#InstintodeVida mobilizes Brazil and Latin America

Brazil is in the grips of a homicide epidemic. Close to 60,000 citizens were killed in 2015 – one in ten people murdered around the world each year. The figures are likely worse in 2016. New research assembled for the Instinto de Vida campaign indicate that roughly 50 million adult Brazilians know a family member, friend or acquaintance who’s been murdered.

These killer facts and much more were released during the national launch of the Instinto de Vida campaign in Rio de Janeiro. The Igarapé Institute is coordinating the regional and national advocacy agenda of the campaign, and is working with dozens of partners including the Brazilian Forum on Public Security, Sou da Paz Institute, Nossas, and the Observatório de Favelas. The headline goal is to get governments to commit to reducing homicide by 50% in the next 10 years.

A key mobilization platform for the campaign is a new digital tool called Vivos em Nós, or Live in Us. The website is advertized in a powerful new video developed by the campaign. The hope is to keep the memories of homicide victims alive and inspire civil society to action. Relatives and friends are encouraged to develop exclusive webpages with images, messages, and stories. Their tributes will inspire others to action.

The national campaign launch was livestreamed across Brazil. It generated more than 400,000 views and major media coverage in international and local television, print and radio news. At least 180 news stories were released on the national campaign and the results of the survey on attitudes toward homicidal violence. The campaign resulted in articles from the Associated Press, Agencia EFE, RT, O Globo, TV Globo, RTP, and Yahoo!News, among dozens of others. The Instinto de Vida campaign will be ratcheting-up activities in 2017 and 2018, so stay tuned!

Igarapé in numbers – April 2017

• The regional component of the Instinto de Vida campaign was launched in Buenos Aires on 5-7 April. The national launch was in Rio de Janeiro on 8 May. The media impact was exceptional on both fronts, resulting in over 600 media stories in 29 countries since April.
  We are delighted to see our partners in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela also stepping-up their outreach, reaching literally millions of people. #InstintodeVida has already been officially launched in Colombia and Brazil, as covered by outlets such as El País, Folha de São Paulo, El Universal, Xinhua, Pacifista, TV Globo, Open Democracy, and The Mexican Times, among others.
• Meanwhile, Igarapé Institute research was mentioned 1,917 times in the international media including The Guardian, New York Times. Some of the topics that caught fire include Igarapé Institute stories on Brazil´s efforts to expand international arms sales (in the Associated Press and DefenseOne), the appearance of Igarapé Institute on “Diálogos com Mário Sérgio Conti,” on Globonews, and Igarapé Institute’s inputs to the “The Blue Whale” meme in Bloomberg.
• What’s more, in April the Igarapé Institute generated 20 opinion articles. These articles were published in multiple languages by media outlets around the world. Opeds that generated significant traffic were on Brazilian arms transfers with Nexo; Brazil’s involvement in peace operations with Le Monde Diplomatique; Brazil’s homicide challenges with Folha de S. Paulo; and the challenges of US-Mexico arms transfers forAmericas Quarterly.
• The Igarapé Institute released 2 new publications and several peer-review articles in April. One of these papers examined the progress and impacts of Brazil’s landmark Marco Civil, or Internet Bill of Rights. The paper generated massive media attention in Brazil and also in the US. Another paper examined the impact of rapid employment schemes designed to peace support operations in Haiti.
• Members of the Igarapé Institute were speakers and/or participants in 21 public events and meetings in April, including the Young Global Leaders Annual Summit and the World Economic Forum Meeting in Argentina; the World Forum on Urban Violence and Education for Coexistence and Peace in Madrid; the Experts’ Workshop, with European Union and Latin American representatives discussing questions about development and security, in Brussels; and the “Segurança pública em debate” lecture cycle at the Academia Brasileira de Letras in Rio de Janeiro.