# Ministry of Social Development (Argentina)

The Ministry of Social Development (Spanish: Ministerio de Desarrollo Social; MDS) was a ministry of the Argentine Government which oversaw the country's public policies on issues such as social assistance, welfare and human development across the country. The ministry was created in 1955 as the Ministry of Social Assistance, and it was given its current name in 1999 during the presidency of Fernando de la Rúa.
The ministry was dissolved on December 10, 2023 following a presidential decree from President Javier Milei.

## History

During the presidency of Juan Domingo Perón a constitutional reform expanded the ministries of the federal government creating the Ministry of Health. In 1955 the military coup of Eduardo Lonardi abolished many of the changes made by Perón, including the Ministry of Health, and created the Ministry of Social Assistance. It was soon after renamed Ministry of Social Assistance and Public Health, and later in 1966 renamed Ministry of Social Welfare, while still overseeing public health issues. During the 1983 democratic government of Raul Alfonsin the ministry was renamed again as Ministry of Health and Social Action, and in 1999 president Fernando De la Rúa decided to split the two ministries again, giving each the same precedence in the Cabinet of Ministers. Thus the modern Ministry of Social Development was born, which was again briefly merged with the Ministry of Health during the presidency of Mauricio Macri regarding budget cuts in 2018. In 2019, former president Alberto Fernandez decided to split both ministries again on the first day in office, and thus the Ministry of Social Development became a ministry on itself again until it was dissolved.

## Function and objectives

Decree 141 signed by president Nestor Kirchner in 2003 modifies the Law of Ministries to clearly state the function and objectives of the Ministry of Social development, among which we can name:
* Execute actions towards modifying attitudes in the general population from a social perspective, and also planning and auditing any actions regarding promotion, protection, training and development of human groups with social needs, within the policies established by the federal government, and international treaties.
* To intervene in those cases of social emergency that require assistance from the government, in coordination with the Ministry of Health.
* Execute actions towards securing financing plans of social development.
* Formulate, normalize, coordinate, audit and evaluate food policies applied in federal, provincial and local levels.
* Execute actions of direct assistance to people in situation of social risk, both inside the country and abroad, participating in international help plans.
* Formulate policies destined to infancy, youth and family; design, execute, coordinate, audit and evaluate programs of promotion, protection, social integration and defense of the rights of minors, following the guidelines of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
* Formulate policies regarding social promotion destined to the youth.
* Formulate policies towards strengthening social economy, and to design, execute, coordinate, audit and evaluate programs of microcredit destined to the socially vulnerable population.
* Assign and distribute subsidies to resolve unpredicted states of necessity, or those not covered by current programs, and those given to public or private institutions that develop activities benefiting the general population.

## Central building

The Ministry of Social Development has offices in over 50 locations across the country, but the central office is located in what is known as the Ministry of Public Works building, a rationalist style building located in the famous 9 de julio avenue in downtown Buenos Aires, between Moreno street and Belgrano avenue. The building originally housed the offices of the Ministry of Public Works since its inauguration in 1935, and President Carlos Menem relocated the ministry to a building near the Casa Rosada in 1991, allowing the then Ministry of Health and Social Action to have a new headquarters. After the split during the De la Rúa presidency, of the 22 floors of the building, the top 10 floors house the central offices of Social Development and the bottom 11 to the current Ministry of Health. The ground floor office space is split among the two ministries. Social Development also has offices in other 8 locations within the city of Buenos Aires, and offices in at least one city of every province of Argentina.
The building was built from 1932 to 1936, right around the time the government began plans to bulldoze complete blocks of buildings in a north–south corridor to create the 9 de julio avenue. By 1947, bulldozing and construction of the avenue reached the southern tip by Moreno street, but the building was spared from demolition, as it was the Ortiz Basualdo palace (headquarters of the French Embassy in Argentina) and the Palacio Álzaga Unzué in the northern end of the avenue. The avenue thus currently has a choke point between Belgrano avenue and Moreno Street, where the car lanes have to go around this building. It is the only building with a 9 de julio street address.
The building is notable for having two gigantic metal contour portraits of Eva Perón in the south and north facades, as a reminder of her dedication to the social development and welfare of the socially vulnerable population.

