Have you lost access to social assistance? Understand how social protection services were affected by the dam burst

Posted on 15/12/2020

The rupture of the Córrego do Feijão mine dam in Brumadinho affected people's lives and the provision of many public services, such as health, education, transport and social protection services to the population.

One of the researches of the Brumadinho UFMG Project, subproject 50, seeks to identify what were the impacts of the rupture of the Córrego do Feijão mine dam in access to all these protections guaranteed by the Organic Law of Social Assistance (in portuguese, stands for LOAS).

To comprehend what this research will be, understand a little more about how the existing social assistance services in Brazil may have been affected.

Social assistance in Brazil is considered a right of any person and a duty of the State. To guarantee this right, the Organic Law on Social Assistance was created in 1993.

Article 2 of the LOAS defines the goals of social protection, which are:

  • Protection for the family, motherhood, childhood, adolescence and old age;
  • Support for needy children and adolescents;
  • Promoting the integration of people into the labor market;
  • Enabling and rehabilitating people with disabilities and promoting their integration into community life;
  • The guarantee of 1 (one) minimum monthly wage for the disabled and the elderly, who prove they do not have the means to provide for their own support or that they are dependent on the family, the BPC.
BPC

Disasters, such as the one that occurred in 2019 in Brumadinho and affected several cities, bring difficulties for access to citizens' rights and also for the capacity of municipalities to meet the demands for social assistance that already existed and that are aggravated in situations like these.

The research that will be carried out by subproject 50 will identify the impacts on social assistance protection through the mapping and the characterization of governmental Organs (municipal and state) and non-governmental bodies that make up the Rights Guarantee System and the Justice System in the affected municipalities. And for this assessment, there will be a comparison with the situation of the provision of social assistance services before the dam collapsed.

Identifying, mapping and assessing impacts is the first step in solving problems, so that social protection services will return to normal functioning. This is a very serious work, which will be done by UFMG researchers, specialized professionals who are able to understand the current situation of social assistance and the needs of the affected population.

Have any questions? Learn more about subproject 50 and meet the team that will conduct the research!

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