President concerned about the increase of the poor in Portugal
The inability to meet goals globally and nationally to combat poverty in the face of the increase in the number of reductions caused by the pandemic was the main concern raised by the President of the Republic, this Sunday, during the launch of the posthumous book, “What have you done with yours brother? ” by Alfredo Bruto da Costa.
There is an “urgency of poverty” and that is why “all of us must be committed”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in his speech. “Before the pandemic, it was said that there were close to 100 million poor and after the pandemic, close to 120 million poor in the world. Before the pandemic, it was said that there were 2 million poor in Portugal, after the pandemic 2 million and 200 thousand “continued, iu.
“The first major sustainable development goal of the United Nations [a erradicação da pobreza] most likely it will no longer be hit. The main objective of the National Strategy Against Poverty points to 360 thousand Portuguese and Portuguese people out of poverty by 2030. What would it mean, if everything remained the same, if there were no crisis and worsening factors, which would take around 50 years to reach 2 million and 200 thousand, “stressed the head of state.
“Therefore, we have a huge problem, a problem first,” he stressed. It is a recognized promotion theme in the work of Alfredo Bruto da Costa, Minister of Social Coordination and Social Affairs in the Government of Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, who died in 2016, which led Marcelo to consider him a “prophet”. “It wasn’t just in the Old Testament that there were prophets,” he said, alluding to the role that the former State Councilor played in the fight against poverty.
The editing of individual aspects in the book, with the subtitle “A look of faith on poverty in the world” published by Editorial Cáritas, was also recognized by Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins. The former minister of António Guterres’ government spoke of “subsidiarity” and the need to broaden the vision of this matter to a global plan and not its limitation to a “local” plan.
The distribution of vaccines worldwide has not been done in an “equitable” way, he said. “Deprivation is the first domain that must be considered when distributing resources. For that, it is necessary to ensure that there are sufficient resources.”
Citing the work of Alfredo Bruto da Costa, Oliveira Martins said that “attention and care, distributive justice and generational equity” is the “solution”.
At the end of the book presentation, which took place at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa posthumously decorated Alfredo Bruta da Costa with the insignia of the Grand Official of the Order of Liberty, having been delivered to the honoree’s wife, Vera Bruto da Costa and her daughters Madalena and Margarida Bruto da Costa, who spoke at the ceremony.