## List of ministers

| No. | Minister | Party | Term | President |
| Ministry of Social Assistance (1955) |||||||
| 1 | Ernesto Rottger | Independent (Military) | 23 September 1955 – 13 November 1955 | Eduardo Lonardi |
| Ministry of Social Assistance and Public Health (1958–1966) |||||||
| 2 | Héctor Noblía | Radical Civic Union | 1 May 1958 – 26 March 1962 | Arturo Frondizi |
| 3 | Tiburcio Padilla | Independent | 26 March 1962 – 29 March 1962 | Arturo Frondizi |
| 3 | Tiburcio Padilla | Independent | 29 March 1962 – 1 July 1963 | José María Guido |
| 4 | Horacio Rodríguez Castells | Independent | 1 July 1963 – 12 October 1963 | José María Guido |
| 5 | Arturo Oñativia | Radical Civic Union | 12 October 1963 – 28 June 1966 | Arturo Illia |
| Ministry of Social Welfare (1966–1981) |||||||
| 6 | Roberto J. Petracca | Independent | 28 June 1966 – 1 January 1967 | Juan Carlos Onganía |
| 7 | Julio Emilio Álvarez | Independent | 1 January 1967 – 20 March 1967 | Juan Carlos Onganía |
| 8 | Conrado Bauer | Independent | 20 March 1967 – 8 June 1969 | Juan Carlos Onganía |
| 9 | Carlos Consigli | Independent | 10 June 1969 – 8 June 1970 | Juan Carlos Onganía |
| 10 | Francisco Manrique | Federal Party | 8 June 1970 – 10 February 1971 | Marcelo Levingston |
| 11 | Amadeo Frúgoli | Democratic Party | 10 February 1971 – 23 March 1971 | Marcelo Levingston |
| 12 | Francisco Manrique | Federal Party | 23 March 1971 – 8 August 1972 | Alejandro Lanusse |
| 13 | Oscar Puiggrós | Christian Democratic Party | 8 August 1972 – 25 May 1973 | Alejandro Lanusse |
| 14 | José López Rega | Justicialist Party | 25 May 1973 – 13 July 1973 | Héctor Cámpora |
| 14 | José López Rega | Justicialist Party | 13 July 1973 – 12 October 1973 | Raúl Lastiri |
| 14 | José López Rega | Justicialist Party | 12 October 1973 – 1 July 1974 | Juan Domingo Perón |
| 14 | José López Rega | Justicialist Party | 1 July 1974 – 11 July 1975 | Isabel Perón |
| 15 | Carlos Villone | Justicialist Party | 11 July 1975 – 20 July 1975 | Isabel Perón |
| 16 | Rodolfo Roballos | Independent | 20 July 1975 – 11 August 1975 | Isabel Perón |
| 17 | Carlos Emery | Justicialist Party | 11 August 1975 – 29 October 1975 | Isabel Perón |
| 18 | Aníbal Demarco | Justicialist Party | 29 October 1975 – 24 March 1976 | Isabel Perón |
| 19 | Julio Bardi | Independent (Military) | 29 March 1976 – 30 October 1978 | Jorge Rafael Videla |
| 20 | Jorge A. Fraga | Independent (Military) | 30 October 1978 – 29 March 1981 | Jorge Rafael Videla |
| Ministry of Social Action (1981–1983) |||||||
| 21 | Carlos Lacoste | Independent (Military) | 29 March 1981 – 1 July 1982 | Roberto Eduardo Viola |
| 21 | Carlos Lacoste | Independent (Military) | 29 March 1981 – 1 July 1982 | Leopoldo Galtieri |
| 22 | Adolfo Navajas Artaza | Independent | 1 July 1982 – 10 December 1983 | Reynaldo Bignone |
| Ministry of Health and Social Action (1983–1999) |||||||
| 23 | Aldo Neri | Radical Civic Union | 10 December 1983 – 15 April 1986 | Raúl Alfonsín |
| 24 | Conrado Storani | Radical Civic Union | 15 April 1986 – 16 September 1987 | Raúl Alfonsín |
| 25 | Ricardo Barrios Arrechea | Radical Civic Union | 16 September 1987 – 26 May 1989 | Raúl Alfonsín |
| 26 | Enrique Beveraggi | Radical Civic Union | 26 May 1989 – 8 July 1989 | Raúl Alfonsín |
| 27 | Julio Corzo | Justicialist Party | 8 July 1989 – 23 September 1989 | Carlos Menem |
| 28 | Antonio Erman González | Christian Democratic Party | 23 September 1989 – 14 December 1989 | Carlos Menem |
| 29 | Eduardo Bauzá | Justicialist Party | 15 December 1989 – 20 September 1990 | Carlos Menem |
| 30 | Alberto Kohan | Justicialist Party | 20 September 1990 – 16 January 1991 | Carlos Menem |
| 31 | Avelino Porto | Justicialist Party | 16 January 1991 – 3 December 1991 | Carlos Menem |
| 32 | Julio César Aráoz | Justicialist Party | 3 December 1991 – 22 April 1993 | Carlos Menem |
| 33 | Alberto José Mazza | Justicialist Party | 22 April 1993 – 10 December 1999 | Carlos Menem |
| Ministry of Social Development (1999–2018) |||||||
| 34 | Graciela Fernández Meijide | Broad Front | 10 December 1999 – 12 March 2001 | Fernando de la Rúa |
| 35 | Marcos Makón | Independent | 12 March 2001 – 20 March 2001 | Fernando de la Rúa |
| 36 | Juan Pablo Cafiero | Broad Front | 20 March 2001 – 22 October 2001 | Fernando de la Rúa |
| 37 | Daniel Sartor | Radical Civic Union | 22 October 2001 – 21 December 2001 | Fernando de la Rúa |
| 38 | María Nélida Doga | Justicialist Party | 12 February 2002 – 25 May 2003 | Eduardo Duhalde |
| 39 | Alicia Kirchner | Justicialist Party | 25 May 2003 – 10 December 2005 | Néstor Kirchner |
| 40 | Juan Carlos Nadalich | Justicialist Party | 10 December 2005 – 14 August 2006 | Néstor Kirchner |
| 41 | Alicia Kirchner | Justicialist Party | 14 August 2006 – 10 December 2007 | Néstor Kirchner |
| 41 | Alicia Kirchner | Kolina | 10 December 2007 – 10 December 2015 | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |
| 42 | Carolina Stanley | Republican Proposal | 10 December 2015 – 5 September 2018 | Mauricio Macri |
| Ministry of Health and Social Development (2018–2019) |||||||
| 42 | Carolina Stanley | Republican Proposal | 5 September 2018 – 10 December 2019 | Mauricio Macri |
| Ministry of Social Development (2019–2023) |||||||
| 43 | Daniel Arroyo | Renewal Front | 10 December 2019 – 10 August 2021 | Alberto Fernández |
| 44 | Juan Zabaleta | Justicialist Party | 10 August 2021 – 13 October 2022 | Alberto Fernández |
| 45 | Victoria Tolosa Paz | Justicialist Party | 13 October 2022 – 10 December 2023 | Alberto Fernández |