Brasil Carinhoso (Caring Brazil), an extension of the Bolsa Familia welfare programme, comes into operation this month. Targeted at poor families with children under six years of age, the government anticipates it will reduce the number of Brazilians living in extreme poverty by a further 40%.

The Brasil Carinhoso programme aims to guarantee that the poorest Brazilian families with children aged 0-6 will have an average monthly income of at least 70 reais (US$35) per person.

The Minister for Social Development and the Fight against Hunger, Tereza Campello, has emphasised this week that the impact of Brasil Carinhoso will be immediate, saying "2.7 million very poor children aged 0-6 will escape extreme poverty" as soon as the first payments are dispensed.

President Rousseff has frequently reiterated that the eradication of extreme poverty is her number-one priority. Government figures suggested last year that around 16 million Brazilians – 8% of the total population – were living in extreme poverty, which represented a drastic decrease of about 20 million since 2003.

The Brasil Sem Miséria (Brazil without Extreme Poverty) programme, launched a year ago, has already benefited 687 thousand poor families; the aim is that it should reach 800 thousand families by 2013.

Source: Portal Brasil and Embassy of Brazil in London

Watch a video on the first year of Brasil Sem Miséria (in Portuguese)

Read a recent BBC report on the Brasil Carinhoso programme