Obra Transparente monitored public school construction projects over three years with the aim of increasing transparency and accountability in the execution of educational infrastructure projects through active social control. The result of a partnership between Transparência Brasil and the Observatório Social do Brasil, the project brought together local social observatories working in 21 municipalities in the south and southeast of the country to monitor construction, put pressure on municipal governments to resume unfinished work and prevent further delays and stoppages.

The initiative strengthened the social control of public works carried out by the observatories through:

1. Training for monitoring public works;
2. Technical advice to the observatories;
3. Sharing experiences and good practices.

135 works under the National Program for Restructuring and Acquisition of Equipment for the Public School Network for Early Childhood Education (Proinfância) were monitored in the participating cities. The training activities (six online editions and two face-to-face editions), containing modules on public bids and tenders, execution of public works and risk analysis of fraud and corruption in contracting, reached around 270 participants.

Based on the training, the participants monitored documents and works in person. When they noticed delays and possible irregularities, the local Social Observatories documented the findings and forwarded them to the program’s Technical Chamber for analysis of the evidence collected. If problems were found, city halls and control bodies were called in.