At an event by the National Social Assistance Fund, governor Raquel Lyra highlights actions to combat hunger and increase resources allocated to the sector

Pernambuco Sem Fome encompasses public Social Assistance policies and has a budget of almost half a billion reais for 2024

The State of Pernambuco hosted, this Monday (6), the FNAS meeting for Brazil, organized by the National Social Assistance Fund (FNAS), through the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (MDS). The event takes place on the 6th and 7th of May in Pernambuco, but has been to all states in Brazil. Receiving managers and professionals from Pernambuco’s municipalities, governor Raquel Lyra participated in the event that aims to train and qualify Social Assistance professionals.

In her speech, the manager highlighted that the State Government has prioritized financing this sector, following the example of Pernambuco Sem Fome, which guarantees a budget of R$469.5 million for the year 2024. “Since the beginning of management, we We have guaranteed an exponential increase in the budget allocated to social assistance, we have practically doubled the resources of assistance funds and increased high complexity co-financing for municipalities by 100%. We also implemented Mães de Pernambuco, with a value of around R$360 million per year. We are working to ensure the reduction of poverty and allow Pernambuco to get off the inequality map”, highlighted Raquel Lyra.

For the Secretary of Social Assistance, Combating Hunger and Drug Policies, Carlos Braga, the meeting has been necessary to correctly allocate investment in the sector. “We are meeting to discuss the financial execution of the national, state and municipal social assistance fund, precisely so that this budget is spent correctly. Pernambuco sees many victories, with the significant increases in transfers that Governor Raquel Lyra has made. And here our focus is on technical work with all instances to improve the execution of these resources at the end,” she said.

Among the modules included in Pernambuco Sem Fome is Mães de Pernambuco, the largest income transfer program in the North and Northeast, which will serve 100 thousand women who are mothers of children aged 0 to 6 who are in a situation of social vulnerability with the value of R$300 per month. Currently, the program already has more than 70 thousand women benefiting. The first payment will be made on May 13th. It is possible to confirm registration for the program until May 20th through the website www.maesdepernambuco.pe.gov.br.

Another policy implemented by the State Government that covers the Social Assistance axis is Bom Prato, which combats hunger and guarantees food security by offering healthy meals to the socially vulnerable population. The State already has 100 community kitchens in operation and offering more than 440,000 meals regularly.

During the event, the executive director of the National Social Assistance Fund, of the MDS National Social Assistance Secretariat, Jose Arimateia de Oliveira, commented on the importance of the State prioritizing sector policy. “The governor’s presence here is very important because it demonstrates that SUAS is a priority on the Pernambuco Government’s agenda. I’m very happy because this is the first time the FNAS in Brazil has the presence of a governor. And the Ministry of Development is available to the entire State team and all municipalities in Pernambuco, because it is at the end that the Social Assistance policy is implemented”, he stated.

The president of the National Collegiate of Municipal Social Assistance Managers (Congemas), Penelope Andrade, and the president of the State Collegiate of Municipal Social Assistance Managers of Pernambuco (Coegemas), Ana Rita Suassuna, were present.

Photos: Miva Filho/Secom.