CUFA (Central Única das Favelas or Unified Central of Favelas) is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Celso Athayde, a music producer and community organizer born in Favela do Sapo, founded the organization in 1999 with rapper and social activist

MV Bill Alexandre Pereira Barbosa (born January 3, 1974), known professionally as MV Bill, is a Brazilian rapper, singer, actor, songwriter and co-author of the best-selling book ''Falcão - Meninos do Tráfico''. The initials "MV" stand for "Mensageiro ...

. Beginning

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas. Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, the city wa ...

, with a motto of "fazendo do nosso jeito” (doing it our way), it is dedicated to empowering the impoverished to identify and solve the social problems that affect them most, becoming their own best advocates for change instead of simply being assisted by government and non-profit programs.

Description

CUFA was founded in 1999. Since then it has grown to include presences in all twenty-seven

states of Brazil The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation, and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Brazil, Federat ...

, where it develops community spaces and projects in education, environment, culture and sports, alongside educational classes such as computer training. These programs help teach life and professional skills to teenagers, giving them alternatives to crime, and bring their perspectives on favela life to the outside world. Since 2009 CUFA has developed branches and social projects in several countries including Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Chile, Germany, Haiti, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the US.

References

1999 establishments in Brazil Non-profit organisations based in Brazil Organisations based in Rio de Janeiro (city) Organizations established in 1999 {{Brazil-org-stub