"It is very good to know that those ahead of the IBGE today love the Institute and what they do". The closing sentence of Minister Simone Tebet's speech to more than 40 IBGE servants who were at the Ministry of Planning and Budget (MPO) in Brasília this Monday (6) illustrates well the meeting's atmosphere. Ms. Tebet insisted on hearing reports from the state superintendents and took the civil servants' side in the main demands discussed in the meeting, which lasted almost two hours.

“I have been talking about the importance of database since day one as Public Law professor at University in 1992”, said the Minister, adding that she is not going to let anything stain IBGE’s credibility. “Everyone is aware of the importance of the IBGE: one thing is to question the lack of resources, a whole other thing is to allege without any proof that the field collection was not well done”, she stressed. “The delay in data collection did not jeopardize the quality of the work. And a political discussion on the new distribution criteria of the Sharing Revenue Fund of the Municipalities (FPM) cannot discredit the work you are doing”, she claimed.

Regarding what was pointed out by the 27 state superintendents and board of directors, Ms. Tebet promised to fight for the admittance of new servants through public competition exams and for more appreciation (even in terms of better salaries) for the Institute’s civil servants. She indicated that the government considers opening new public competition processes, but the Ministry in charge of this is that of Management and Innovation. “But I will not forget about the IBGE when I meet the Minister of Management”, summarized Ms. Tebet, wearing the traditional blue vest of the Institute, offered by Cimar Azeredo, Director of Surveys and provisional IBGE President.

Later, Mr. Azeredo reinforced the quality standards pursued by the Institute in all its surveys and thanked the support of the minister and of her direct assistants present at the meeting, giving opportunity for the IBGE state superintendents and directors to speak.

Check out what they said:

Sinval Santos, special assistant to the Presidency: "I’ve worked at the IBGE for 45 years now, and for 32 years I was a superintendent in Paraná. Through all this time, never have we had a meeting such as this, with all the 27 state superintendents and the board of directors being received by the Minister of Planning and her staff. The house has been working a lot to do the best job it can."

Rosemary Rodrigues, executive director: "The IBGE has a very Strong characteristic of improvement in public expenditure, and we’ve been working even harder on this. I’d like to add that we have few workers, being 4 thousand civil servants all over the country."

Claudio Stenner, director of Geosciences: "The Census statistical production counts on a huge set of geospatial information that can contribute a lot to the Country. The IBGE benefits from having statistics and geography together under the same body."

Carlos Cotovio, director of IT: "With the advance of the Census technology, we are able to track real-time information, following how collection advances in specific areas and correcting any problems immediately. In the previous Censuses, it would take us months to detect a problem. Transparency and quality check are the 2022 Census’ strong points".

Marcelo Virginio de Melo, superintendent no Maranhão: "I would like you and your team to be confident as to this Census ‘results. Please disseminate them, use them. Call the IBGE to explain them. Complaints are coming mostly from mayors that did not sided us during the process and are now getting surprised by the results. But when we have the chance to give the correct explanation, they understand."

Adriane Almeida, superintendent in Sergipe: "What we have today in terms of quality, also due to technology, attests to the well-done work that we have been doing. We are going through a time of few people in the house, and this could seriously impact the quality of our service later on. When I think we are goingo to collect information and we go to fancy buildings and also to that hut far away, treating everyone the same way, I feel delighted. We want to continue doing quality work, but we need a minimum of structure to keep this level of excellence."

Maysa Sacramento, general coordinator of ENCE (National School of Statistical Sciences): "IBGE’s academic arm has been managing to achieve more and more teaching excellence: Bachelor, Master’s and Doctoral Programs. We are also responsible for servants’ capacity building. In 2022, we trained more than 58 thousand servants. We also have a UN Regional Hub to facilitate projects with the use of big data in statistical studies.”

José Ilcleson, superintendent in Amazonas: "Carrying out the Census is not something simple, those who know at least a little of the Brazilian territory understand how challenging this mission is. I can start explaining by Amazonas itself: we have a bigger territory than the Northeast Region. A single municipality, Barcelos, is larger than the states of Paraíba and Rio Grande Norte together. And to account for all that I have 47 statutory servants. It is not just a matter of personnel scarcity, but mainly of the effort we all make to take this big picture of Brazil. Another aspect to highlight is that there are places where the only State presence is through the IBGE. An enumerator in Parintins took a motor boat, a canoe and then walked across the woods to reach a community that had not had the presence of the Brazilian State for long. The thing is the community was moved because they heard the Census “would reach all places” and was waiting for the enumerator to come."

Mario Frazeto, superintendent in Mato Grosso do Sul: "We have worked together with your father (former senator Ramez Tebet) and with you as mayor and vice-governor. You, above anyone else, knows the work of the IBGE. Count on us and on the IBGE, we will always be together."

Maria Lucia Vieira, assistant director of Surveys: "Not by Censuses only doth IBGE live: we have PNAD, agricultural statistics and so many others – all of which are managed by 352 civil servants. Yes, we lack personnel and this is urgent. We trust the Ministry. Andy ou can also trust our work. It is a whole team deserving congratulations.”

Maria Antônia Esteves, superintendent in Minas Gerais: "I’ve worked in three censuses already, this is my fourth, and I guarantee this will be delivered with the best quality ever. We do not fear speaking with mayors or the press. It is good to know we have a safe harbor, but the IBGE needs to be valued also as an Institution.”

Danielle Macedo, coordinator of the Center for Information Documentation and Dissemination: "We talk a lot with society, by disseminating the information we produce. The exercise of citizenship is possible not only when the citizen has the opportunity to answer, but also when they receive the information we produce in an understandable way. It is not enough for the IBGE to produce information and make it available equally for everyone. Brazil is very diverse, we need to produce information to which anyone can relate."

Roberto Kern, superintendent in Santa Catarina: "We need a specific law for Census hiring. This difficulty recruiting, selecting and keeping the staff has also delayed the Census. And we have delayed the delivery of the Census not against quality, but rather to maintain quality. Our Census is internationally acknowledged. We are depicted as highly reliable and we take much pride in it.”

Gliner Alencar, superintendent in Pernambuco: "It is not so rare for us to hear a servant leave the IBGE saying: ‘I got to earn more money to support my family’. If the IBGE paid the same salary other bodies do, that servant would never leave the IBGE. Staff restructuring and staff strengthening, that is what we need. If information is the most valuable good, so this is one of the most valuable bodies of Brazil."

Millane Chaves, superintendent in Mato Grosso: “With servants in and out so frequently, we have not been able to pass on knowledge. We cannot lose this IBGE feeling of belonging, which is only built up over time."

IBGE superintendents reported on efforts to conclude the Census- Photo: Edu Andrade/Ascom-MF

Read more about the meeting between Minister Simone Tebet and the IBGE board and superintendents in the article on the Ministry of Planning and Budget website.