In two virtual meetings carried out last Tuesday (October 19), the State Unit of Goiás established important partnerships with entities representing municipalities in order to operationalize and streamline future Census Planning and Monitoring Meetings (REPACs) in the 246 municipalities of the state.

In the morning, the UE-GO gathered with the Goiás Federation of Municipalities (FGM), represented by its president and mayor of Campos Verdes, Haroldo Naves, by the executive superintendent, Natã Gomes, and by the technical coordinator, Lorrane Neves. In the afternoon, the meeting was with the Goiás Association of Municipalities (AGM), represented by its president and mayor of Goianira, Carlos Alberto Andrade Oliveira, and by the technical advisor, Túlio Fernando Celiak de Oliveira.

The head of the UE-GO, Edson Roberto Vieira, highlighted how important is the participation of city administrations in the REPACs, the relevance of the municipal partnerships to the success of the 2022 Population Census and invited both entities to the launch of the Census Dress Rehearsal in Damolândia. The coordinator of the REPACs, Sandra Figueiredo, and the coordinator of dissemination in Goiás, Hugo de Paula Oliveira, detailed the REPACs and tackled questions about the census activities. It was decided that the State Unit will frequently send reports about the meetings to the entities, aiming at the follow up and support by the municipalities that face difficulties to participate in the REPACs. Both entities committed to directly contact the mayors through telephone and social media groups, informing them about the schedules and effective realization of REPACs in their municipalities, as well as asking their intervention, especially in cases in which difficulties were detected and/or in cases in which the representatives of the municipalities were not the most suitable for the role.

Both the FGM and the AGM have a traditional collaboration with the IBGE and they were very interested in partnerships that streamline the REPACs and the Census. According to Natã Gomes, the municipalities were affected by the postponement of the Census, since that outdated data produce distortions that jeopardize city administrations, which reinforces the importance of the continuous dialogue between the municipalities and the IBGE.