São Paulo – Bolsa Família (Family Purse), a Brazilian government income transfer program for needy families, has won the 1st Award for Outstanding Achievement in Social Security, granted by the International Social Security Association (ISSA). The announcement was made this Tuesday (15th) in Geneva, Switzerland. The award ceremony, however, will be held in Doha, Qatar next November.
According to a statement from the Brazilian Ministry of Social Development, the prize is an “acknowledgement of success in fighting poverty and promoting social rights of the more vulnerable population in Brazil.” The Brazilian victory was announced by ISSA president Errol Frank Stoové.
“The Bolsa Família program has shown that conditional income transfer programs can be highly effective approaches to social security. We are hoping the ISSA prize will cause other governments to base their experience around Brazil’s, and consider adopting similar programs to benefit their citizens,” said Stoové, according to the ministry.
The ministry explains that prize is granted to institutions and programs based on the relevance of their contribution. Bolsa Família was shortlisted alongside other competitors, and then had the best assessment in three different criteria: outstanding political commitment, político implementation skill, and availability of impact assessment.
Tereza Campello, the Brazilian minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, will attend the award ceremony in Doha during the World Social Security Forum, from November 10th to 15th in Qatar. “A prize acknowledging the different achievements of Bolsa Família is welcome because it shows the Brazilian government’s efforts in building a social safety net that contemplates different aspects and regards poor people as entitled to their rights,” said the minister at a press conference, according to information from the ministry.
“Brazil has a million reasons to be proud of Bolsa Família, a program which reduces inequality and benefits every Brazilian citizen,” said president Dilma Rousseff in a message sent to the ISSA. “The program ensures that 36 million Brazilians live above the extreme poverty line, keeps 16 million children and adolescents in school, and was also key to reducing child mortality rates,” said Rousseff.
The ISSA is the leading international organization for social security, working to spread knowledge and support countries in establishing and improving their social safety systems. Founded in 1927, the association counts on 330 affiliated organizations in 157 different countries.
Bolsa Família
The program was launched in 2011, alongside the government plan Brasil Sem Miséria (Poverty-Free Brazil Plan), by the then-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. At present, the Bolsa Família program caters to approximately 13.8 million families, or nearly 50 million people. The average monthly amount paid has risen from R$ 73.70 (US$ 33.7), in October 2003, to R$ 152.35 (US$ 69.8) in September 2013. The federal government invests R$ 24 billion (US$ 10.9 billion) per year in Bolsa Família, i.e. 0.46% of the Brazilian GDP.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
