The President of the Republic considered on Tuesday that there are conditions for eradicating the “social wound” of the homeless, which is the “failure” of the whole society, within a “reasonable time”.
At the end of the National Assembly of ENIPSSA – National Strategy for the Integration of the Homeless, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa advocates the need to “do everything in a reasonable time to eradicate this social wound, this social wound, this social failure.” of all”.
“This is not the only one, there are other failures. Poverty in general is a failure in society,” the head of state warned, confirming that there are conditions for the eradication of the homeless.
The President of the Republic stated that the society is faced with a “new situation” of the crisis, which is “not as critical as the most critical phase of the pandemic, but more difficult.”
“We know that hardship is now being called the consequences of the war, in addition to the consequences of the pandemic, which last even longer than we think, namely in mental health. increased risk of homelessness, with very different modalities,” he said.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also underlined the priorities that were identified at the meeting in Leiria: “The most important thing of all is the dream, and the most important thing is housing.”
“Housing was less challenging in 2016, 2017 and 2018 than in 2019, when tourism prices” made property values more expensive, making “access to housing” more difficult.
The President of the Republic warned that it could not be “a house 50 kilometers away without the means to accept this proposal on pain of being left in the ghetto.”
“They are invited to the ghetto and this problem is known to have escalated throughout the country. First, in the capital and city centers, and then in the suburbs,” he stressed, pointing to the solution of these cases. as a real “priority”.
The head of state also needs to “go further in the medical component, in employment, if possible, and much further in civic participation, that is, further in prevention.”
“This only increases our responsibility, but does not weaken our passion. We must be more responsible, but that is why we must be more passionate about this matter,” he said, acknowledging that society “is more conscious of this national priority.” .
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also acknowledged that over the past six years he has noticed a “drastic difference” in the commitment of “municipalities and structures dedicated to this fight”, both in “diversity of interests” and “complementarity of contributions”. and “in mobilization, in the ability to dream and change the existing reality.”
Prevention has also been defended because it is “a dysfunctional, dramatic situation, drama of different types” that creates a homeless person, and can be “personal, family, functional, sanitary, health or mental health”.
“There are 10,000 cases that overlap. Prevention is fundamental”, as well as “creating conditions for mental health surveillance, because this is truly a collective mission of the community, it is not only for specialists, technicians, those who work in municipalities, institutions We go forward without hesitation, without giving up, without giving up,” he said.
Asked on the sidelines of the event if the crisis and inflation that are affecting the country could bring more people to the streets, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza replied that in “Next year’s budget, the bet is very strong, including through funds from the PDP community [Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência]in the sense that, together with the municipalities, they find solutions for housing, for social support, for employment, for strengthening what concerns mental health.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also said that “despite everything, last year the number of homeless people who had access to a house increased by 32%”, but “this number needs to be increased”, even “in difficult conditions, because the house is very expensive , and we know that many other Portuguese have housing problems.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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