A joint fight

On December 16-17 the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion came to an end with a conference held at the Charlemagne building of the European Commission. The closing Conference was equally attended by Caritas Internationalis General Secretary and EU Ambassador of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion Lesley-Ann Knight. Knight handed to the EU presidency more than 135,000 anti-poverty signatures collected all over Europe through the Zero Poverty campaign of Caritas Europe, implemented by Caritas at national level. We asked Adriana Opromolla, responsible for social policies of Caritas Europe, and Miriam Pikaar, coordinator of Caritas Europe “Zero poverty” Campaign to draw a balance of the Year.Opromolla, over the past year there have been numerous initiatives for combating poverty in Europe. Is it possible to draw a balance? What has changed at political level? “It’s hard to draw a balance since the Year is closing now. However, as Caritas Europe our impression is that the poverty-awareness campaign has borne its fruits in terms of the acknowledgement of the problem on the part of the citizens and of the institutions. There have been developments at European political level, which most likely are the result of the European Year. The European Year has probably helped focus attention on the issue and has motivated political leaders to undertake related measures. This year, for example, in the month of September, EU’s Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian presidencies considered adopting by a recommendation on child poverty in the coming year. A consensus Conference on the homeless was held recently, which is also to be considered a token of progress. The implementation of the European Strategy on active inclusion, ongoing since 2008, was further promoted, but this recommendation was not followed through as it should have. The EU urged Member States to put into practice the recommendation on the active inclusion of those most distant from the job market. Most importantly, one of the five key targets of the new Europe 2020 Strategy is poverty reduction (reducing by 20 million the number of people at risk of poverty by 2020). This is also an objective of the European Platform for Combating poverty”.Have you noted a true political will to contribute to the resolution of problems or are these the usual declarations of principles unmarked by concrete commitments?“A lot depends on the interlocutors involved: some truly wish to change things at political level. For example, the Belgian presidency of the EU distinguished itself to this regard. Also the European Commission actively encourages Member States to progress in this field. This thrust undergoes a slowdown at national level. We haven’t drawn up lists of the good and the bad ones, however, it’s significant that Italy, along with Greece, is one of the Countries that don’t envisage a provision on minimum wage”.The economic crisis and surging unemployment have further worsened the situation. Could overall action have been thwarted by the ongoing economic circumstances, under certain aspects?“In our opinion it has not been thwarted. Indeed, the overall situation has worsened, which makes social welfare measures all the more urgent. Addressing this issue right in the midst of the ongoing economic crisis has further contributed to acknowledging urgent interventions. For us it was a good opportunity to highlight problems that would otherwise have been less evident. Instead, the European Year has represented an opportunity to highlight the importance of social welfare policies. As we have realized, this entails confronting the States’ decision to counter the financial crisis by cutting social spending. I consider this a serious problem”.Did this year’s commitment bear positive fruits in the ecclesial and ecumenical realms? “The ecumenical initiative on poverty held September 30, that involved Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic organizations (COMECE, Eurodiaconia , KEK and Caritas Europe) was extremely significant. We organized a joint conference. A document was released that analyses poverty from the perspective of Christianity, along with contemporary questions and political proposals for the next decade. It will constitute the basis for the next initiative thus promoting the adoption of common stands and initiatives at EU level”.What are the social priorities for Europe in the forthcoming years? And for Caritas?“Those adopted by the EU were announced in a document issued December “16, i.e., the European Platform for Combating Poverty. We were already aware of these priorities. Some themes are typical: inclusive growth, namely, to increase employment rates, with a strong emphasis on employment-related issues; child poverty; the youth and the risk of child poverty; the working poor and equal pay; senior citizens. Additional issues have come to the fore: the question of the homeless, energetic poverty; financial exclusion (the unavailability of banking services to the poor) and indebtedness; migrants; ethnic minorities and the Roma; the disabled and those affected by chronic illnesses. As Caritas we propose others questions that have been introduced with the petition and through the ‘Zero poverty’ campaign. We would like the EU and its governments to ensure appropriate quality social welfare services, notably homecare. As relates to child poverty we wish to highlight the situation of the children of migrants that are left in their native countries, especially in Eastern Europe; equal minimum wage, which the EU fails to enforce because of the opposition of several Countries, but we will continue raising awareness on this issue and undertaking campaigns. There is also the theme of participation, of the assumption of responsibility, whereby the poor become the protagonists of their own life”.Pikaar, what are the results of the “Zero poverty” Campaign? Has there been a true impact? Are you satisfied? “The positive thing is that different reactions were registered at national level. For example, Italy’s Caritas registered achievements in its commitment for the youth, distributing information in schools, in youth centers and parishes. Italian young people were positively involved and motivated. Also in Austria a lot of energy has been devoted to young people, while in Switzerland and in Germany the focus has been on political issues, namely social welfare services. In Albania major effort was placed in collecting signatures for the European petition (16,000 signatures were collected). Public-awareness has indeed been stepped up, the European dimension of poverty has been publicly acknowledged. It has been a positive experience for Caritas workers involved with the poor. We are less happy about the signature-collection: 135.000 are many, but we had hoped there could be many more. All considered, the actual mobilization of individuals is what is most important”.A target of “Zero poverty” was to create an internal information and cooperation network linking the Caritas offices in several European Countries…“Indeed, it has been an important initiative with good results, national Caritas offices got to know each other and started to work and cooperate, and to discuss projects for the future”.Are joint projects envisaged for 2011, the “European Year of Volunteer Work”? “Indeed, Caritas offices will network for the promotion of initiatives to this regard: Caritas Landern (Flanders) will take the lead of this initiative, along with Caritas Italy, Caritas Germany, Secours Catholique (France), Malta, Portugal and Romania. It’s a network within a network. We will support all Caritas offices in Europe and actively organize events, thus ensuring the initiatives’ realization. We could not organize a campaign of the same scope as ‘Zero poverty’, that required a major commitment and efforts, but we will continue promoting and supporting volunteer work at all levels since it is a very important aspect of Christian commitment”.Which European events are envisaged for the “Year of Volunteer Work?” “Two events have already been planned: at the end of May in Freiburg (Germany) and on December 5 in Strasbourg, on Volunteer Day. The outcomes of the events will be put together so as to highlight the values of volunteer work and good practices”.