In its meeting on 1st July, the Presidential Social Council of Costa Rica unanimously approved an agreement that firmly places this issue on the country's social agenda, whilst also promising to create a policy within the next 4 months. The Presidential Social Council is the governing body that coordinates the Ministries and institutions responsible for social policies in the country; therefore, the policy is expected to be comprehensive in nature, encompassing all institutions. 

EUROsociAL has been supporting this process since Costa Rica took part in the Regional Seminar on Policies on Confronting Homelessness held by the Programme in Bergamo (Italy) within the framework of the FEANSTA Annual Conference (European Federation of National Organisations Working with Homeless People). As a result of the country's participation at that event, it was determined that within the country's institutions there was a need for a specific policy for this section of society, the majority of whom are currently attended by leading not-for-profit and non-governmental organisations, and for whom there are no uniform attention protocols.

EUROsociAL Programme, which is financed by the European Union, supported a meeting of the Council with Volker Busch Geertsema, a German expert from FEANSTA, and Mayra Aldama, Director of Comprehensive Protection for the Ministry of Social Development of Uruguay. 

The German expert gave a presentation on the European Housing First experience, which considers homelessness to be primarily a housing issue, placing the securing of a home as the first stop in the process of the therapeutic recovery and social inclusion of homeless people. This approach is quite different to those traditionally adopted in Latin America, where priority is placed on providing psycho-social care, therapeutic treatment and temporary shelters or refuge centres, which do not effectively eradicate the problem. 

Mayra Aldama also supported this theme with a presentation on the Uruguayan experience of the Programme for Assistance to Homeless Persons (PASC), which has recently adopted new approaches: "nothing magical happens at collective centres, the problem does not get resolved. When so many people are living together, it is difficult for the work to be effective.  Nothing is accomplished with psycho-social care alone, what's needed is employment insertion, a home, etc.".

The discussion triggered by these presentations centred around Costa Rica's need for a policy focussed on this section of society which, according to recent data, and taking into account only those who are institutionalised, represents over 2,000 people who are in need of an inter-sectoral approach and an inter-institutional effort to provide inclusive outcomes: "forget these homeless camps, the new public policy should be focussed on long-lasting social inclusion' members of the Council affirmed.

In the days following the meeting, various workshops were held with technical experts from the national institutions involved, from municipal institutions and civil society organisations where, with the collaboration of the two EUROsociAL experts, work began on the design of the policy, which is expected to be launched in November 2015 within the framework of the celebrations for Day for the Eradication of Poverty.