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welcome
Content Supervision: Francisca Stuardo // Design and Layout: Carlos ¨Zerox¨ Soto // Photographs: TECHO
Table of Contents
Letter from the Chaplain / Executive Director of TECHO Letter from the Executive Director of Social Programs of TECHO The challenges and the future of poverty in Latin America What We Do – Our Work Our Intervention Model Where We Are Now Organizational Chart of Directors Achievements 2014 / 2015 Top Ten Moments in TECHO We Are TECHO Strategic Allies Corporate Allies Associated Organizations Financial Report
SOMOS TECHO | REPORTE anual 2013
4 5 6 7 8-9 10 11 12-15 16-21 22-23 24-25 26-27 28-29 30-35
“Without Shame” It is difficult to write a column about poverty. October 17th, National Poverty Eradication Day, a day that forces us to think about and remember poverty. I don’t know about you, but I find it frustrating, and perhaps a bit infuriating, that we celebrate something we have not yet achieved. It’s like celebrating a lost battle in a way. That being said, why poverty? * It’s infuriating, above all, because this isn’t a battle that was over before it began, it’s a battle we know we can win. October 17th is an important opportunity to call attention to poverty, to awaken the conscience of those who don’t remember that the poor still exist. It is necessary to combat the social amnesia that forgets those who face poverty’s daily challenges. It is good to have these people present and to move towards utopian dreams about the future that move us forward as a society. I wonder how much we have accomplished this year in the eradication of poverty, how many families have left poverty behind. Because, in spite of tremendous efforts made by the countries involved in this cause, the Millennium Development Goals seem less and less plausible everyday. Who thought up such crazy ideas? Who thought up such lofty goals? I wonder if this embarrasses anyone. Embarrassment comes from the sudden realization that you have failed to meet even the most basic expectations set before you. It seems we don’t expect more than this from the society we have created. It seems we don’t expect more of our own people. Do we aspire to be better than this? It seems we don’t want to know because we don’t want to feel. We are a society without shame. Some are more shameless than others, but as a whole, the grand majority doesn’t care about poverty. Perhaps, because of the desire to maintain the status quo. It is not that we don’t know the causes of poverty. We know exactly why people live in this situation, we know exactly what they need, where they are and how many there are. The resources are there, although perhaps not in the right hands. Did you know, that 1/6 of money spent by Japanese companies on recreation could provide every child with a middle school education? Did you know that 1/5 of the money spent around the world on cigarettes is all it would take to provide drinkable water and sewage systems to those without? I don’t know if you have realized that the measly 1/8 of European alcohol consumption costs could provide for basic health and nutrition needs for all those currently lacking. In Chile, for example, the nineteen richest families control around 35% of the GDP. Why doesn’t anybody say something? Have we grown accustomed to the way things are? Seen like this, it’s not so crazy to think we can advance. At the end of the day, it’s in our hands. The thing that is disconcerting is that we don’t do it. Poverty doesn’t affect us, we don’t live its daily challenges, therefore we don’t find it worrisome or disconcerting. We don’t realize that, “the poor” are people. We don’t see them because we hide them, thereby remaining apathetic and immune to their situation. It’s not our problem, so, we’re indifferent. I hope that poverty opens our eyes, that it urges us forward and shames us. If not, things won’t change, in spite of the poor. In spite of the people that live the reality of poverty and fighting it every day, as should we all, at least until next October 17th.
Juan Cristóbal Beytía, SJ. Chaplain/Executive Chairman TECHO Latin America
Letter based on a column written by Juan Cristobal Beytia for El Mostrado, digital Chilean media.
