Evangelical pastor to lead Ministry of Women, Family, Human Rights

Lawyer Damares Alves will take the helm of Brazil’s Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights. Her name was announced Thursday (Dec. 6) by Extraordinary Government Transition Minister Onyx Lorenzoni, future chief-of-staff under the coming administration.

The new ministry will also aggregate the National Indian Foundation (Funai), tasked with land demarcation and indigenous policies. President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet team has now 21 ministers announced. Bolsonaro is yet to disclose his choice for Environment.

Supported by Evangelical sectors, Damares Alvez, who is also a pastor, stated that her priorities will be public policies for women. The goal, she said, is to become closer to meeting the targets not yet met, and to propose a national pact for childhood.

“The ministry has a broad scope, and now we’re incorporating Funai into it. We’re bringing public policies that haven’t yet reached women center stage,” she said.