Brazil is the site of the world’s only International Poverty Center. The idea is for the center to produce global studies and create a network of researchers focusing on the poverty issue.
The center is located on the tenth floor of the building that houses the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), in Brasília, the capital city of Brazil.
“Brazil was chosen over India, Mexico, and Chile. It is a unique center. There is only one version in the world,” affirmed the president of the Ipea, Glauco Arbix, who assigned three Brazilian researchers to work in the center.
The official inauguration of the center occurred Monday, August 29, in Brasília, at the opening of the international conference, The Many Dimensions of Poverty, which extends through tomorrow, August 31.
The conference has brought together 50 specialists and academics from all over the world to discuss the poverty issue. According to Minister Nilcéa Freire, of the Special Secretariat of Women’s Policies, the debates will help in dealing with the challenge of combatting hunger and in redefining the criteria of extreme poverty in Brazil.
“Not just this, but they will also help to redefine the scope of the programs and, most of all – and this is the central point – to regard poverty not only as a matter of salary or monthly economic returns but as a situation comprising multiple dimensions, such as health and welfare, from the perspective of human rights and their effectuation,” she commented.
For the executive secretary of the Ministry of Social Development, Márcia Lopes, the Brazilian government has been striving to reduce poverty.
“This year the Ministry is spending US$ 7.09 billion (R$ 17 billion) on activities, programs, services, and benefits in 5,564 Brazilian municipalities.
This translates into guaranteeing expanded access to social policies, be they income transfer or social attention or protection,” she affirmed.
Agência Brasil