Do your bit to fight poverty

People should have their personal anti-poverty agenda through which they make time to do something, no matter how small, to help those in need, according to a representative of Caritas Europa.

"This does not necessarily mean people should be drawing out their wallets... Poverty is not just about the lack of money and material things, there is also the dimension of social exclusion."

Making time to reach out by, for example, speaking and listening to someone poor could make a difference, said Marius Wanders, secretary general of Caritas Europa.

Mr Wanders is in Malta to address a forum organised by Caritas Malta today as it inaugurates its activities in connection with the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

He said the reality was that this European year would not solve the poverty problem. What it would do, however, was raise awareness about poverty in Europe and put the subject on governments' agendas.

"I hope to see a mushroom effect of small local initiatives that, put together, will create a massive impact," he said, adding he was an optimist who liked to see the glass half full.

"People will start talking about poverty... And as many people start doing something small - be it a sponsored walk by teenagers for a local project - poverty will become visible in the eyes of policymakers."

Before the recession hit the world, 17 per cent of EU citizens were on the poverty threshold, let alone now, he said.

As public interest in poverty increased, this could help drive changes in legislation that would help those who lived below the poverty line.

One example was the introduction of a minimum income, through which governments would ensure no one fell below that level.

The minimum income would be calculated according to the country's economy and would make sure all people had enough money to live a decent life.

Mr Wanders pointed out that not everyone was able to work and social benefits were not always enough to cover the living costs of these people.

He said while poverty was evident in some countries, like Hungary and Bulgaria, in other countries, like Malta, it was hidden.

A recent Eurostat report showed 15 per cent of the Maltese population were estimated to be on the threshold of poverty in 2008.

Mr Wanders called on people to do their bit to fight poverty by signing an online petition on the Zero Poverty website.

The petition calls on people to commit to "engage their time, skills and energy in the political, civic and personal sphere to fighting poverty".

It aims to ensure a minimum level of social protection for everyone, increase the provision of social and healthcare services, ensure decent jobs for all and eradicate child poverty in Europe starting by halving, by 2015, the number of children living in families below the poverty line.

www.zeropoverty.org