Sponsor a Child in Brazil

A rapidly growing economy

The Republic of Brazil’s capital is Brasilia, although both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo are better known cities due to their importance as major tourist destinations. The population of Brazil is about 197 million. 

After more than three centuries under Portuguese rule, Brazil gained independence in 1822. Economic growth has marked Brazil in the last years: at present, Brazil’s economy is growing by roughly five per cent every year. The discovery of major offshore oil reserves could mean an even greater boost for the national economy. Brazil is now part of a group of newly emerged economic powers generally referred to as "the BRICs", an acronym for the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Children are forced to work due to poverty

Brazil is – demographically speaking – a very young country: around 25 per cent of its citizens are less than 15 years of age. In regions that are marked by high unemployment rates, children often face a substantial risk of growing up in an unstable domestic environment. Child poverty is particularly concentrated in the north-eastern region of Brazil. In the state of Alagoas, roughly 57 per cent of children aged one to eleven live in families that have to get by with less than half the country’s minimum wage. 

Quite frequently, young children have to engage in labour activities in order to put food on the table for an entire family. In the state of Piauí, approximately 26 per cent of children between 10 and 15 years of age are working. 1.5 million children in Brazil face a life in homes that do not have solid walls. In the Amazon region, a striking 97 per cent of children do not have access to decent sewage systems, which increases the risk of these children to contract all kinds of diseases. Undernourishment and food insecurity remain persistent problems in present-day Brazil, a rather disturbing fact in a country that is extremely rich in natural resources. 

In the Rio Grande do Norte and Maranhão states, over 50 per cent of children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 suffer either moderate or severe food insecurity. However, the government has put into practice social welfare programs like “Bolsa Familia” to fight famine and extreme poverty in low-income families. 

In the country’s largest cities, particularly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, children without parental care often end up on the streets where they are vulnerable to gang violence, sexual abuse and drug addiction. Most of them are child labourers: they shine shoes or sell merchandise at traffic lights or on the side of the road. According to national estimates, roughly 24,000 children and adolescents call the streets of Brazilian cities their home. Without a caring family environment, the lives of these children will very likely remain marked by violence, abuse and neglect even when they become adults.