Brazil
Brazil has the ninth largest economy in the world, but it’s blighted by extreme inequality. The richest 10% of Brazilians enjoy half of the country’s income, while the poorest 10% receive less than 1%. Half of the country’s 60 million children live in poverty.
What we’re doing
We’ve worked in Brazil since 1991. In 2008/09, our activities benefited 32,800 children. Some of the highlights of our work last year included:
- improving the quality of education for 18,166 children
- starting a major programme to help children survive and grow up healthy
- providing emergency relief for 30,000 people affected by flooding
We’re improving education
In poor, rural areas, up to 20% of children who enrol in school drop out in the first year. Many children drop out because the curriculum is irrelevant to their lives and the quality of state education is poor: 70% of children who’ve completed six years of schooling can’t read or understand forms to apply for a job or open a bank account, for example.
We’re working with children, teachers and local authorities to improve access to and quality of education. Last year, our education activities reached 18,166 children.
We’re saving children’s lives
Our Brazil programme is one of the ‘champion’ countries in Save the Children’s biggest ever global campaign – to save children’s lives. We’ve received approval from the European Commission for a five-year, £5 million proposal to improve early childhood development for children under five.
Together with our partners, we’ll improve access to integrated health, education, nutrition, protection and parenting services for 192,300 children under five from poor and excluded communities in the north-east.
We’re responding to disasters
The north-east of Brazil is prone to droughts and heavy rains that lead to mudslides and floods. In early 2009, the region experienced heavy rains, affecting more than 1.2 million people.
We provided emergency relief to 30,000 people in the state of Ceará, one of the worst affected areas. We set up safe areas for children to play and education facilities so that they could continue with classes. We’re also helping reinforce river banks that were damaged.
Read more about our work in Brazil. Download our country briefing (PDF 141KB)
Façam o download completo do sumário do país em Português 2008/09 (PDF143KB)