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At the invitation of the World Bank, Brazil's Minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, Patrus Ananias, made a presentation, to Egyptian government officials on Brazil's Family Grant Program. The encounter took place in the city of Luxor, 640 kilometers south of Cairo.
The purpose of the meeting is to demonstrate international experiences in income transfer programs to contribute to social reform in Egypt, which plans to change its current food subsidy policy.
In addition to Brazil, Mexico and countries from Eastern Europe will present their social programs.
Among other participants, the encounter will be attended by the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, and the Bank's director-representative in Brazil, Vinod Thomas.
The Brazilian Family Subsidy Program transfers income to poor families whose monthly income does not exceed US$ 39 (R$ 100). The goal is to combat extreme poverty and social exclusion and promote the emancipation of these families, which receive monthly financial assistance.
Last month, the Brazilian government and the institutions that oversee federal spending formalized a partnership to ensure that the country's largest income transfer program, the Family Grant, actually gets money into the hands of the poorest segments of the population.
According to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, overseeing the Family Grant program, as proposed by the Minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, Patrus Ananias, is positive and healthy.
Terms of cooperation were signed between the Ministry of Social Development and the Public Interest Defense Ministry (MPF), five state Public Interest Defense Ministries, the Federal Controller-General's Office (CGU), and the Federal Accounting Court (TCU).
The partnership provides for the exchange of information, training activities, and the formulation of new monitoring instruments. In conjunction, the institutions will form the Public Oversight Network for the Family Grant.
Government data indicate that the program already reaches over 6.5 million Brazilian homes. The goal is to reach all families with monthly per capita family incomes of less than US$ 36 (R$ 100), approximately 11.4 million families, by the end of 2006.
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil
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