Trusting NGOs is a core element of the fight against poverty

On September 22-24, the 13th European Meeting of People experiencing Poverty (PeP) took place, organised by our member EAPN. The event was organised around funding the fight against poverty and in particular on the use of structural funds. People experiencing poverty, representatives of national governments and EU institutions, European and national NGOs, social partners and academics participated. Also we were given the opportunity to actively contribute to the event.

EAPN President Sergio Aires pointed out the important novelty of the new European Social Fund (ESF) identifying the promotion of social inclusion and combating poverty as one of the four thematic objectives of this fund for the period of 2014 and 2020. Such priority was not identified for the previous ESF. The importance of involving people experiencing poverty in decision-making was pointed out, in particular in policies to fight poverty, and this not only in Brussels but also in the different member states. Looking at the dramatic increase of poverty over the past years and the failure of the EU to deliver on its poverty reduction target, a strong call was sent to decision-makers to take ambitious actions to address this. This was also reflected in the various messages of the different country delegations.

Different workshops on "Funding the fight against poverty – use of structural funds" were organised during which participants formulated key messages and questions for decision-makers. Facilitating one of the workshops, we heard how NGOs, in particular small ones, are truly committed to work on projects to fight poverty, but feel too often confronted with heavy bureaucracy and even a lack of trust by public authorities administering the funds. Participants therefore called for, among others, supporting small and local projects and trusting partnerships between government, civil society and other partners as well as technical assistance for NGOs, to make best use of the funds.

Our President Heather Roy chaired the plenary panel on the last day of the meeting and again the issue of trust was raised several times. During the panel Tom Dominique, chair of the Social Protection Committee, also took up the issue of involving civil society supporting a bottom-up approach. For him it is clear that neither governments nor the European Commission can tell people what is happening on the ground. He also called on the future Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs to commit to the EU’s poverty reduction target.

Closing the meeting, the current Commissioner László Andor said: “This meeting is a very important opportunity for a direct dialogue between policy makers and people experiencing poverty. With one out of four Europeans at risk of poverty or social exclusion, we need to ensure that the right policies are developed and implemented, with the involvement of civil society, to strengthen social cohesion and roll back inequalities.”