2010 - European Year Against Poverty and Social Exclusion

2010 has been designated by the European Union as the Eluropean Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

A series of activities is being organised by the Irish Government to mark this year. We will keep you posted on these events on this website.

Social Justice Ireland will take a number of initiatives to mark this year.

The first of these will be the publication of a Policy Briefing on the issue of Poverty.

On Sepember 21st, Social Justice Ireland wlll hold its annual social policy conference which will address the issue of the future of the welfare state.

Full details on these and on all related issues will be available on this website throughout the year.

Social Justice Ireland is the Irish organisation in the Caritas Europa network addressing issues of poverty, inequality, social exclusion and sustainability.

Caritas Europa launched a campaign to mark this European Year. Entitled 'ZERO POVERY' the campaign was launched in the European Parliament on January 27, 2009. Information on the launch can be accessed here.

Social Justice Ireland supports this campaign and proposes that both Ireland and the EU should adopt a target of zero poverty to be achieved by 2020.

You can access the Caritas Europa Zero Poverty website here

You can access the EU website for this special year here

8 Irish MEPs attend launch of Zero Poverty Campaign in Brussels

8 Irish MEPs attended the launch of Caritas Europa's 'Zero Poverty Campaign' in the European Parliament. This campaign is being conducted in all 27 EU countries to coincide withthe European Year Against Poverty and Social Exclusion. Social Justice Ireland is part of this network in its activities around poverty, inequality, social exclusion and sustainability. The launch was attended by Sean Healy, Director of Social Justice Ireland.

The photograph shows, from left, Joe Higgins (Soc), Pat The Cope Gallagher (FF), Sean Healy (Social Justice Ireland), Nessa Childers (Lab.). Liam Aylward (FF) and Gay Mitchell (FG). Other MEPs who attended but are not in the photograph were: Marian Harkin (Ind.), Alan Kelly (Lab.) and Mairead McGuinness (FG).

Further information on the Zero Poverty Campaign is available here.

The zero poverty website can be accessed here

Caritas Europea's website can be accessed here

European Anti-Poverty Year launched - mixed reception

On January 21, 2010 the European Year Against Poverty and Social Exclusion was officially launched in Madrid under the Spanish presidency of the EU. One of the most noteworthy outcomes from the opening conference, was a joint call from the Belgian and French secretaries of state for quantified EU targets to reduce poverty by 2020 (and to make them as binding as the Stability and Growth Pact). This was one of the initiatives that Social Justice Ireland called for in its Submission to the European Commission on their consultation document on the EU Strategy for 2020.

Both Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero and Commission President Barroso were present at the opening conference. One of the more depressing moments of the conference was in Commission President Barroso’s presentation.

On the positive side he underlined the focus on social cohesion objectives in the Treaty of Lisbon and highlighted the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the social transversal clause, Article 11, and the concept of the social market economy.

On the negative side he continuted to insist that employment will solve poverty. While increased employment is to be welcomed and would contribute to reducing poverty it is far past the time for the European Commission, and the EU generally, to realise that it has failed to go anywhere close to full employment in the half century since its establishment in 1957 and it will not be achieved any time soon. Consequently, more is required if poverty is to be reduced dramatically.
Social Justice Ireland believes that the EU should have a target of achieving zero poverty by 2020.

Zapatero's speech offered a different take (and took a lot from his presentation the day before in the European Parliament in Strasbourg). He spoke, among other things, on the strength of the European social model, the economic crisis, the situation of "dependent" people (and the recent Spanish legislation to address it) and the progress made in his country to integrate the Gitanos people and people with disabilities.

His most significant comment however was his call for a European Social Pact to be negotiated at the European level with social partners and for social cohesion objectives to be at the heart of the EU 2020 strategy.. He failed, in this context, to make any mention of civil society which is unfortunate as no social pact can be delivered in Europe without the active involvement of civil society generally and the community and voluntary sector in particular. This sector delivers a very large component of the effective response to poverty and social exclusion. Without its involvement such a strategy will not go beyond rhetoric..

