Alliances to fight poverty

The European seminar “alliances to fight poverty” intends to examine a real poverty policy and also to take initiatives to realize it.

In order to let appear poverty on the political agenda the political parties and the governments must be aware of the necessity of a policy for struggle against poverty. It’s the job of the civil society to convince them. Applying this strategy the civil society succeeded several times to define the European agenda, for instance of the peace and environment policy. In some European countries coalitions between the civil society and the associations of poverty are formed for an active poverty policy. In several European countries organizations of the civil society together with the poor and their associations, set up projects , as well cultural as health related ones.

The European seminar “alliances to fight poverty” intends to examine the forming of alliances and will try to find out if a more close cooperation on the European level might be possible.
This results in, during the final phase of our two-day, an appeal by and for the civil society: united we must be ready to keep the struggle against poverty by preference on the European policy agenda.

To strengthen the European poverty policy it’s our purpose to examine different items:

• Can Europe agree with social rights and rights on social services?
• Could another kind of activating be an alternative for the today’s employment policy? A kind of activating taking into account the possibilities of the people suffering from poverty.
• Offers participation to the society more opportunities than activating?
• Can Europe move to a social investment state?

This investigation offers a lot of possibilities for a more powerful policy for struggle against poverty and lays the foundation of new alliances.

At last the European seminar explores the successful coalitions and projects of cooperation. These good practical examples guide us to new ways concerning a policy for struggle against poverty. They also deepen in each case one of the above items. A list of 14 projects from different European countries offers the participants a display card of the engagement of the European civil society.
These 14 projects incite to do more.

 

• ‘I diritti alzano la voce’
• Activation and participation (dutch)
• Activation and respect: a swedish example
• Activation as a stepping stone to participation?
• Activation et participation à Charleroi (french)
• Activation in Holland (dutch)
• European social policy instruments
• La nécessité des services sociaux
• Mid Term review of European Year 2010
• Poverty and energy (dutch)
• Rotterdams wijktheater
• Social Rights as a cornerstone of European social policy
• Spring alliance: an European alliance
• The social investment state: a challenge
• Working in Romania
• Zinneke parade