The President of the Republic admitted this Saturday that he felt frustrated that poverty numbers in Portugal had not decreased, being above two million people, a fight that he defended, as he recalled, throughout his mandates. “Portuguese society and European societies are aging very quickly and aging means impoverishment, and it also means difficulty” after turning around, he said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who visited the Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome, in Alcântara, Lisbon, this Saturday, on the day the food collection campaign began.
When asked if he was not frustrated by the poverty figures in the country, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was clear: “Oh yes, I feel frustrated“. In the same statements, he recalled that the issue of poverty in Portugal has lasted for more than 50 years and that he had witnessed the efforts of various governments over the decades, “who did what they could, tried to do what they could”. And he listed some of the factors that contributed to this scenario: international crises, health situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic or the aging of Portuguese society itself.
“Portuguese society and European societies are aging very quickly and aging means impoverishment, and it also means difficulty” after turning around, he said. “And we turned around, largely, as you know, due to immigration, but we only turned around a little”, he highlighted, noting that it was not completely reversed.
And he continued: “I don’t know if you’ve seen lately the numbers (…) of births in hospital units in Portugal, where the number of births among the immigrant population has risen rapidly, for a very simple reason: they are younger, they are more numerous and in this way they are partially coping with the situation of the Portuguese population”.
At the beginning of his statements to journalists, at the end of the visit, the head of State thanked the Federation of Food Banks, as President of the Republic, for the “many, many, many years of service to the country”. “And if there is sadness in my heart, it is because poverty has not reduced what it should have reduced”, he highlighted.
I and President of the Portuguese Federation of Food Banks Against Hunger thanked the Portuguese head of state for his persistence in mobilizing in the fight against poverty and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he will be a volunteer next year. “Another campaign by the Food Bank, in addition to 21 food banks throughout the national territory, mainland, Madeira and the Azores, and once again, as is clear, we have many volunteers who want to collaborate, donating their time and donating food”, said Isabel Jonet, on the first day of the launch of the solidarity initiative.
“It is always a great joy for us to have the President of the Republic and I would like to thank him for his persistence in drawing attention to volunteering, but also to this capacity of civil society to mobilize in the fight against poverty”, continued the person in charge, according to whom Food banks are currently supporting “more than 380 thousand people”.
In other words, he specified, “almost 4% of the Portuguese population receives food aid on their plate that comes from these major campaigns, but also from the day-to-day activities that we can carry out with the surpluses that still exist in our society”.
In the same statements, Isabel Jonet took the opportunity to publicly thank “everything that throughout his two terms” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa collaborated and dedicated himself to the cause of food banks.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa responded with thanks to the Federation of Food Banks and added that “the best way to say thank you” is that next year, without presidential functions, will be a volunteer and will be available to work “whenever they tell you”. “I will be here as a volunteer”, he reinforced.
On October 17, the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Portugal warned of the persistent number of people at risk of poverty, above two million, which demonstrates that this phenomenon continues to be a structural problem in the country.
The Food Bank Against Hunger food collection campaign involves the participation of more than 42 thousand volunteers in 2,000 stores across the country, in an invitation to share non-perishable food with those who need it most.
The campaign runs until November 30th in physical stores, but continues until December 7th at www.alimentestaideia.pt.