O plano mais IDH e o enfrentamento à pobreza no Maranhão: impactos nos municípios e nas famílias beneficiárias no período de 2015 a 2021

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the impact of the Plano Mais IDH, as far as facing poverty in Maranhão is concerned, by analyzing 3 of the 46 programs that are part of it (Es cola Digna, Força Estadual da Saúde do Maranhão – Fesma, and Assistência Téc nica e Extensão Rural – Ater for Mais IDH), considering the municipalities and the assisted families, covering the period from 2015 to 2021. To reach the estimated re sults, the Structural Approach was used as a theoretical framework, which under stands poverty as a multidimensional and complex category where its main determi nation has a structural nature. The poverty phenomenon in Maranhão is manifested in most diverse ways, and can be identified by the income gap, lack of access to ser vices and goods, as well as weak cultural and political involvement of the state's population. For this reason, this theme was considered a priority in all government plans analyzed in this research, with emphasis on the Plano Mais IDH, the largest institutionalized strategy to tackle poverty in the state, in the period from 2004 to 2022. To understand the possible impacts of the selected Programs, the critical dia lectical method was used in the analysis of the results. The adopted research proce dures were bibliographic and documental analysis; analysis of secondary data; semi structured interviews with state program managers, and municipal managers and technicians; and, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with the assisted population in the municipalities of Fernando Falcão, São Raimundo do Doca Bez erra, and Afonso Cunha. The estimated impacts on the health, education, and in come dimensions were considered. It was concluded that the observed changes were not enough to significantly alter the poverty situation at the municipal level, in the forms of expression analyzed here, as well as the HDIM in the researched munic ipalities. The greatest contributions of the Plan have been perceived in the lives of the people directly assisted; in the political sphere, by placing poverty at the center of the government agenda; and, in the pedagogical level, by leaving a legacy of suc cesses that can be improved, towards a more robust strategy with greater chances of success in the future.