Despite the Pledge of EU Governments - 79 million At Risk of Poverty
Irish Scouts and Guides were represented at a conference in the European Parliament hosted by Marian Harkin MEP. The conference focussed on the subject of ‘2010 European Year for Combating Poverty & Social Exclusion’.
Despite the pledge made in 2000 by the EU Heads of State at the launch of the Lisbon Strategy, 16% of EU citizens still live below the poverty line.
This was stated by Marian Harkin MEP when she spoke at a conference for Scouts and Guides which she hosted in the European Parliament on Monday, February 22nd. The conference entitled ‘Scouts & Guides – Standing Up Against Poverty and Social Exclusion’ was held in the context of ‘2010 European Year for Combating Poverty & Social Exclusion’. The conference was attended by Scouts and Guides from throughout the EU including representatives from Ireland.
Welcoming delegates Marian Harkin MEP said:- “Despite the pledge of governments to make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty by 2010, there are still 19 million children and 79 million citizens still living below the poverty line.
“There is an obvious need for a new initiative to tackle this problem and the designation of 2010 as the European Year for Combating Poverty & Social Exclusion represents a call for this to happen. The involvement of civil society will be very important in increasing the focus on this problem and today we see welcome evidence of the participation of the Scouts and Guides movement which constitutes a core group engaged in combating social exclusion and poverty.
“To eliminate poverty globally we must start with the local, local action, local involvement, local participation and local empowerment. The work of the Scouts and Guides is supported by ten s of thousands of volunteers worldwide and this will receive a deserved focus as we celebrate next year ‘2011 European Year on Volunteering’.
“Every Scout and Guide commits to using their competences to help others, to share their knowledge and improve community life and by doing so they will help to have a successful outcome to 2010 - the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion’, Marian Harkin concluded.