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The Other Game Played In Brazil The World Cup just started, the tension and excitement are growing. We already know that Falcao, Ribery and Castillo were out with injuries. That Suárez, Vidal, Ronaldo and several others were playing injured. And many fans were getting out their gear from four years ago to cheer for the first victories of their team. In the middle of it all: Brazil. Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, in both land mass and population, and surely, the largest soccer fanatics in the world (there’s a reason why they are five time world champions and in the process of hosting their second World Cup). It seems like the perfect country to host a World Cup. Everything should have been party, samba, carnaval. Perhaps that is why the massive protests against the World Cup, which started nearly a year ago, have garnered so much attention. The World Cup in Brazil was the most expensive in history and its costs tripled the initial predictions, reaching a total expense of $11,754 million dollars. Among other wasteful investments was the construction of several useless stadiums in cities with no important professional teams. All this stands in contrast with the almost 40 million Brazilians who live in poverty in this soccer crazed country. These 40 million are not poor because of the World Cup, but because of unjust structures and an indifference and prejudice older than soccer and whichever other sport we practice today. In this case, the World Cup (and 2016 Olympic Games in Rio) did expose this situation: people are talking about why constructions for these events caused the removal of 250,000 families from their homes, without considering their rights or future. But believing that these violations of human rights in poor communities are only happening because of the World Cup or Olympic Games, and thinking that violations will end when the events do, fails to recognize the reality of life in a poor community where people live with constant instability and are part of cities that reject them.
Written by:
In 2009, Human Rights Watch outlined signs of police violence in their annual report. Annotations found further signs in reports from 2013 in the chapter about Brazil, which highlights specifically the startling nature of violence focused in favelas. Not only in Brazil, but in the majority of our continent and world, the Human Rights of the most vulnerable families seem to have ceased to exist long ago. But nobody notices. In all the countries where TECHO works we see systematic inequality, in unequal access to health, education, work, land, to mention a few. But we also see it, in those same countries and communities that seek to organize themselves and work untiringly to come out on top, looking to claim their rights. There are many examples. One of them is “Anita Garibaldi”, a favela ten kilometers from the Guarulhos Airport in Sao Paolo, where millions of people arrived to watch soccer superstars play. Without a doubt, not one of them knows the reality of the sixteen soccer players who formed the team of Anita Garibaldi at almost the same time that the group of 300 families settled the area. To enter into their reality, and meet their soccer team reminds us how simple and POPULAR the sport is, and how it helps overcome the ego, forms friendships and dreams for something better. The first step is to denounce the violations that occur in Anita Garibaldi, and in the thousands of informal settlements in Latin America, but it is not the only step needed. If today there are still 113 million people living in human settlements, it is because there is not a strong political or societal desire to change this reality.
Agustín Algorta Executive Director of Social Programs TECHO Latin America
Ignacio Pinto Chief Operating Officer TECHO Latin America
This change can only occur if we know and integrate the families of these most vulnerable communities. If we want sustainable solutions, we should start by listening to them and working with them. The team of Anita is proof of this: working together, nothing is impossible.
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The State of Inequality in Latin America Similarly, it is well known that our region is also the most unequal in the world. This is largely the result of decades of implementing neoliberal politics which bet on economic growth through open markets and a privatized approach to providing public services. This, among other things, led to the downfall of the original state security systems in Latin America. Luis Bonilla Regional Director TECHO Mexico and The Caribbean
*Column published in “El País” blog 3.5 Million
“In an age of organized confusion, decreed disorder, planned arbitrariness and dehumanized humanity, never say: ‘It is natural!’ So that it is able to be changed.” (Bertold Brecht) Eighty percent of the population in Latin America lives in the cities of the region. After decades of accelerated demographic growth, the region is now considered the most urbanized on the planet. This level of growth goes back to the middle of the last century when a great number of people began to migrate from the country to the city. This migration is one of the principal causes of such accelerated urban growth.
