Claudia Calleja
Do your bit to fight poverty
Marius Wanders, from Caritas Europa, believes that people's collective efforts could help combat poverty. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi.
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.
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Lina Caruana
Mar 17th 2010, 18:01
I did not have in mind a kind of Robin Hood action as some cheeky citizens do by taking the law in their own hands . I meant a thorough reinforcement of laws for those who do not respect other people's rights and property .There are many who follow their own justification to robbing others if not through legalisms as well. Of course the rich should not be robbed. It is only those who make unjustified gains from other people's hard earned money who should be put to justice and stopped immediately from harming the economy from which citizens would need to earn their living. No vote will eliminate this. Only values will do it. I suppose Mgr Grech had more of that in mind than the material consumerism that some people want at all costs at the expense of others.
Lawrence Fenech
Mar 17th 2010, 13:38
Sure, watch our next vote.
M Cassar
Mar 17th 2010, 12:57
We need tobin tax, to get money from the rich and not the poor and those who can afford it..after all they made thousand and millions only from the toil and sweat of the workers. Greedy lot!
Lina Caruana
Mar 17th 2010, 12:32
I believe the poor are not only those who lack money but also the perpetrators who bully , steal and scam to grab as much as they can irresponsibly from other people. These need some treatment of a different kind to make sure that peace is not stolen from individuals who fall victims. Unfortunately this treatment is hard to come by in spite of the fact that the world will be a much nicer place if such people are treated for their insensitive and greedy behaviour towards those they deem to be less worthy.
lgalea
Mar 17th 2010, 10:52
17% of 500 million people in the eu means that more than 85 MILLION people were on the poverty threshold before the recession. Imagine now when new members from backward and poor countries are joining in the hope of finding the eu roads paved with gold as they are being led to believe how together with the recession how many millions more will be on the poverty threshold. This is the glittering eu that the Maltese people have been led into. An eu where poverty and unemployment are rife and the eu petty dictators do not care a hoot because they are living like kings at the citizens expense and at the same time order the citizens to make more and more sacrifices. Witness what is happening in Greece and other smaller countries while the big ones who really run the eu do what they want.
C.Zarb
Mar 17th 2010, 10:01
If we overtax the working families to incentive the single mothers and illegal immigrants (who do not work) to have children then we shouldn't be surprised if the number of poor people is increasing. We are in a situation where its only worth to have children if you live on benefits. The others are too busy/poorly helped to afford them and things are getting worse because subsidies who were meant to help everyone (Even those who actually pay for them) are becoming exclusive to just a sector of people who don't pay for them.
Its time to increase the salaries, the opportunity of work and the incentives to work (through child care centers etc) rather then give pay cheques to those who do not. We live in a country where the difference between the minimum wage and the the social benefits is so minimal that it borders to ridicule. Why should someone work when he can stay at home and earn more or less the same amount of money?