President Jair Bolsonaro signed today (8), International Women’s Day, in a ceremony at Palácio do Planalto, decrees that institute programs aimed at female entrepreneurship, the protection of pregnant women and the promotion of menstrual health.
The first decree institutes Brasil para Elas, a national strategy for female entrepreneurship as an instrument for the country’s economic and social development.
At the event, Bolsonaro said that “if we depended on women, we would not to haveWe went to wars in the world”. And he said it is impossible not to remember, on this Women’s Day, those who were the most important in our lives, our mothers.
“I had a mother who was an entrepreneur. In the city of Ribeira, where I lived a considerable part of my childhood, we had one or two weddings a month. And my mother was always reminded to make cake and coconut candy. In my time, the woman was either a teacher or a housewife. Hardly a woman did anything other than that in the 1950s, 1960s. Today nowadays, women are practically integrated into society. We help them, we are always by their side”, said the president.
The National Women’s Entrepreneurship Strategy Brasil pra Elas is an initiative of the Ministry of Economy that includes a set of measures aimed at the creation and expansion of businesses controlled by women and the offer of credit for female entrepreneurship, instruments of individual economic freedom, promotion of gender equality, and economic and social development of the country.
The second decree signed by the president establishes the Mothers of Brazil, an initiative that aims to promote comprehensive protection for pregnant women and maternity. The program is an initiative of the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH) and aims to articulate and develop public policies aimed at promoting the dignity of women as mothers.
During the ceremony, Bolsonaro was accompanied by the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes; by the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves; by the first lady, Michele Bolsonaro; by the Chief Minister of the Government Secretariat, Flávia Arruda, in addition to other ministers.
Menstrual Health
President Bolsonaro also issued a decree establishing the Menstrual Health Protection and Promotion Program. The objective is to combat the lack of access to hygiene products during menstruation and to develop means for the inclusion of women in menstrual health protection actions and programs.
In this sense, the Ministry of Health will be responsible for taking care of the health of women in precarious situations and promoting health education actions in the area of menstrual health; in addition to offering free access to feminine sanitary napkins to women who need them.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security must implement actions aimed at making sanitary pads available to women deprived of their liberty.
The Ministry of Education will contribute to the promotion of an information campaign in public schools on menstrual health and its consequences for women’s health.
The execution of the program is subject to budgetary and financial availability. The decree will enter into force on the date of its publication.