Currently in Latin America, the richest 10% of the population controls approximately 40% of total revenues while the poorest 10% receives just over 1%. Furthermore, although the proportion of the urban population in extreme poverty has decreased in the last decade, the decrease has led to a very small actual change in inequality; close to 124 million people still live in extreme poverty. The overwhelming inequality, together with the rapid rate of urbanization has had a direct effect on the urban dynamics of Latin America. The accelerated growth experienced in the cities generated an increase in demands for services that the governments were unable to fulfill. Our countries have been unable to foster the growth of harmonic cities, grounded in the principles of equality and respect for human rights that promote the development of citizens. On the contrary, Latin American cities have become the most dangerous in the world and are characterized by high levels of social and territorial discrimination. Priority has been placed on creating conditions conducive to the growth of private economic activity and individual comfort over the good of society. The neoliberal politics employed in Latin America have allowed the market-based economy to influence even public services traditionally provided by the state. These public services have begun to be provided by the private sector as well. This causes a “you get what you pay for” system where the quality of service you receive depends on what you can afford to pay. The persistence of this “pay as you go” dynamic has
weakened the perception of social policies. It limits social policies to developing programs to provide the most basic services to citizens negatively affected by the fall out of the market-based system. In Latin America, it is said that social policy has become an ambulance of questionable quality that supposedly rescues victims from economic policies. Therefore, it is logical that inequality isn’t only affected by and doesn’t only affect the income of the poor. In a market-based society, logically, it also creates notable social differences in other areas such
“Latin American cities have become the most dangerous in the world and are characterized by high levels of social and territorial discrimination.” as education, health, social security and land access. These differences continually contribute to the continuation of the cycle of poverty. Extreme evidence of the consequences of rapid urban growth in an unequal society can be found in the
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differences among neighborhoods in the city. In the last several decades the number of people living in urban neighborhoods in Latin America has continually increased. Currently, 1 in 4 Latin Americans living in urban neighborhoods live in poverty. At the other end of the spectrum there are approximately 15,000 ultramillionaires dwelling in Latin American cities. From a multidimensional perspective, the most characteristic marker of poor urban neighborhoods is the lack of a guarantee of social rights well-published in many declarations to which Latin American countries supposedly ascribe. These communities are forgotten by their marketdriven societies. Furthermore, due to the inadequate public administration associated with this system, the State doesn’t respond adequately to these communities’ rights to education, health, social security, water and other basic human rights; rights which every human is entitled to, regardless of their income level, work, place of residence, etc. In other words, Latin American societies have left citizens of poor urban neighborhoods to fend for themselves with the meager salaries they earn to try to purchase even the lowest quality of life. In the meantime, the road to development and success of the few wealthy people passes right outside their door. To overcome the extreme injustice found in many Latin American neighborhoods and guarantee equal access to social rights for all citizens, governments and societies need to take seriously the challenge of overcoming the problems of inequality that perpetuate the privatization of these same rights. To achieve this, there needs to be an impassioned demand made by the citizens themselves, for a space where citizens can come together on equal and reciprocal terms; a demand for the construction of a system where everyone, regardless of where they come from, has access to the same rights; a demand to transform our societies of private privileges into societies of equal rights.
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our work VisiOn
misSiOn
A fair and poverty free society, where everyone has the opportunities needed to develop their capacities and fully exercise their rights.
Work Tirelessly to overcome extreme poverty in slums, through training and joint action of families and youth volunteers. Furthermore, to promote community development, denouncing the situation in which the most excluded communities live. And lastly, to advocate for social policies with other actors in society.
