João Pedro Gouveia is part of the consultative body of the National Strategy to Fight Poverty.

Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 184/2021

The XXII Constitutional Government included in its program the commitment to “launch a National Strategy to Combat Poverty, within the scope of the European Pillar of Social Rights”. The Government affirmed the National Strategy to Combat Poverty (ENCP) as a central element of the objective of eradicating poverty, framed within the strategic challenge of reducing inequalities.
Portugal recorded a very significant reduction in inequalities between 2016 and 2019, driven by unprecedented job creation and a significant reinforcement of social support and public services. Despite the progress made, with 700 thousand people leaving the risk of poverty and social exclusion between 2015 and 2020, around 2 million people still remained in this condition in 2020.
This led the Government to register, in 2019, the need for a public policy instrument, with a set of coherent and articulated actions, which would significantly reduce the incidence of poverty. The socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic, of still uncertain magnitude, renewed and reinforced the relevance of the existence of this instrument.
Additionally, the ENCP is inserted in a broad context of government action, being an enabling condition for Portugal 2030 and being one of the reforms included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, contributing to the coherence and effectiveness of the investments included in these two programs.
Furthermore, the Social Summit held in Porto on May 8, 2021 approved the Action Plan for the European Pillar of Social Rights, committing the European Union to reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 15 million by 2030 , including 5 million children. Considering the existence, in 2019, of 91 million Europeans in this condition and 2.2 million Portuguese, the mere proportional decline of this objective for Portugal presupposes the exit of around 360 thousand people from the situation of risk of poverty or social exclusion, including 120 thousand children.
Over the last few decades, Portugal has been successful in building instruments to reduce the intensity of poverty, such as the Social Insertion Income or the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly, responsible for reducing the poverty risk rate for the elderly from 28. 9% in 2003 to 17.5% in 2019. Portugal has also been effective in policies to promote success and reduce school dropout rates, which fell from 44.3% in 2001 to 8.9% in 2020, a figure already below the European average.

However, it is recognized that the levels of poverty that still exist justify the reinforcement of policies that have proven to be effective, enhanced by a strategic framework that allows an integrated approach to the different sectoral policies, particularly in the field of social inclusion, combating the phenomena of persistent poverty. poverty. The need for policies that break the reproduction of cycles of poverty is also recognized, not only by removing children from poverty, but by guaranteeing them the conditions so that they can have a future with better conditions than the generations that preceded them. Decisive action is required so that the socioeconomic condition of households stops being such a preponderant predictor of academic success and professional paths. In this sense, the importance of the 21|23 Escola+ Plan, materialized through Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 90/2021, of July 7, is highlighted. The set of measures expressed there is based on educational policies with demonstrated effectiveness in strengthening the autonomy of schools and differentiated educational strategies aimed at promoting school success and, above all, combating inequalities through education in a post-pandemic context. , particularly in terms of costs in the learning process and psycho-pedagogical and motor development of children and young people.

The design of the ENCP was duly articulated with the remaining existing strategies, plans and programs whose fields of action intersect, such as the National Strategy for Equality and Non-Discrimination 2018-2030 «Portugal + Igual», the National Implementation Plan for the Migration Pact, the National Strategy for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2021-2025, the National Strategy for the Integration of Homeless People 2017-2023, the National Strategy for the Integration of Roma Communities 2013-2022, the National Plan to Combat Racism and Discrimination 2021-2025 - «Portugal against Racism», the National Strategy for Children's Rights 2021-2024, the National Plan for Youth 2018-2021 and the Interior Enhancement Program.