Brazilian minister: economic crisis won't affect poverty reduction

A high-ranking Brazilian official says that the economic crisis affecting Brazil will not negatively affect the progress the country has made in poverty relief in recent years.

Tereza Campello, Minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, promised in a debate on Wednesday in Sao Paulo that "fifteen million Brazilians in rural areas will not lose access to electricity or their cisterns because of the crisis," referring to the government's projects to secure power and water in those regions and for people in need.

Brazil is currently experiencing major economic turmoil, with inflation soaring and signs of recession exacerbating. The forecast for this year's economic data is also gloomy. The International Monetary Fund said recently the agency did not believe the South American nation would manage to resume growth even in 2017.

Still, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi who also attended the debate praised Brazil's commitment to eradicating child labor.

"Brazil managed to change its child labor profile quickly, in two decades," she said.

Brazil has a proactive legal system and several remarkable programs in this regard, such as the Bolsa Familia, which gives some families with children a monthly stipend, she said. Endi