Around 13,000 people were homeless at the end of 2023 in Portugal
The government approved on Wednesday a new national strategy for homelessness for 2025-2030 in a bid to tackle a plight which affected around 13,000 people in Portugal at the end of 2023.
“Today we approved a new national strategy for 2025 to 2030 and the action plan for the next two years,” said Portugal’s minister of presidency, António Leitão Amaro, at a news conference after a cabinet meeting in Lisbon.
According to the minister, the number of homeless people in Portugal has more than doubled in the last six years, reaching 13,000 at the end of last year.
“This happened due to a lack of action and implementation of promises and strategies that had been made in the past,” lamented Leitão Amaro, adding that the action plan now approved is to be implemented in conjunction with the municipalities, giving them the flexibility to apply the measures and adopt their own strategies.
Among the measures set out in the national strategy is the creation of a warning and prevention system, with a data platform that identifies risks throughout the country, he said.
The strategy also provides for an increase in accommodation in various forms, such as emergency, temporary and in the `housing first’ model, as well as the creation of a personal employment plan aimed at each person experiencing homelessness, he said.
There are also plans to reinforce street teams and community mental health teams, said Leitão Amaro.
On Saturday, Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, called for an urgent commitment to state-supported housing for homeless people, pointing out that many of them are working but without enough money to afford a home.
“It’s a new situation that urgently needs a commitment to housing, with the support of the state, with the support of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) and with the fundamental role of the municipalities, of the authorities,” the head of state argued.
President Marcelo was speaking to journalists during the Christmas lunch organised by the Homeless Support Centre (CASA) association, at the Lisbon metro facilities, which he attends every year.
At the time, the president reiterated that he expected the right-of-centre coalition government led by Luís Montenegro, in office since April, to be “relatively quick” in presenting its strategy for the integration of homeless people.
Source: LUSA
