Brasília – The annual budget of Plano Brasil sem Miséria (Poverty-Free Brazil Plan) will receive 20 billion reals (US$ 12.6 billion). In an initial stage, the funds will come from the National Treasury. However, the Brazilian minister of Social Development, Tereza Campello, claimed that states and non-government organizations should also invest in the programme. The plan provides for 16 million people to be rescued out of abject poverty by 2014.
“These are federal government funds. The 20 billion reals comprise both the Programa Bolsa Família (Family Purse) and its expansion,” said the minister. Bolsa Família is the main income transfer programme of the Brazilian government.
During the implementation phase, the programme should also get 1.2 billion reals (US$ 758 million) in additional credit. The bill that provides for the complementary funds to be added to the 2011 Budget has been submitted by the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, to the National Congress. “It should cap off a series of actions that included the expansion of Bolsa Família, the building of cisterns and the hiring of technical assistance teams,” said the minister.
Plano Brasil Sem Miséria aims to raise the per capita family income of families living with up to 70 reals (US$ 44) a month, as well as increase access to public services, to citizenship actions and to the opportunities generated by public policies and projects.
According to the minister, the US$ 44 figure was established considering the definition of abject poverty of the Bolsa Família and international organizations. According to the minister, there are approximately 800,000 families eligible to receive funds under Bolsa Família that do not yet. “We are cross-referencing the data to find these families and cater to them.”
The plan, launched on this Thursday (2n), will be presented in all Brazilian states. According to Tereza Campello, the program will be monitored and target-based. “For some of these actions, we have a highly organized schedule. We have implemented actions involving active search, but other actions are going to take a while. We are launching a process of building pacts and cooperation.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
