On February 27, Minister Bruno Dantas, the president of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), met with Friar David Santos, the Executive Director of the NGO Education and Citizenship of Afro-descendants and People in Need (EDUCAFRO), at the Executive Office of the President, Dantas presented to the friar and the other members of the organization the progress of the initiatives implemented by the Court in the search of racial equity, both internally and in terms of external control. 

During the group's last visit to the TCU, in September 2023, EDUCAFRO presented a letter with proposals in favor of the cause. Since then, the Court of Accounts has been further expanding its actions towards these agendas – as well as other topics related to human rights, which are dealt with especially by TCU's Audit Division for Equity and Human Rights Policies.      

"Although diversity has become a priority topic to the TCU only recently, we have made significant progress since then. We have adopted several practices to promote equity internally and within the public administration. I am glad to say that we are evolving in our initiatives and building knowledge on racial equity to support our future actions", said Dantas.  

Friar David submitted a new document to the president, featuring complementary suggestions to fight racism within the TCU.  He was joined by other members of the NGO, such as the coordinator of EDUCAFRO in the Federal District, Gehovany Figueira, and the coordinator-general of Economics, Adriana Marques.   

The secretary-general of External Control (SEGECEX), Ana Paula Sampaio, the director of the Equity and Human Rights Policies Audit Division, Vanessa Lima, and the advisor to the Presidency, Elaine Souza, attended the meeting.    

Check out below the progress of the main topics regarding racial equity in the TCU.   

• Assessment and Implementation of the Racial Quota Policy – TCU is carrying out an internal diagnosis to prepare the implementation of affirmative actions. In November 2023, the internal campaign "Declare your diversity: self-declaration of race/color" was launched to map the ethnicity of its employees. The research will be concluded by July 2024. Among interns, former research identified that 54% are black or mixed.   

• Continued Training in Racial Equity – In 2023, the TCU carried out seven educational training initiatives on issues of racial equity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability, as well as 10 webinars on these and other human rights issues. The webinar "Challenges in the education of Quilombolas" will be held on March 14.   

• Valuing Racial Diversity at the TCU – a Working Group (WG) has been established to study a new public model for the Court to recruit its employees. One strand of the WG is dedicated to exploring measures to increase the internal diversity of the workforce, with gender, race, and disability as the main criteria.  The initiative is aligned with the Court's 2023-2025 Management Plan. Moreover, the TCU has just received the "No Racism Here!" badge, which aims to inhibit racist practices by displaying the badge in different environments in companies and organizations.   

• Improving Governance Mechanisms for Public Policies – Created in 2023, TCU's Audit Division for Equity and Human Rights Policies is training its employes to enhance and expand their work. Auditors from the Audit Department for Education, Culture, Sports and Human Rights (AudEducação) attended the “Equal Futures Audit Changemakers” training, promoted by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) Development Initiative. As a result, the department has been developing an action strategy that incorporates TCU's vision of equity in public policies and affirmative government actions into its audits. The goal is to improve governance mechanisms for public policies, as well as the results delivered to society.   

Collaboration with international organizations in favor of racial equity – Last November, the "Women in Leadership" exchange program, organized by the TCU in partnership with Pro PALOP-TL, a program affiliated with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), hosted leading female auditors from the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries. Most of them were black women, who participated in the "Gender-responsive budgeting" workshop.