Strategic Objectives The work methods employed in at risk communities directly support the execution of objectives proposed by TECHO to achieve its vision: Foster Community Development, through a process designed to strengthen the community that develops authentic leadership and representatives, which inspires community organization, self-management, network formation and the participation of thousands of residents of at-risk communities to propose solutions for their problems. Community development is considered the transversal axis in TECHO’s work in informal communities. Keeping that in mind, TECHO is propelled by its presence in these same communities during construction of emergency housing and implementation of Social Integration programs. To promote Social Awareness and Community Action, with a special emphasis on the widespread increase of important and meaningful volunteer work. Service opportunities where volunteers are on the ground, working with citizens of informal settlements to involve various members of society in developing concrete solutions to overcoming poverty; understanding that their status as citizens entitles them to exercise and enjoy their rights while also allowing them to fulfill their duties. Influence Decision and Policy-making, promoting the structural changes necessary to ensure that the cycle of poverty does not continue, but rapidly decreases instead, through the denunciation of exclusion and violation of rights within at-risk communities, the creation and distribution of relevant information regarding exclusion and the violation of rights in these sectors and relationship building between members of at-risk communities and other networks. These measures are necessary to ensure that the difficulties faced by these communities are recognized by society and are priorities on the political agenda. working together, nothing is impossible | annual report 2014
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WORK MODEL TECHO focuses its work in informal settlements in Latin America, beginning by collecting data relevant to each individual community. Once TECHO understands the needs of a community, it works alongside its members to decide upon a short-term, mid-term and long-term plan that moves toward self-management and maintains a focus on community development. In this way, the community organizes itself around a common objective. If this objective is maintained throughout time, it allows for the development of a “Community-organizing committee”, a weekly meeting and dialogue between community leaders and volunteers. In this space, members of the communities dialogue to identify other important needs and develop programs to address them. During the process of community organization, TECHO’s work focuses on three axes which enable the communities to advance in their development process. TECHO’s three areas of focus in these communities are as follows: To strengthen Community Capabilities: Through fostering identity, participation and organization, the selfmanagement and work within the TECHO support system looks to aid in the process of transforming from an informal settlement to an integrated community. Inside this support system, communities develop, for example, projects to train and empower community leaders and workshops to promote technical and career skills (Talleres de Aprendizaje Popular). Satisfaction with Homes and Surrounding Environment: TECHO hopes that, through their participation in the program, the communities it works with obtain more than just the most basic conditions and capabilities in the space they inhabit. Furthermore, it hopes that the surrounding environment – the space where the community comes together and interacts – might be optimal for continuing development. TECHO’s programs consist of the construction of emergency housing, projects working for the development of community infrastructure, competitive community funding (FonTECHO) and projects with permanent solutions (legal home ownership, legalization of land ownership and formal access to basic services). Promotion of Social and Economic Development: This dimension is focused on improving the general well-being of all in such a way that it satisfies their basic rights. This axis includes: Technical Education Projects, Business Development Projects, educational Programs and the Agricultural Program. As part of its work, TECHO gives a voice to members of informal settlements by connecting them with governmental institutions to demand their rights. Throughout the process, TECHO creates networks in order to strengthen the potential of the previously mentioned projects and develop other projects which contribute to integral community solutions. These solutions improve not only the ability of both individuals and the collective community to participate in self-management but also involve volunteers in a process of sensitization and deepening awareness of poverty and its causes. This increase in ability for community-members and awareness for volunteers allows them to work together to mobilize and realize their solutions, thereby generating real change.
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WORK MODEL
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WHERE WE ARE
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Organizational Chart
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Achievements 2014
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the best moments
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“Join the race against poverty” with Dakar
100,000 Stories Celebrated Together With TECHO
TECHO participated as Dakar’s only solidary sponsor. Using the slogan, “Join the race against poverty”, TECHO received the support of 431 drivers of different nationalities who put the logo on their vehicles and uniforms.
One of the dimensions addressed by TECHO is housing. According to a study realized by J-Pal, TECHO, since the beginning of its work with volunteers and future inhabitants, it has contributed, among other things, to a significant improvement of inhabitants’ perception of well-being, through the construction of emergency housing.
Among others, TECHO recognized runners from team KTM Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez, the Spanish Marc Coma and the Portuguese runner, Ruben Faria, who officially opened the photography exhibition “Tierra Fresca” assembled by TECHO in Rosario. Both organizations hoped to raise awareness about the reality of informal settlements in the region by joining values that are promoted by sports – solidarity, organization, coordinated work – with those of community work. Furthermore, in the 2014 edition, Amaury Sports Association (ASO) provided direct support to TECHO’s work in informal settlements in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile through a donation of USD$112,000. This amount was tripled by another generous donation made by a Qatari representative, from Team Mini Nasser Al Attiyah, who contributed USD$100,000 towards TECHO’s work. To date, work done alongside ASO has allowed TECHO to build 180 units for emergency housing, nine community centers and four reconstruction projects in Chile following the devastating earthquake of 2010.
