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Cáritas Portuguesa expects to have available “no later than February” a database with information on requests for support in the country, hoping that it will be an instrument to combat poverty and support public policies.
Speaking to Lusa, regarding the General Council meeting that took place on Saturday, the president of the institution, Eugénio Fonseca, said that the budget approved for 2021 provides for the creation of an information platform on requests for assistance to the Diocesan Caritas , an instrument “missing in the country.”
The update can be monthly or every 15 days and the great challenge, according to Eugénio Fonseca, is to get this platform to reach the parishes and be updated by them as well.
“We would like to reach the parishes, because we have a fault in Caritas. The figures that we are giving, and which are already very significant, are those of Caritas Diocesana. If the parishes were integrated, we would have the most universal base in Portugal, given the capillarity of the services of the Catholic Church ”, he said.
The platform “is practically ready” and awaits the license to safeguard data protection problems, since only the most general information, such as the number of requests per region, the age of the people requesting assistance, their employment and income, among others, will be available for everyone to consult. Personal information is reserved for those who are authorized to consult and enter this data.
The information network aims to help direct measures where they are really needed, said Eugénio Fonseca.
At this point, he said, requests for assistance have stabilized in some areas and continue to grow in others, but the main concern is with the first quarter of 2021, when a sharp increase in unemployment can be felt due to the end of support to the Business.
Eugénio Fonseca understands that “it is taking too long” to define European support and hopes that the State will help the unemployed to avoid situations of poverty and lack of protection, suggesting, for example, that they can obtain income by performing “socially useful tasks”, support for the elderly, forest cleaning or urban rehabilitation.
It is also suggested that very low-income people pay a “symbolic rate” to Social Security, which allows them to maintain their connection with the welfare state and does not compromise their discounted status with future effects on pensions and pensions.
The financial situation of Cáritas Portuguesa is another concern for next year, since if there is no possibility of occupying the national public office again, the organization’s accounts will be compromised.
“It was suspended whether this year we will have the possibility of returning to public office or not, because last year it was not possible and that made a great difference for us,” said the president of Cáritas Portuguesa, who highlighted the need to collect donations and bet by means such as bank transfers or other computerized methods, which do not involve travel and physical proximity.
At the international level, although the priority is the situation in Portugal, Caritas Portuguesa wants to continue collaborating with the countries with which it has a relationship, with the situation of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, Lebanon and Iraq among its main concerns.
The General Council meeting was also the time to present the new elected president of the Board, Rita Valadas, who will replace Eugénio Fonseca in office, with no date yet for taking office.
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