Poverty is a scandal - Zero Poverty Campaign launched

Poverty is a scandal. What else can it be when more than half a century after the establishment of the EU (in its earlier incarnation) 17% of all those in the EU live in poverty. 20% of children in the EU are at risk of poverty. The comparable figures for Ireland are 13.8% and 18%. As part of its action for the European Year 2010 for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, Caritas Europa launched its Zero Poverty campaign for the at the European Parliament in Brussels. The central message of this campaign is that poverty is unacceptable in the 21st century. Social Justice Ireland is the Irish organisation working within the Caritas Europa network on this campaign and related issues.

Sharing a platform with Elisabeth Schroedter MEP, Vice-Chairwoman of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and with presentations by Erny Gillen (President of Caritas Europa) and Paolo Pezzana/Patrizia Cappelletti (representing Caritas Italy), Caritas Europa presented its vision of Zero Poverty - a vision of a different world, in which nobody is forced to live on the streets or dies prematurely because he/she cannot afford healthcare.

The Poverty Paper: Prevention is better than cure

In its Poverty Paper, published especially for the European Year 2010, Caritas defines poverty as a lack of well-being - which includes a lack of financial resources but goes beyond that. People need and have a right to all that is required to live life with dignity.

Caritas argues that it is by supporting and strengthening the three traditional sources of social support: 1) the labour market 2) the family 3) the welfare state, that the poor and socially excluded can become truly self-sufficient and restore the dignity that has been robbed from them by the stigma of poverty.

Caritas believes that in order to achieve the vision of Zero Poverty, society has to tackle poverty’s root causes rather than merely respond to its consequences. Today, social policies are still focused principally on assisting poor people. However, if the fight against poverty and social exclusion is to be sustained, more emphasis must be placed on policies focused on preventing the spiral of poverty from beginning in the first place, particularly in the early stages of an individual's life. Prevention is better than cure. While poverty must be addressed everywhere it exists, it is even more important to address the issue of preventing poverty

8 Irish MEPs attend launch of Zero Poverty campaign in the European Parliament

The launch of this campaign was attended by eight Irish MEPs: Liam Aylward (FF), Nessa Childers (Lab), Pat The Cope Gallagher (FF), Marian Harkin (Ind), Joe Higins (Soc), Alan Kelly (Lab), Mairead McGuinness (FG), Gay Mitchell (FG)

The Petition: Taking a united stand against poverty

Over the course of 2010, Caritas Europa and its Europe-wide network (including Social Justice Ireland in Ireland) will be raising awareness of poverty, and lobbying national governments and supranational institutions for change. A central aspect of their campaigning activity will be the Petition Against Poverty, which calls on European governments to take four achievable steps to end poverty. These are:

End child poverty by guaranteeing allowances for every child in Europe, regardless of the status of their parents;
Secure a minimum standard of social security for all;
Guarantee universal healthcare and strengthen the welfare state;
Take active steps to ensure decent jobs with decent wages.

The target for the petition is to reach one million signatures of citizens who are nationals of a significant number of member states. This would be a requirement for inviting the Commission to submit appropriate legislative proposals on the basis of the European Citizen’s Initiative, one of the major innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Act Now!

At the beginning of 2010 Caritas is looking forward to a year in which a number of the socio-political orthodoxies of past decades are challenged and many people inspired to look at poverty through new eyes. However, without the support of thousands of volunteers and sympathisers, nothing will be possible.

It is with this in mind that everybody who cares about combating poverty is invited to make a stand in 2010: a stand against poverty; a stand for social justice; a stand that will get people talking, thinking and acting.

Poverty is everybody’s concern. The Zero Poverty campaign (www.zeropoverty.org) proposes concrete actions against poverty that can be accomplished in our everyday life. Act now for a better future!