This widespread Latin American program reached 100,000 houses constructed in 2014. To celebrate, TECHO launched the initiative “Stories Transforming History”. Using an online platform, it compiled the stories of those who had participated in this process from all parts of Latin America since its beginning in 1997. Testimonies from all parts of the continent, from volunteers, businesses, ex members of the organization, contributed to the work coordinated by inhabitants of numerous informal settlements in nineteen countries from the region. DHL, a leader in the logistics industry, joined the campaign as an official sponsor and participated in the different activities organized in countries like Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru and Mexico, where TECHO is currently working with more than 450 unorganized communities.
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TECHO Participates in the World Urban Forum in Medellin
Permanent Solutions in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile
During April 5th-11th, TECHO participated in the World Urban Forum in Medellin, a space designed to gather the most important leaders in this area on a worldwide level. The organization used this space to share some of its experience of over seventeen years working with inhabitants of informal communities in order to build a more just society.
During 2014, TECHO worked more in depth with its communities in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, reaching some definitive decisions in a number of communities they worked with.
In addition to presenting its work in one of the forum stands, TECHO presented its experience proposing and implementing permanent solutions to communities in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay through community-organization committees within each community.
In Argentina, for example, TECHO signed an agreement with the Municipality of Salta in November to collaborate on an Urban Diagnostic, both legal and social regarding the city neighborhoods. In this way, TECHO and the local government hope to work together in order to diagnose and prioritize work in the most vulnerable places. This allows them to do work projected towards more permanent solutions.
Furthermore, on April 11th, the organization held a workshop called “Increasing visibility for informal settlements using participative methods of collecting territorial data”. In this workshop, TECHO shared its commitment to the generation of accurate data to make decisions regarding nature and related issues that, in agreement with United Nations figures, involve 25% of Latin Americans, some 113 million people.
In Uruguay, TECHO advanced on a participative design project, supported by the Catholic University of Uruguay and Socialab, which included Ceuta (a company that assesses sanitary issues) and Ñande (a construction company) in the process. The result was an open call for ideas that began in 2013 and, in 2014, had resulted in five bathrooms and 20 sewage connections for an informal settlement called Simon del Pino, home to 97 families.
The workshop presented the example of Argentina and its Map of Informal Settlements, in addition to the research done in Chile that led to an update of the land registry of the Chilean Ministry of Housing.
Chile, meanwhile, was able to accomplish the provision of 705 permanent housing solutions, through work with the residents of communities that weren’t working together at the time. These projects, from their planning and design, all the way through their implementation, considered future inhabitants as their main consultants.
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Anita Garibaldi Challenges the World Champion
Brazil Receives 450 Volunteers in the Latin American Encounter – ENVO
Anita Garibaldi can be found at ten minutes from the Guarulhos Airport; 15,000 people currently live in this slum. Its team, which goes under the same name, announced through a short documentary, its challenge to the next World Champion of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Between October 10th -17th, 450 volunteers arrived to Sao Paolo to participate in the Volunteer Encounter 2014 (ENVO). Hands-on opportunities, moments of dialogue, analysis and many presenters from various organizations where part of the agenda planned for the young volunteers.
The initiative, called #DesafioAnita, wanted to increase visibility of the reality in over 6,300 favelas that exist in the country and the constant dangers and violations of rights that occur there.
In addition to these activities, this encounter sought to bring together chief leaders of TECHO’s permanent team and organizations, as well as experts related to the theme of poverty and volunteering, in a work space that promoted the analysis of challenges confronted by volunteers and the creation of proposals to be made in the face of said challenges.
