The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statisitcs (IBGE) organized, on Tuesday (28), in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), at the Integrated Service Center for People Experiencing Homelessness – CIPOP-RUA/RJ, the second one of tree regional launches of the 1st National Census of the Population Experiencing Homelessness. The initiative represents a historical landmark as the first national statistical survey aimed exclusively at this segment of the population.

Developed by the IBGE in partnership with public institutions, civil society organizations and social movements, the Census consists of a count and demographic characterization of the population experiencing homelessness in the country, and represents an essential instrument for the strengthening of public policies aimed at this population segment, and provides a robust, standardized and nationally comparable statistical base. 

The survey allows the identification, with methodological rigor, of territorial distribution, the sociodemographic profile and the living conditions of the population experiencing homelessness, and fills a historical gap resulting from the fragmentation and heterogeneity of existing sources.  

Speaking on behalf of the Court of Justice in Rio de Janeiro, apellate judge Marco Aurélio Bezerra, coordinator of CIPOP-Rua/RJ, highlighted the importance of knowing the target population of this census operation. “These are people who have been expelled from home for a number of reasons, and we need to understand their reality. Let's make visible the invisible ones. The IBGE will diagnose the situation so that we learn what has to be."

Vladimir Miranda, IBGE's deputy Director of Surveys recalled the workshop held some weeks ago on the same topic. “This operation is a collective construction, with the population, ministries, entities and social movements advancing one more step. This way, we will help in the formulation of public policies and, one day, we will no longer need this census, since there will be no one else in this situation.”

The Directorate of Geosciences (DGC) was represented by its director, Maria do Carmo Bueno. “It is an important moment for the IBGE, to fulfill our mission of portraying Brazil. This population has always been invisible, and we want to restore their dignity. As a geographer, I mention the territory and its importance in this operation, for we are going to list the spaces where this population moves through, and the integration between Geography and Statistics.”

Flávio Lino, current executive secretariat of the National Movement of the Population Experiencing Homelessness in Rio de Janeiro, was very touched. “This is the strengthening of institutions. This operation has had an impact on the country's structure. We have to support the structure of the country. We have to support the IBGE and make that population aware of it.”

Igor Santos spoke about his experience with homelessness. “We are not in this condition for our own will. In some cases our attitudes have led us to this outcome. People look down on us, we face prejudice. We wish to be seen as people, as citizens.”

The president of the IBGE, Márcio Pochmann, said the Institute is in debt with this share of the population. “We have portrayed reality for 90 years, showing reality, and now the statistical system can fulfill this demand. The census always covered the population with a fixed address, but we know there has been an increase in the number of people without one. here is the effort of three decades, bringing together several institutions, with technical support and that will be a reference for other countries."

Technical team presents methodological proposal and schedule

After the opening talks, Fernando Damasco,general coordinator of census operations at the IBGE, and Bruno Perez, technician at the IBGE's Directorate of Surveys, made a technical presentation of the project Cenus of the Population Experiencing Homelessness, which shows the operation website and highlights details of the concept of the population experiencing homelessness, methodology, training and logistics.

According to the coordinator, although municipal and state counts of this population already take place, "conducting a national census is important to produce standardized statistics using the same concepts and methodologies all over the country, and within the same timeframe, so that they can really provide a picture of the condition and presence of the population experiencing homelessness in Brazilian municipalities. These are standardized public statistics, and it is through this that we can establish a national public polic”.

The Census will allow us to identify how this population is distributed across Brazilian cities, the organization of the places they move through and stay and the sociodemographic profile of this population. "When we have a Census, we have official statistics, available on the IBGE website, public, free, for all citizens, whether they are people who are on the streets or people who are developing policies for this population," Damasco emphasized.

Bruno Perez then explained the concept of the homeless population, established in decree No. 7,053, of December 23, 2009, which establishes the National Policy for the Population Experiencing Homelessness, and how the IBGE will operationalize this concept.

“Our criteria will consider people experiencing homelessness to be those who have slept on the streets, in institutions, or in non-residential occupations for at least one night in the last seven days, considering the reference date for data collection. This is a simplification compared to what is in the decree, in order to make the definition operational and bring it to the streets.”

He explains that there will be five types of questionnaires applied according to the location and the approach to each person potentially experiencing homelessness. For example, “there will be a specific questionnaire for the population we find on the street or other public spaces; one for the population in shelters and one for the population in non-residential occupations. Also, we will have a questionnaire for children under 12 years of age, to be answered by their guardians, and a simpler observation questionnaire for cases in which we cannot conduct the interview for some reason.”

Perez also spoke about the survey timeline, which will include the first pilot test to be carried out in 2026. The second pilot test will be in 2027 and the census rehearsal in early 2028. The census data collection is expected to take place in June 2028, with results to be released in December.