The new social policy: Mayor Carlos Moedas calls for adoption of Nordic model for shelter homes

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During the pandemic of Covid-19, different countries experienced various social crises, which they handled with a variety of strategies. In Portugal a huge problem was the increase of homeless people, who suffered the most during this pandemic.

Two temporary shelter houses were opened during the last two years, but now they have been shut-down and all residents moved to new locations.

The main problem regarding these homes were, as stated by Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas: “These temporary shelter houses lacked proper conditions according to  standards, which are now being implemented. Rest assured that all residents are accompanied and moved to other such facilities”.

Mayor Moedas also noted that the homeless problem is very serious and should be resolved as quickly as possible. His suggestion is to implement similar models to those in Nordic countries.

The plan is to make reception centres that can accept more than 100 people at the time. This is all part of the new strategy proposed by mayor Moedas.

“We should think about some smaller solutions, similar to those implemented in Nordic countries”, said mayor Moedas. 

This type of social policy is rare, because many countries are adopting strategies in regard to Covid-19 and few now have time to implement such policies. This is a great example set by Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas, who recently started focusing on housing problems. This is a great way to show residents of Lisbon that social policies are necessary in these times of uncertainty and that they are needed to ensure each resident of the city will have a home. (photo credit: David Mark/Pixabay)