The Private Social Investment Fund (Fundo de Investimento Social Privado) was set up to support women during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the period of social distancing, women faced even more difficulties to seek protection through the public service. There was an increase in violence and femicide in Brazil grew by 20% in the worst period of the pandemic. The main innovation of the Acolhe Programme is the public-private partnership for hosting women in situations of violence on a national scale. This has never been done in Brazil, connecting public policy to combat violence with a private hotel chain that welcomes women and their children, while the government prepares an action plan to enable the victim to leave the situation of violence permanently. In addition to the Accor network, the programme has the participation of a technical partner with extensive experience in sheltering women in situations of violence that supports municipal networks to combat violence in improving care protocols, training the network to use the risk questionnaire to define the best shelter solution for women.

The aim of the programme is to strengthen public policies by offering alternative accommodation for women, helping the network to identify weaknesses in care and reduce the recurrence of violence and femicide. The programme aims to donate 4,200 hotel nights for women, reach 150 municipalities in Brazil and implement the risk questionnaire in 100% of the municipalities that use the programme. The programme is implemented through the signing of Technical Cooperation Agreements with states with direct effect for municipalities with Accor hotels, as well as nearby municipalities. Women in situations of violence are the main beneficiaries, but also the agents of the care network who receive the programme participate in training meetings. In the future, the Acolhe Programme intends to systematise a methodology for implementing protocols and referral flows for women that can be adopted by any municipality in Brazil.

The Acolhe Programme has offered accommodation to women in hotels in more than 230 municipalities in Brazil, through public-private cooperation agreements, it serves as a gateway to delve into the barriers and weaknesses of municipal networks of care for women in situations of violence.

The programme was initially created and financed by the company Accor and the Avon Institute, the social arm of the company Avon. The technical partners Instituto de Desenvolvimento do Investimento Social (IDIS) are also active in the programme, supporting the management of the ISP Fund that finances Acolhe.

Women in situations of violence who sought the protection network in the municipalities of residence were benefited. Technicians, social workers and psychologists from the networks to combat violence received training and support from the programme and civil servants from the partner state secretariats had their government programmes augmented.

We carry out a strict control of the assistance provided, but we also collect evaluations from the users of the programme, as well as from public partners. Up to September 2022, 2145 lodgings have been donated in 100 municipalities. In addition, 234 municipalities have already received training to use the programme. 183 women have been hosted with 223 accompanying persons. The programme has already provided 625 services to participating municipalities. 1,522 network technicians have undergone training to use the programme and risk assessment. 238 municipalities in 22 states have been qualified to use the programme Some of the impacts of the programme reported by public partners are improved knowledge of the coping network in the state identification of weaknesses in the service provided by municipalities. The need for training for network professionals was identified. The lack of integration between public services that deal with violence against women was also recognised.

Some challenges encountered were the low qualification of the coping network, which makes it difficult to follow up on the women hosted in the programme. There was a  lack of commitment of the network to provide resolutive care to women and a shortage of resources and people to act on the cases attended. Lack of clarity of the roles and responsibilities of the agents in the care of women was identified as well. We are developing strategies to overcome these problems through training and local agreements with the networks.

For the Programme to gain scale, it is necessary to have integration and agreement between the organs of the network regarding responsibilities and roles in serving women. Public security, social assistance, justice, health and education need to work together to reduce femicide. Extensive training of network agents on the Maria da Penha Law, legislation that is a model for the protection of women, is required as well as information about the challenges of implementing the law. Accountability of the states in directing and engaging municipal networks to combat violence, as well as budget allocation for hiring people and services is necessary for the success of the programme. Finally, hiring qualified people with a profile and values compatible with the cause of combating violence against women is needed.

The programme showed that public-private partnership can promote a lot of learning and understanding about pressing public problems. The strategy of conducting technical cooperation agreements with states to promote a dialogue and engagement with municipalities can serve for the implementation of other types of public policies. The partnership for hospitality in hotel chains can also be used for policies to provide temporary shelter for refugees, another vulnerable public in need of emergency shelter.

The program has a high level of satisfaction as it offers customized responses to the victims' needs, works to solve their problem and prevent the recurrence of violence. The offer of accommodation in hotels served as a gateway to dialogue with the public service and to identify and take action on major problems encountered in service networks. The lack of integration of services is a major obstacle to the functioning of public policy.

The Acolhe Program received the Eco 2022 Award, an important private sector award in Brazil, for its innovative nature.