The government (PT) has already praised having reached the target of at least 30% of black people in positions of trust at all hierarchical levels, but at least two departments, and (Foreign Affairs), remain below the objective set in March 2023 for both lower and higher commissioned positions.
In addition, three others (Industry, Commerce and Services, Entrepreneurship and the Comptroller General of the Union) have partial compliance, and data from five ministries, all from Palácio do Planalto, have not been released to date by the PT administration.
Under the promise of increasing the presence of black people in leadership positions and expanding diversity, the Lula administration made the goals official through a decree and made an announcement in . In September of that first year of government, he announced that he had already achieved them.
The Treasury, however, has 25% of black people in these commissioned positions, and the Foreign Affairs department records the worst result in the Esplanada, with 20%.
Both ministries remained below the minimum level of 30% both in the lowest level positions (1 to 12), where the majority of the staff is located, and in the highest levels (13 to 17).
Finance and Itamaraty were the only ones below the target in both hierarchical groups, but three other ministries were also below 30% in the general average: Industry, Commerce and Services (27%), Entrepreneurship (27%) and Comptroller General of the Union (29%). These portfolios only exceed the minimum number of black people in the lowest commissioned positions.
The numbers refer to October 2025 and were accessed by Sheet through data made available by MGI (Ministry of Management and Innovation). The deadline established in the decree for all government bodies to meet the target is December 31st of this year.
For the majority of the more than 30 government ministries, the challenge proved to be greater in filling the quota in positions linked to the highest positions. In total, 13 ministries had a percentage lower than 30% in high-level positions of trust, where the best salaries are.
Positions at levels 13 to 17 tend to include advisors and chiefs of staff for high-ranking members. According to data from the Transparency Portal, salaries in these ranges range from R$7,937.44 to R$22,718.03, considering Executive Commissioned Positions (CCE) and Executive Commissioned Functions (FCE) roles in administration, the two to which the decree refers.
The server portal does not report the number of black people in commissioned positions in the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Secretariat of Institutional Relations, Secom (Communication Secretariat of the Presidency) and GSI (Institutional Security Office).
At the time of the decree, Secom informed that the MGI and the MIR (Ministry of Racial Equality) could establish specific goals for each body or entity, aiming to reach the stipulated percentages. In parallel with black people filling the minimum percentage, gender parity would also be observed.
The report asked the MIR whether a different target was set for the two ministries, but the department did not respond.
Some of Lula’s ministries managed to reach levels well above the established objective, as is the case of Racial Equality, which today has 85% black people occupying the positions in question.
These higher numbers were responsible for boosting the general performance of the Lula government, allowing the PT administration to reach the quota filling average in September 2023, even with lower-than-expected results in the Treasury, Itamaraty and others.
When contacted, Itamaraty said that its staff is mostly made up of career employees, which means that a large part of commission positions are occupied by members of the Brazilian Foreign Service.
The ministry also stated that characteristics specific to the diplomatic career limit immediate interventions in the composition of the staff and that, faced with the need to increase ethnic-racial and gender diversity, it created the Affirmative Action Program in 2002, to grant scholarships to black candidates in the entrance exam for a career as a diplomat. In 2025, up to 53 scholarships will be awarded.
The Ministry of Entrepreneurship said it will continue to expand black representation and work to qualify and diversify its leadership teams at the highest levels. The MDIC (Industry, Commerce and Services) also stated that it works to increase diversity and reported that the data varies depending on personnel movements, necessary technical profiles and the current composition of the staff.
The CGU declared that it continues to adopt “all necessary measures” to fully comply with the goals set out in the decree. The Ministry of Finance did not respond to the report.
Secom, in turn, stated that the percentage of black people reached 37.9% in 2023, rising to 38.6% in October this year, considering CCE/FCE positions from 1 to 12 and from 13 to 17. The body did not respond about specific ministries’ data.
Public law specialist Deborah Toni states that most teams are made up of commissioned positions from levels 1 to 12. “In administration you can have commissioned positions, which are freely appointed and dismissed, both for permanent employees and people who are not public employees”, he explains.
