IBGE and PNUD hold second national dialogue on human development
September 15, 2025 09h40 PM | Last Updated: September 16, 2025 02h58 PM
President Márcio Pochmann met with specialists, government members and representatives of civilsociety to discuss best practices to foster human development in Brazil - Photo: Ralph IzumiThe Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), held the second national dialogue on human development in São Paulo, São Paulo, on September 11th. The dialogue focused on reducing inequalities and overcoming global, regional, and national challenges to this process. With the title "A New Matrix for Human Development in Brazil," the meeting was attended by President Marcio Pochmann, UNDP Human Development Report Office researcher Heriberto Tápia, and a representative of the Ministry of Budget and Planning (MPO), Fabiano Chaves da Silva.
Other participants in the event were Luís Fernando Vitagliano, director of the IBGE/UNDP Cooperation Project; Betina Ferraz Barbosa, coordinator of the UDH/UNDP; Francisco Garrido Barcia, IBGE superintendent in São Paulo; and other experts, government officials, and civil society representatives. They discussed the topic considering the presentation of three national and international reports.
President Marcio Pochmann spoke about the importance of planning for national development and the need to integrate it with quality information. "In a society where decisions are increasingly made based on data, we have the opportunity to look at reality in a more comprehensive way. And, in this respect, to work not only with research, but with predictive public policies that anticipate solutions to current issues, such as global warming and demographic shifts. A country without planning is doomed to emergency management," he warned.
Heriberto Tápia presented the 2019 Human Development Report, and highlighted gaps in inequalities measurement: "Although we currently have the highest HDI in history, research shows that people feel more insecure and have less control over their lives. This indicates that we are still not measuring what truly matters to them. We need new indicators, subjective and objective ones, to guide broader public policies that go beyond basic needs."
At the national level, Fabiano Chaves da Silva, on behalf of the Ministry of Planning and Budget (MPO), presented the Brazilian Strategy 2050, structured around three pillars: development and guarantee of rights; economic growth and socio-environmental and climate sustainability and strengthening of democratic institutions; and state capacities and national sovereignty. According to Tápia, the plan wtakes into consiuderation the best ways to address global trends, such as the acceleration of technological transformations and the reconfiguration of value chains. "Based on these pillars, it will be possible to develop goals and key indicators for the country to face the challenges ahead in coming years," she said.
In the opening of the meeting, Betina Ferraz emphasized the importance of developing effective indicators to guide national development. Subsequently, she presented the results of the World of Debt report, produced by the United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD), about the possibilities of financing sustainable development. "The document shows how public debt can become a development tool," she explained. "The challenge is to find the balance so that it doesn't become excessive and its costs outweigh the benefits."
Economist Luiz Gonzaga Belluzzo, a professor at the Institute of Economics of Unicamp, emphasized the importance of a multifaceted dialogue on the subject. "These meetings, which bring together different perspectives, are essential to ensure that the discussion is not top-down, but a place for collective development. Only then will we be able to develop long-term planning for Brazil with social support and participation," he reamerked.
The results and inputs generated from the discussions will be the basis for Brazil's next National Human Development Report, which will be prepared by UNDP in collaboration with the IBGE. The project's next dialogue will take place in November 2025 in Salvador, focusing on the methodology of development indicators.
