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the extent of
poverty and social exclusion in Europe IS unacceptable
BACKGROUND :
all of
these extracts are in
"JOINT REPORT ON
SOCIAL INCLUSION"
STATEMENT
and
CHALLENGE
The European
Council of Lisbon in March 2000 recognised that the extent of poverty
and social exclusion in Europe was unacceptable… and at same time
agreed on the need to take steps to make a decisive impact on the
eradication of poverty by 2010. It also agreed that Member States
should co-ordinate their policies for combating poverty and social
exclusion on the basis of an open method combining common objectives,
National Action Plans and a Community action programme.
The
common set of four objectives:
1. To facilitate participation in employment & access to resources,
rights, goods, & services for all;
2. To prevent the risks of exclusion;
3. To help the most vulnerable;
4. To mobilise all relevant bodies.
THE
DEFINITIONS
1.
Poverty:
People are said to be living in poverty if their income and resources
are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living
considered acceptable in the society in which they live. Because of
their poverty they may experience multiple disadvantage through
unemployment, low income, poor housing, inadequate health care and
barriers to lifelong learning, culture, sport and recreation. They are
often excluded and marginalised from participating in activities
(economic, social and cultural) that are the norm for other people and
their access to fundamental rights may be restricted.
2. Social
exclusion:
is
a process whereby certain individuals are pushed to the edge of society
and prevented from participating fully by virtue of their poverty, or
lack of basic competencies and lifelong learning opportunities, or as a
result of discrimination…. often feeling powerless and unable to take
control over the decisions that affect their day to day lives.
3.
Social inclusion:
is a process
which ensures that those at risk of poverty and social exclusion gain
the opportunities and resources necessary to participate fully in
economic, social and cultural life and to enjoy a standard of living and
well-being that is considered normal in the society in which they live.
It ensures that they have greater participation in decision making which
affects their lives and access to their fundamental rights.
The Data :
The most recent available data on income across 15 Member States, while
not
capturing the full complexity and multi-dimensionality of poverty
and social exclusion,
shows that 18% of the EU population, or more than
60 million people, were living in
households where income was below 60%
of the national equivalised median income
and that about half had been
living below this threshold for three successive years.
POVERTY & POOR HEALTH
There is a widespread understanding that poor health is both a
cause and a consequence of wider socio-economic difficulties. The
percentage of people claiming their health to be very bad was
significantly higher for those below the risk of poverty line than for
those above it in the Union ... the strong correlation between poor health and poverty and
exclusion.
Particularly vulnerable groups have poor life expectancy and higher
rates of infant mortality.
FACTORS OF EXCLUSION
The risk factors associated with poverty and social exclusion which were
identified in 2001 are confirmed in the 2003 NAPs. These are:
-
long-term dependence on
low/inadequate income,
-
long-term unemployment,
low quality or absence of employment record,
-
low level of education
and training and illiteracy, growing up in a vulnerable family,
-
disability,
-
health problems and
difficult living conditions,
-
living in an area of
multiple disadvantage,
-
housing problems and
homelessness,
-
immigration,
-
ethnicity,
-
racism and
discrimination.
The
recognition of the extent to which poverty and social exclusion can be
passed on from one generation to the next is not new in the 2003 NAPs.
AIM OF THE 8th SMES SEMINAR
The meaning of the above is that the declaration of rights and laws and
their application are inadequate in various ways in ALL European
countries.
Social service providers contribute greatly towards ensuring social
inclusion of excluded people. But this contribution is not sufficiently
reflected in the existing European Strategy for Social Inclusion in
building a more inclusive European Union.
METHOD:
The workshops will form
the core of the seminar. This is where reflection on an exchange of ideas
should be translated into proposals of integrated and innovational
practices, planned synergetic strategies and a denunciation of the
contradictions and failings in five of the ten exclusion factors which
ought to be converted into inclusion factors
-
low/inadequate income,
-
low quality or absence of employment,
-
low level of education and training and
illiteracy
-
health problems and difficult living
conditions,
-
housing problems and homelessness.
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