Regional Plan for Social Inclusion and Citizenship submitted to the Regional Government - Communication

Vice-Presidência do Governo Regional

The Vice-President of the Regional Government, Artur Lima, stated today that the Regional Plan for Social Inclusion and Citizenship (PRISC) represents a "new approach to poverty," aimed at "breaking its intergenerational pattern" and "reducing its incidence in the Region."

Coordinated by José Manuel Mendes, professor at the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, PRISC has already been submitted to the Regional Government and public discussion is expected to begin soon.

"We believe that PRISC is a truly integrated response, with coordinated and coherent actions and measures, aimed at tackling the persistent problem of poverty and, thus, covering citizens in situations of social vulnerability," defended the Vice-President of the Government.

According to Artur Lima, PRISC is based on "the coordination of different areas of intervention" and includes "five fundamental strategic pillars," namely income; education and training; labour; housing; and health.

"The inclusion of people entails the provision of equal opportunities in education for all, in addition to strengthening income and labour promotion policies. Nonetheless, the inclusion of people also entails the improvement of families' housing conditions and their access to quality health care," he said.

The Vice-President of the Government emphasised that PRISC aims to take into account the "life cycle of the entire population," without forgetting to "consider the particular needs of especially vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, people with mental illness or individuals with chronic illnesses."

The overall goal of PRISC, which will cover the period spanning 2024 to 2028, consists of reducing monetary poverty by 50% in the Autonomous Region of the Azores by 2028.

This Plan has yet to be analysed and approved at a meeting of the Council of the Government.