By the EESC Civil Society Organisations' Group

A debate recently organised by the Group stressed that poverty in the EU is too big and complex a problem to leave the burden of relieving it solely on grassroots organisations; a spectrum of policy measures is needed.

 Poverty still needs to be combated in the EU and in the rest of the world. This is all the more important as the cost of living has increased significantly since the onset of the war in Ukraine. While civil society organisations provide important solutions to tackle the effects of poverty, it is clear that future policy measures must be poverty-proof. These are the conclusions of a discussion held by the EESC's Civil Society Organisations' Group on 22 March 2023. The event was attended by high-level guest speakers, including Italy's Minister for Labour and Social Policies, Marina Elvira Calderone.

Séamus Boland, president of the Civil Society Organisations' Group, stressed that, with one in five people in Europe still at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2021 (equivalent to 95.4 million people, or 21.7% of the EU population in 2021, according to Eurostat), policy-makers at all levels could not ignore the fact that poverty remained a problem in the EU. He added that "the motto 'Leaving no one behind' must not lose its meaning." Poverty was cited as the main reason for people being excluded from workplaces, education and basic health services. It was the single biggest cause of social exclusion and inequality.

In her speech, Ms Calderone emphasised that the fight against poverty required significant investment in social and professional networks to take people on a development journey that could upgrade human potential. "It is essential to ensure that public authorities promote autonomous citizens' initiatives through appropriate legal frameworks that enable the development of new organisational forms," said Ms Calderone. "We all need to respond to the different forms of poverty and to the specific needs of the regions."

Carlos Susias, president of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), stressed the responsibility of…

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