On 14 December, Fiotec was present at the meeting that marked the coordination and installation of the Committee for Monitoring of the Fiocruz Plan Against Covid-19 in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, which took place at the Maré Museum, in the state capital. Cristianfari Alles, Fiotec’s Project Analyst, attended the meeting together with the coordinators of the 54 initiatives that have already been funded via the Fiocruz Public Call to Support Emergency Covid-19 Actions in Rio’s communities. The Fiocruz support agency was responsible for drawing up the terms of the agreement signed by the selected organizations, in addition to financially managing the amounts forwarded to develop the activities of each project.

At the occasion, a new transference was confirmed by the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly (Alerj) to expand the plan in 2023, for a total of R$ 25 million. The Public Call relies on Alerj funds and the projects being executed offer direct benefits to 175,000 people in six cities of the state and in the capital.

Alles says the meeting was a great opportunity to share the results of projects already concluded, as well as the experiences and challenges met in each of them. According to Alles, up to the date of the event Fiotec had worked in 62 partial accountability processes and finalized the financial management of 30 initiatives, with the execution and proper approval of their final accountability processes. He highlighted the speech by Richarlls Martins during the meeting, acknowledging Fiotec’s competence and the team’s quick response to clarify doubts and help the coordinators of the selected projects. Richarlls is the executive coordinator of the Fiocruz Plan Against Covid-19 in the favelas.

Of the 104 projects approved in the first part of the Public Call, 54 have already received funds, from R$ 50,000 to 500,000, to carry out anti-covid 19 actions in the communities. The overall investments add up to R$ 5.5 million. The remaining approved projects are still waiting for their call, which should take place before the end of 2023.

In addition to Fiocruz, Fiotec and representatives of Alerj, the meeting at the Maré Museum was also attended by about 100 community leaders, representatives of partner institutions UFRJ, PUC-RJ and UERJ, such as the pro-rector of extension and culture of UERJ, Cláudia Gonçalves.

With information from Fiocruz News Agency (AFN).