By the end of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s mandate, no family that lives in conditions of extreme poverty will fail to receive an income transfer in order to have at least something to eat.
This affirmation was made by the head of the Presidential Executive Office, Minister Luiz Dulci, in a press conference broadcast by the Radiobrás radio stations. According to the Minister, it will be possible to do away with hunger in the country by the end of 2006, through the Family Grant program.
The elimination of extreme poverty and hunger is one of the eight Development Goals of the Millennium set by the member countries of the United Nations (UN) to improve the situation of the world’s population by 2015, in terms of income, education, health, environment, and gender.
“Nobody in Brazil will fail to have at least the modest means to buy his or her daily bread. Therefore, we will have fulfilled the UN’s goal by the end of next year, making sure that nobody in Brazil will lack at least a minimal daily food supply,” Dulci reiterated.
He recalled that the Family Grant, the most important income transfer program in the Zero Hunger project, currently benefits 7.5 million families, around 30 million people.
“President Lula has already declared that, by the end of his mandate, everybody who lives below the poverty line in Brazil, under conditions of what is called extreme poverty, will be incorporated into the Family Grant program,” he added.
For Dulci, Brazil has also made significant progress in the areas of education and maternal health.
Agência Brazil