Politics

In line with the festive season, and according to tradition this time of year, students from Porto pay a visit to Porto City Hall and the Municipal Executive to wish them a great New Year.

Season's greetings to everyone!

Porto has a Municipal Ombudsman as of 26 June 2018. This is the first time that the city of Porto has a Public Official to deal with matters of fairness and transparency in the city. Ombudsmen are independent, impartial and provide a free service. Their job is to investigate complaints that haven't been solved by the organisation complained against, making someone suffer as a result. The office is neutral and looks at the complaint from all sides.

The President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, will be in Porto on 23 November, to attend a meeting of government officials at Palácio da Bolsa and also a business seminar between members of government and entrepreneurs both from Angola and from Portugal at the Customs Building.

The Kings of The Belgians, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde will visit Porto, in the context of the State Visit of the monarchs to Portugal. Their Majesties will be welcomed by the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, at 10.35 am, in the Town Hall.

The Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira and the Municipal Executive have decided to establish, for the first time in the city of Porto, the role of the Ombudsman, in order to act as "a tool for citizen participation".

Porto City Hall provides its staff with training regarding mental health in the workplace. The specific training, themed "Ouvir o que não é dito, Primeiros Socorros em Saúde Mental" [Make the unspoken heard, First Aid in Mental Health - free translation], started today and it will last the entire week, in a total of 18 hours. This initiative is jointly organised with Time to Change Campaign and Mental Health First Aid England.

The Information Office and Victim Support Centre in Porto (GAIV) was established five years ago. During this time, 6.577 people have benefited from this project. The most usual crime is domestic violence and the victims are predominantly women, between the ages of 30 and 40. A packed Almeida Garrett Municipal Library auditorium debated Domestic Abuse and Gender Equality with the Porto Metropolitan Command of the Police Force, Porto City Hall and over 70 institutions involved in this project,...

Today, 8 March, the International Women's day, women are being gifted flowers at the Citizens Bureau in Porto. At the City Hall's initiative, throughout the day every woman heading to this municipal service will receive a camellia to mark women's Day.

The news portal "Porto." now provides the talking version of its online text, with the added ReadSpeaker functionality. This Text-to-Speech technology not only allows people that suffer from reading disabilities, dyslexia, and visual impairment to access the news website but also assists non-native Portuguese users and people who choose not to read from screens or who don't have the chance to read.