The regional Secretary for Social Solidarity announced in Praia da Vitória that the Government of the Azores will invite the representatives of the Private Social Solidarity Institutions and "Santa Casa da Misericórdia" to participate in a first meeting intended to analyse the updating of cooperation agreements.
 
"As changes are also demanding for us, the Government, to adapt to different contexts, I am happy to share with you that we will also begin talks in June with a view to updating cooperation agreements with our partner institutions under the provisions for the Social Work Code of the Azores," said Andreia Cardoso.
 
The Secretary for Social Solidarity spoke at the opening of the 14 Insular Congress of "Santas Casas da Misericórdia" of the Azores and Madeira. On the occasion, she highlighted that the goal is "to ensure greater equity in the relation between institutions with the Region and above, ensure social justice in the access of the Azorean population to collective services and infrastructures."
 
In her speech, she assured that the Regional Government "is perfectly aware" of the importance of the work carried out by partner institutions, maintaining its commitment to a financing model that "ensures the sustainability of social responses in a balanced and transparent manner."
 
Social work, as Andreia Cardoso stressed, "is not a job that can be carried out in isolation. It is and should be increasingly a multidisciplinary series of measures and responses that will collect good ideas from the most varied areas in order to optimise resources available and better serve the community in which it takes active part."
 
The Government of the Azores currently maintains partnerships with 230 institutions, which provide 700 social responses to more than 24 thousand Azoreans, representing an annual investment of around 60 million Euros per year.