IBGE
IBGE gathers experts and social movements in Showcase Workshop on Censuses of the Population Experiencing Homelessness
April 13, 2026 09h00 AM | Last Updated: April 14, 2026 02h56 PM
Representatives from the public sector, universities, social movements, and international organizations are participating in the Showcase Workshop on Censuses of the Population Experiencing Homelessness, taking place between April 13th and 15th. The event, promoted by the IBGE, will discuss the challenges and best practices related to the construction of a National Census of the Population Experiencing Homelessness in Brazil.
On Monday (13), the Coral da Rua opened the proceedings with a musical performance in a full auditorium. The choir, composed of people who are experiencing or have been experienced homelessness, presented a repertoire with songs by Alceu Valença, Milton Nascimento and Elis Regina. The group is organized by the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro. See below how the brand was launched on social media.
Afterwards, the opening panel of the meeting discussed the importance of the Census. The dialogues were mediated by the IBGE and included contributions from specialists from the Foundation's Directorate of Surveys, the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC), the Ministry of Health (MS) and the Intersectoral Committee for Monitoring and Evaluation of the National Policy for the Population Experiencing Homelessness (CIAMP-RUA).
The president of the IBGE, Marcio Pochmann, participated in the event via video. Mr. Pochmann greeted those involved and highlighted the project's reach: "The institution is involved in meeting a demand built from the mobilization and movement of society, and the IBGE hopes, for the first time, to be able to offer data that can, through public policies, transform this reality so much present in our daily lives."
The representative from MDHC, Malu Burgareli Gama, opened the debates by reinforcing the need for accurate data for policy-making. “The reality is that we are making public policies based on an estimate.” This understanding was corroborated by Lilian Silva Gonçalves, who spoke on behalf of the Ministry of Health. “We must recognize that these estimates have always been underestimated.”
Micheline Cunegundes, representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) of the United Nations (UN), emphasized the relevance of the partnership with the IBGE for the exchange of knowledge that will help in the development of the census. “We carried out this joint work since Roraima. We have already been working on the Census since 2022, collecting information, working together with the Operação Acolhida (Welcome Operation) and with the Venezuelan population,” she stated.
The historical importance of this operation was highlighted by Flávio Lino, a member of the National Movement of the Population Experiencing Homelessness in Rio de Janeiro (MNPR/RJ) and the National Commission on Population and Development (CNPD). Mr. Lino read a document that brought about the following thought: "If we are not counted, we do not exist, and if we do not exist, there is no public policy."
The points raised at the Workshop involved more than just theory. Anderson Lopes Miranda spoke about his time living on the streets. Today he works as the General Coordinator of the Intersectoral Committee for Monitoring and Evaluation of the National Policy for the Population Exériencing Homelessness (CIAMP-Rua). Mr. Miranda addressed the prejudice against the target audience of this Census. “Before starting the work, we need to understand the situation. Because many times people don't understand who this population is. They think they are still vagrants, beggars, who want to stay on the streets. They don't want to,” he emphasized.
Gustavo Cayres, Deputy Director of Geosciences at the IBGE, emphasized that the Census involves “a methodology that necessarily needs to be cross-cutting; there’s no other way to do it. A methodology that needs to be specific to this operation.”
Gustavo Junger, Director of Surveys at the IBGE, highlighted the continuity of the Workshop's work. “I think it’s a starting point, a learning experience for a series of paths, trails that the IBGE needs to follow,” he concluded. The closing remarks of the opening session were given by Fernando Damasco, General Coordinator of Census Operations at the IBGE. Mr. Damasco stressed the proactive nature of the event: “Only together will we be able to produce and deliver to the country its first National Census of the Population Experiencing Homelessness.”
Activities resumed at 2:30 pm with presentations of national and local case studies of censuses and surveys of the population experiencing homelessness. University researchers, state and municipal research institutes, along with representatives from local governments and social movements, had the opportunity to speak on two panels about the topic.