Anita’s story travelled around the world and it was published in all five continents. It was transmitted in over 50 countries in 250 different ways. At the end of the championship, retired soccer players Ivan Zamora from Chile and Paraguayan Salvador Cabañas supported the challenge alongside many other prominent figures such as the singer, Rene, from Calle 13. The campaign was recognized by the publicity prize, Ojo de Iberoamerica, in the Sports Category. In addition, in Peru, it won the prize #LaMejor CampañaDelMundial (The Best Campaign of the World Cup), in the Category of Social Good. From the story of Anita Garibaldi, a favela located ten kilometers from Guarulhos Airport, #DesafioAnita (Anita Challenge) collected 19,000 fans and had an impact on 10.6 million people in over fifty countries.
Twelve different nationalities had the opportunity to converse about the contrasts between institutional processes and motivations and capacities required to successfully accompany and bring to fruition community processes while working side-by-side with the actual inhabitants of the communities. In this way, ENVO contributed to strengthen a Latin American identity, through the intercultural and professional exchange between different countries where TECHO is present. Finally, it helped promote the integration of young people as active social beings in the construction of a more just continent, without poverty and in the social transformation of the region. The project was carried out with the help of the consulting firm Germinar.
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TECHO debate in Forum on Inequality Organized by the IMF
Knowing Makes You Part of the Problem, Acting Makes You Part of the Solution
On December 6th, Juan Cristobal Beytia, chaplain and executive chairman of TECHO, participated in the international conference “Challenges to Ensuring Growth and a Shared Prosperity in Latin America”, organized by the IMF. The conference was designed to analyze how to maintain and expand the reduction of poverty and inequality in the context of a slowing Latin American economy.
In order to help understand work in informal settlements as dynamic, TECHO launched a campaign targeting its volunteers, to make them aware of the importance of their role.
Within the panel “Income Inequality: Social Progress and Overcoming the Middle Income Trap”, Juan Cristobal shared the floor with the academic Nora Lustig (University of Tulane); Ricardo Paes de Barros, Advisor to the President Dilma Rousseff, Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International; Alejandro Foxley, President of the Corporation for Latin American Studies (Cieplan) and Santiago Levy Algazi, of the Inter-American Bank of Development. Juan Cristobal contributed with his experience, working with those who live in informal settlements. He highlighted the fact that inequality has swept the region from its origins and that is why, today, it is reflected by segregated cities. Furthermore, he criticized the economic system that has linked social goods to a person’s ability to pay and made a call to decision-makers to connect directly, through first-hand experiences, with the reality of those who suffer from this inequality daily.
Under the title, “Knowing makes you part of the problem, acting makes you part of the solution”, Community Teams (EDC) and TECHO sought to transmit the importance of understanding not only local realities, but also the multidimensional nature of poverty and human rights and the pivotal role of community development in addressing these concerns. More specifically, this initiative sought to raise awareness among volunteers that would lead to a greater concern for articulation and impact and therefore more effective self-monitoring in project development done with community members. Furthermore, it invited them to know more about the reality of the community they were working in and generated an analysis that starts from the reality of the actual community. All of these things helped to better identify, describe and address community needs. This initiative was launched in December, because of the International Volunteer Day. To celebrate this day, TECHO distributed this message to close to 7,000 young people that work permanently with Latin American communities.
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TECHO In First Person
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Nineth Aguilar Member of the Round Table Community Buenavista, Guatemala
Gabriela Hernández Cardoso President and General Director General Electric
Rafael Zambrano Volunteer Coordinator Community Nueva Luz No. 2, Panama
“One day they held a meeting in our community. My mom couldn’t go, so I went. We began to see what were our needs and contribute ideas about our problems. I joined the community-organizing committee, and together we were moving forward. The first thing, for me, was to stop being afraid. I was a little nervous to tell people ‘do this, do that.’. Following this, one of the biggest challenges was to have confidence in our community.
General Electric has participated in TECHO for three years. This has involved the strength and dedication of some 280 GE volunteers, which translates to some 3,640 hours of volunteer work. The project is an important opportunity to assist vulnerable communities with a clear vision to stimulate the beginning of change in these people’s lives.
