Poverty among us

“It’s not the habitual run-of-the-mill poverty. These days, it affects people from all walks of life. They come to us in tears. They don’t ask for money anymore – they ask for food. There are people whose unemployment benefit is swallowed up paying for the roof over their heads. They are humiliated – and we have to sort their problems out as a matter of urgency. There are others that we know for a fact only eat once a day. Afterwards, they take two pills and go to sleep so that they don’t feel hungry.”

At the beginning of the European Year for Combating Poverty, the portrait of a contemporary Algarve was thus described – in the raw. Father Firmino Ferro – vicar in charge of the diocese - didn’t need many more words to capture the attention of the 60 or so people present.

“We’ve had more than 20 per cent more calls for our help”, Carlos Oliveira, President of the Cáritas diocesan charity of the Algarve told our newspaper. “Just to give you an idea, in terms of help given since last September to the present day, we’ve already used up more than 50.000 euros”.

What is “poor”?

So, what does it mean to be poor in 2010? The question was answered by Manuela Silva, for the National Commission of Justice and Peace. Citing statistics from 2007 “which are already out of date because people’s conditions and situations have altered significantly”, it’s estimated that “18 per cent of Portuguese people live with a monthly income of less than 400 euros”. But, for this economist and university lecturer, poverty isn’t simply gauged by numbers, the amount of cash available or not – it’s much more complicated, and comes in various forms.

“All of us know people who may have a certain amount of property – inherited possessions – but who don’t have any way of being able to use it to improve their situation in life”, she explained.

The struggles that families of today face to be autonomous – with the resources at their disposal - can so easily result in poverty “not just financial, but material and immediate”. So that they “don’t have a place, or a voice” in society.

Then, there are the phenomena “characteristic of our time”. “The loss of ties to support by family and/ or one’s neighbourhood” which condemn more and more people to isolation and vulnerability.

For Manuela Silva, all the “different realities” have to be recognised in order to create social policies that can improve them. “It can’t be done by a bunch of “experts” sitting round a table in a centrally heated office. It has to be done on the ground”, she explained.

Democracy v. Poverty

Equally, the economist considers that if we don’t set course for a progressively more equitable society, democracy will be compromised – “because of the social tensions that accumulate”.

In July 2007, Portugal took an important step, nonetheless. A full parliamentary session of the Republic Assembly in Lisbon approved a resolution that “Poverty constitutes a violation of human rights”. It was approved unanimously – and had been initiated by a public petition involving 23.000 signatures.

Now, there’s a new European-wide campaign creating pressure nationally. It’s called «Stand-up - End Poverty Now!” and is running in 44 countries. “What we’re hoping to do with this petition is use one of the mechanisms allowed for in the new treaty of Lisbon – on participatory democracy – in which people have the right to speak”, said João Pereira, who works for Cáritas Portugal’s international arm. “A million signatures will force the EU to face four fundamental issues – the eradication of child poverty; the guaranteeing of minimum social protection for all; the assurance of universal social services, and the assurance of honest, reliable work”. The objective in Portugal is to amass 30.000 signatures.

It’s estimated that 78 million people are living on the threshold of poverty along European borders – and that 100 million live with a maximum daily income of just 22 euros.

Signs of Hope

Speaking about the contribution made by “Cáritas Portuguesa”, Rita Valadas said that the last two years had been “particularly sensitive” due to the rise of a new “at risk” group – the unemployed.

“These are people who’ve never been in a situation of poverty before and are now suddenly thrown into difficulties, with no resources with which to deal with them. In the end, they’re poor – although they’re not to start with”, she explained.

To support such situations the «País Solidário» programme was created. It got started in May 2009, and finished at the end of last year. “Around 30 per cent of these people were able to make a step forward” – by creating their own employment, for example.

“After having gone through the sort of desperate situations that they’d never before imagined, they are now our “success stories” and volunteers, occupying a very important place in the Cáritas support network” (involving 20 centres spread throughout the country).

At the moment, the organisation is very concerned with the issue of child poverty, and the high school “drop-out” levels”.

Social Security and preconceptions

One of the day’s speakers that everyone was keen to hear from was President of the Social Security Institute Edmundo Martinho. Martinho said that in spite of EU efforts to dedicate the year to the fight against the scourge of poverty, governments had been “timid” in taking action.

For example, he said that the recently-approved “PEC” of the Socialist government – standing for Plan for Stability and Growth – had created “perplexities in the way it approached social support”, not being in the least bit “clear” as to what is suggested.

Meantime, he agreed that “social supports should be considered as rights” available to everyone. “At times we only consider the bureaucratic obstacles – so much paperwork and documentation needed – and we forget about the obstacles that come from our own limits as citizens. These rights are universal, and should be accessible to everyone”, he lamented.

Although the majority of people in the audience were involved in some sort of social service and/ or action, there were a lot of criticisms about the “Rendimento Social de Inserção” (RSI) subsidy. For many, it’s seen as an incentive for laziness. This opinion was immediately rebuffed by Martinho.

He was then told of a situation in which an Algarvian child needed an expensive operation overseas. Faced with lack of any help from the State, the parents had to raise money by appealing to the public. But “if doctors state that the country doesn’t have the specialities required for a circumstance like this, the individual/s can be financed through Social Services”, Martinho guaranteed.“The problem is that “rights” such as this are permanently limited by the availability of state funds. According to Martinho, the solution is “to demand that the political powers that be create conditions where these right can be guaranteed”…