BrazzilMag

The government's favorable rating went from 29% in June to 38% in the latest CNI/Ibope poll which was released on Friday by the National Industrial Confederation (CNI). At the other end of the scale, the unfavorable or bad rating fell from 26% to 19%. While the middle rating - regular- was practically stable: 42% in June and 40% now.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared that it is not going to be easy to convince all the participants at the UN meeting, formally known as the Action Against Hunger and Poverty, that financial mechanisms must be created to end the problem.

Groups of women from around the country are meeting to encourage female participation in positions of power. The female bloc in the National Congress and the Feminist Study and Advisory Center (Cfemea) have been developing activities to stimulate women to take part in the electoral process and make demands on government officials.

According to the most recent Population Census, published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2000, women formed a slight majority of Brazil's population of 169.8 million (50.79%, versus 49.21% for men).

Brazil has the world's fifth largest population, but in terms of population density, the country ranks behind 152 others where the average square kilometer is more crowded.

Ten young Brazilian farmers, nine men and one woman, between the ages of 18 and 24, in Espitito Santo, Southeast region, are the new owners of an area of 58 hectares where they intend to grow corn, beans, cassava and coffee. Because there is abundant water, it is also possible that they will engage in aquaculture.

Representatives from Argentina, South Africa, Canada, Kenya, and Uruguay have already endorsed the Brazilian government's proposal for an international pact to exclude housing investments from the category of debt in calculations made to determine the primary surplus of poor and developing countries.

On the eve of the UN conference on poverty and hunger, Brazil has prepared folders explaining its Zero Hunger program which were translated into six languages: English, French, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, talking at the 2004 Efficient School Lunch Manager Awards ceremony in the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), said that partnerships with city halls and institutions of civil society help the government supervise and improve the ways public funds are applied.

The sales of zebu cattle should help increase Brazilian exports to the Middle East. Brazil started selling live animals to the region in 2003. This global market is estimated in US$ 700 million and is concentrated in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where religious reasons demand special procedures for slaughtering the animals.