of the specialized literature, Antero (2008) proposes a monitoring and evaluation system for the Program for the Eradication of Slave Labor, duly validated by the program's managers. The developed monitoring system is innovative in expressing values through the adoption of developed criteria, in order to standardize understanding for both monitoring and evaluation. Based on the focal dimensions, input, process, and outcome indicators were determined, and, aiming at institutional learning, the system suggests a feedback strategy.
In this sense, the author emphasizes that the proposed monitoring and evaluation plan helps to establish a routine in terms of dates or methods of verification, and the plan will only become effective if it is actually used as a tool to support program management, generating institutional learning.
References
ANTERO, Samuel A. Monitoring and evaluation of the Program for the Eradication of Slave Labor. Public Administration Magazine, v. 42, no. 5, p. 791-828, 2008.