“There is a phrase that I hear more often than I should: ‘Here in Panama, people are like this; nobody cares and nobody is capable of helping others’. I believe that citizen participation exists and it isn’t even something difficult to achieve. I know it because I saw it and I was part of it. It all began with a new leadership in the community Nueva Luz, No. 2 in Arraijan. Esther Rodriguez, the president, and Lissy de Pineda, the vice president, are always busy giving orders and carrying out small and big projects that have the goal of improving the situation in the community.
TECHO has helped us organize the community. We convinced them to believe in us and that people would join in our activities. After a while, we didn’t have to tell them, ‘Here you have to do this’, but more that they said, ‘We’re going to do this’. The third time they already knew everything they had to do and it was, more or less, organized. It is important to keep in mind that achievements are for the community, for the good of others. Also with our obligations, because we always have to be on the watch for our needs. We have to have a lot of respect for all the people we are going to work with. We have to be committed to others.”
“My participation as a volunteer in the construction we did in Queretaro had three goals. First, to have the privilege to work on a project that gives you personal satisfaction in all senses. Secondly, the event took place during the business’ leadership team meeting which allowed for unique kinds of interaction and work completely distinct from an office atmosphere. A real comprehensive exercise. Third, it is an important way in which leaders in the organization were, in a very personal way, ‘role models’ for the organization. It was an event where we enjoyed ourselves, shared with others, enjoyed spending time with the families we built with and, although we were exhausted by the end of the day, we were happy and ready for the days of work that were still ahead of us. It is an experience that has many paybacks and GE will not pass up the opportunity to volunteer and share the culture of the GE Foundation, GE volunteers, the spirit of team work and the importance of giving.”
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Our community has different promoters and participants: we have facilitators from TECHO; young agents of change from schools, as well as financial backers, different groups working with great synergy towards the same objective. This project doesn’t just require committed neighbors, willing students or coordinators from TECHO, this project, in its most noble essence, requires citizens: a group of people that identifies as part of a community and that, together, proposes and works to create a concrete solution to a situation that affects them. The kinds of projects that come from the collaboration of many, of varied ideas from varied groups consolidated into one, are the product of effective citizen participation. Is it necessary? Of course. Of course it is necessary to show not only that we are capable of thinking and defending ourselves by our own means, but, more so, show that union is possible and that from any sector of the society we can join together and generate great changes that directly influence reality.
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Our Strategic Allies
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Deloitte Chile, in Alliance with TECHO’s headquarters office, coordinates the evaluation of financial feasibility of financial backers from each country to guarantee stability and reliability. The alliance with the auditing business extends to all of Latin America from its central offices in Chile to do an evaluation of the internal control mechanisms of each office and give recommendations on how to improve management. Furthermore, the firm supports TECHO in the process of audits to review agreements with third parties.
The pro bono alliance TECHO has with this publicity agency extends to seven organizational offices in Latin America. Its goal is to help with branding, specifically supporting local and regional institutional campaigns. Y&R also played a central role in 2012 in changing the brand from “Un Techo Para Mi Pais” to “TECHO”. Their affiliate, Bravo, works with TECHO offices in the United States with branding for local markets, just as Y&R has done through the coordination of TECHO initiatives in Latin America. Y&R is one of the oldest pro bono alliances within TECHO in terms of communication.
The alliance with this group started in 2011. From this date on, the pro bono partnership with BCG has been focused on giving advice and technical help to TECHO in areas related to strategy and organizational structure, working towards the overall improvement of internal management. BCG is concerned with deeply understanding the dynamic of TECHO, working together with the organization and its essential principles to propose viable solutions that contribute to the growth, maturing and consolidation of the institution.
This alliance, which started in 2005, has expanded to include Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Haiti and Chile. IDB provides technical support and looks to provide TECHO with knowledge, experiences and institutional learning through its Multilateral Inversion Fund (FOMIN). From there, it seeks to develop programs for the integration of community members that live in informal settlements into the productive sector, such as training in entry level jobs and support for start ups.
