UCP sign protocols with the Ministry for Territorial Cohesion and UNICEF

The Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) and the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion will sign, today at 6:00 p.m., a cooperation protocol to disseminate the study of public policies at a local level, allowing a better understanding of the territory and increasing cohesion. The Ceremony will be broadcast live through zoom and facebook. This study is part of a research that has been taking place for four years at the Centro de Estudos e Sondagens de Opinião (CESOP) to measure the state of development of each municipality on the road to sustainability. The UCP Rector, Isabel Capeloa Gil, and the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, will sign this protocol.

On the same occasion, the UCP will sign a protocol with UNICEF Portugal to conduct this research, more specifically in the area of child poverty, one of the priorities of this entity in our country. The signing of this protocol, which will be attended by the Executive Director of UNICEF Portugal, Beatriz Imperatori, is a key step towards the implementation of an assertive diagnosis that will allow the definition of concrete actions to fight child poverty. It is estimated that in Portugal 22.3% (Eurostat, 2019) of children live in poverty, this being the highest risk rate of poverty among all age groups (total risk rate is 21.6%) (Pordata, 2019).

The creation of partnerships that promote understanding of current challenges is fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS 17 - Partnerships for the Implementation of Goals). UNICEF Portugal works with 39 municipalities through the Child-Friendly Cities programme throughout the country - contributing to the realisation of children's rights through the adoption of local policies - and now joins the UCP to, through this diagnosis, identify concrete actions to combat child poverty in Portugal and collaborate with the network of municipalities CESOP-LOCAL.

These protocols, prove once again that Universidade Católica Portuguesa is at the forefront of research in areas relevant to society and that they place Portugal at the international level of the entities that lead this process of measurement recognised internationally by the United Nations Development Programme.

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