Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Honourable Mayor of Porto, Mr. Rui Rio
Ladies and Gentlemen,


I am particularly pleased to be present at the launching of the new Municipal Support Service for Voluntary Work of the City of Porto.

For several reasons: and the first one is probably the very unusual fact that such a service is being launched by a Municipal Authority.

By doing so, the City is interpreting the deep sensitivity and the availability that thousands of people in Porto have been showing in wishing to help their community, and their neighbours who, in some way or another, need a helping hand, affection, a minute of notice.

What is at times difficult is to give others our time, because our busy daily schedule renders the short time we have available into a precious asset.

But just a few minutes given to a fellow being, which at times only needs to speak or to be heard, make a big difference in a solitary or suffering life.

This is a simple initiative which, I believe, is not very costly, and that can reach a size difficult to imagine due to the impact it will have on people’s lives, whether of those who make themselves available for voluntary work, or for those who benefit from that human generosity which sounds so simple, but that can go a long way and register so deeply in the soul of both those who give and those who receive.

It is after all an exchange without accounting for figures.

Many times – I would even say, in a majority of times – the action of a Local Authority is assessed by the “size” of the undertaking left by the management of a said council. This obsession for large undertakings, those which leave their marks on the urban landscape and make us remember, or sometimes try to forget, who erected it, make the small gestures such as this one we are launching here today totally insignificant, at least as far as the media is concerned.

I know that large undertakings have the greater effect on passers by, but these small gestures have the greater effect on the heart of those who suffer.

This is precisely why I am very grateful for your having allowed me to share this initiative with you.

One other reason is connected with the idea of voluntary work and with the markedly wide relevance its practice is being revealed in Portuguese society, especially among the younger generations. This is a good sign, bringing us hope for a fairer, better shared and more equitable society.

Voluntary work is one of the fundamental pillars of what is known as civic culture, of the understanding that rights are only meaningful when sustained explicitly by the intrinsic responsible duties.

This is the citizenship which is required so that Portuguese society becomes more equitable and socially more cohesive.

Voluntary work cannot only be accepted as a charity, as an altruistic and philanthropic attitude. I understand it as an act of justice coming from those who, having benefited from the opportunities that society has placed within their reach, consider that the time has come to give back to that same society a portion of their success, of their initiative, of their well being, for the benefit of those who, for so many reasons difficult to specify and often even to understand, could not, or were unable, to take advantage of similar opportunities.

We must realize that the time has come not to consider the State exclusively responsible for the fight against poverty and social exclusion. This is a challenge that, to be successful, demands from the common citizen a little more of his notice and of his availability. In effect, of his time.

This was the sense involved in the “civic commitment for social inclusiveness” that my husband proposed to the people of Portugal. This is a cause that we cannot ignore, because it concerns all of us, it is our global responsibility.

I know that the people of Portugal are an equitable people and many answers have been received to that proposal.

I have seen it in the many contacts that my personal “voluntary work”, initiated from the Presidency, have provided me with.

But if there is a growing participation in humanitarian causes, and this is factual, the links with the neighbourhood and with family connections which I still knew have now been lost. Both in the villages where I spent my holidays in the Algarve and in my “Lisbon village”, the Campo de Ourique quarter.

This means that people are yet lonelier, mainly in the bigger cities.

This means that this Municipal Support Service for Voluntary Work of the City of Porto is very necessary and very meaningful.

As such the wish I want to extend, from my heart, is the success of the initiative which we are launching today.

I would be very pleased if this example could be multiplied throughout the whole Country.

It was very gratifying to be with you today, during a time which is so important for the loyal, invincible and ever more equitable City of Porto..