The pro bono alliance with this well-known public relations agency focuses on giving advice to the organization regarding strategic management of institutional communication. The relationship with TECHO is extended through twelve countries of the region which advise the organization regarding its public image, seen through concrete actions such as public interventions, management of internal discussions and public speaking.
Since 2011, TECHO has established a working relationship with MEC, a company that specializes in publicity management. The relationship began through coordination with its headquarters in Miami and later extended to other countries in Latin America. Together with local TECHO offices, MEC supports communication teams from the analysis and strategic planning of publicity guidelines, such as contacts and decisions about the positioning of different local and regional campaigns.
In order to keep similar goals, in 2010, IDB established another agreement between the organization and TECHO which focused on Haiti. This agreement focused on promoting economic integration in the Haitian population affected by the earthquake. The program will continue until 2015.
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Our Corporate Allies
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The alliance with this business from the automobile industry began in 2011. Through the development of this alliance, Porsche has been involved in TECHO’s work, alongside with members of informal settlements in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic. In addition to participating as a “supporting sponsor” in fundraising activities for the region (Artecho 2011), Porsche contributed with 2,972 volunteers from the business towards the construction of 347 emergency houses in 17 out of 19 countries where TECHO works. At the end of 2014, Porsche and TECHO started a pilot training program for technical careers in El Salvador and Paraguay.
DHL, a leader in the logistics industry, has worked with TECHO since 2010. Its main projects took place in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. This alliance, the biggest of TECHO’s business alliances, has been directed through the organization of corporate volunteers that work mainly to build emergency housing. In addition, DHL was the official sponsor of the landmark “100,000 stories”, which commemorated the construction of 100,000 emergency homes in the region where the organization is present in April 2014. The firm contributed, together with its collaborators in hands-on work and invested in the equivalent of 109 emergency homes.
The alliance with this business aims to contribute to the work TECHO develops alongside Latin America since the year 2014. This year, its work emphasized the aid offered by MetLife during the emergency in Chile that affected 10,000 people, 2,500 of them inhabitants of informal settlements in Valparaiso. The support provided consisted of 112 transitory homes for those affected by the fires. Furthermore, MetLife teams in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay participated in the construction of a total of 158 emergency houses together with volunteers and the communities where houses were built, through corporate volunteer programs.
ALSO JOINED BY
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Associated Organisms
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The Chilean International Cooperation Agency has worked with TECHO since 2009 in Bolivia and El Salvador. Furthermore, they have supported the volunteer work carried out in Chile and Paraguay. In 2012, to consolidate the alliance, AGCI and TECHO signed an agreement with the goal of developing cooperative projects with a direct impact on homes, health, education, gender development and social cohesion in unorganized communities.
TECHO and UNASUR created an agreement in 2011 to help with activities in Haiti after the earthquake of January 2010. This agreement consists of a cooperative project which involves the construction of more than 800 emergency homes, the implementation of a Health Center and an Education Center as well as their contribution to community organization in informal settlements where TECHO works at.
The 20th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government celebrated in Mar del Plata in 2010 approved TECHO as an affiliated organization under the recognition “Young people for an Ibero-America without poverty”. This title represented a recognition of the work carried out by TECHO on the entire region and opens the organization to participation of civil society in IberoAmerica.
In 2011, the Economic and Social Committee of the United Nations (ECOSOC) adopted the recommendation of the Non-governmental Organization committee to award TECHO under “Consultative Status”. This status allows the organization to actively involve itself with ECOSOC and its related organs such as the Secretary, Programs, Funding and Agencies of the United Nations.
In 2014, UNASUR’s support was reflected on six community infrastructure projects in Haiti.
ALSO JOINED BY
Childfund SELAVIP CAF America Silicon Valley Community Foundation ONU-Habitat.
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Financial Report
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Departamental 440, San JoaquĂn, Santiago, Chile info@techo.org
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