TCU and UNICEF establish partnership to enhance poverty analysis in Brazil
By Secom / Serint
The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) and the United Nations Children's Fund signed a Memorandum of Understanding last week to promote cooperation in developing the Multidimensional Poverty Index in Brazil. The initiative aims to strengthen technical capacities, share best practices, and build indicators that enable a broader analysis of poverty, with a focus on protecting the rights of children and youth.
The ceremony was attended by TCU President, Minister Vital do Rêgo; UNICEF Representative in Brazil, Joaquin Gonzalez-Aleman; Deputy Representative Layla Saad; Chief of Social Policy Liliana Chopitea; and TCU auditors, including the head of Department of Government Audit for Public Accounts (SecexContas), Agostinho Garrido Carvalho, as well as the Chief Auditor and Deputy Chief Auditor of the Audit Department for Social Security, Welfare and Labor (AudBenefícios), Jorge Oliveira Castro and Danyele Sesconetto Horta.
During the event, Vital do Rêgo underscored the importance of guiding the Court's work toward tangible results in people's lives. Our main strategy has been to place citizens at the center. Our work only makes sense if it can improve the lives of those who need it most, especially children and youth, he said.
He also highlighted the innovative nature of the index under development, which expands poverty analysis beyond traditional income-based measures. We are developing a model that captures multiple dimensions of deprivation, such as health, education, and housing, allowing for a more complete understanding of Brazil's reality, he noted.
Auditor Jorge Oliveira Castro explained that the TCU already works with a database covering more than 90 million individuals registered in the Unified Registry (CadÚnico). According to him, the next step is to advance the analysis at the municipal level. We can already calculate the index at the state level, and we aim to extend it to municipalities. This is essential to understanding how public policies translate into local impact, he said.
For Joaquin Gonzalez-Aleman, UNICEF Representative in Brazil, the partnership marks a step forward in strengthening public policies for children. This cooperation will help align methodologies, enhance the measurement of multidimensional poverty, expand the use of national administrative data, and produce more robust and comparable analyses over time, he said.
The partnership will also support deeper analysis of the effectiveness of public spending. Investment does not always translate into impact on the ground. It is therefore essential to assess how resources reach children and youth and what results they deliver, Oliveira Castro added.
The project also includes the development of a methodological guide for applying the index in audits, contributing to improved public policies and a more preventive, results-oriented approach. The initiative reinforces TCU's commitment to promoting more effective, citizen-centered public policies, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.