Conference: the urgent call for a social, democratic and sustainable Europe

Conference: the urgent call for a social, democratic and sustainable Europe 13th of February 2014  from 9 am till 4 pm The Alliances to fight poverty are presenting their call for a social, democratic and sustainable Europe to members of the European social and civil organisations and to the members of the European parliament. A confrontation introduced by prof. Richard Wilkinson: does inequality in Europe matters? A confrontation with EAPN,…

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An urgent Call for a social, democratic and sustainable Europe

The Alliances to fight Poverty presents his memorandum for the next European elections. It is more than a memorandum. It is an awakening Call and a Call that wants to unite -like the Alliances- every organisation and everyone around the fight to poverty, social exclusion and inequality. It formulates our main vision on Europe, a renewed Europe, a social, democratic and sustainable Europe. The ‘Alliances to fight poverty’ put forward three essential…

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EuroMemorandum 2014

The deepening divisions in Europe and the need for a radical alternative to EU policies The European Union is set to exit from recession, but parts of Europe are beset with depression-like conditions; unemployment is exceptionally high in the peripheral euro area countries and not expected to decline appreciably in the near future. The EuroMemorandum 2014 critically analyses recent economic developments in Europe and emphasises the need for an alternative…

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Hurray for more working poor?

Hurray for more working poor? In the US all indicators look brightly. One of the important indicators is the job growth. It looks like that economic growth now finally means job growth. But what kind of jobs have been created? This chart gives some surprising answers. The red bars indicate the loss of jobs during the last recession. The highest bar shows the loss of jobs with a high wage 21-55 dollar),…

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Privatisation as a distortion of Human Rights

Austerity measures have a more and more destructive impact on the application of our Human Rights. Governments are using privatisation of social services to mitigate the deficits on budgets. They forgot that privatisation ends in a distortion of Human Rights: the social services as water, as health, housing, … are now private services and have to listen to the terms of the private market. Accessibility and affordability, quality and quantity of…

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The bright future of social housing

As populations grow and cities become more crowded than ever, public housing has become an increasingly important issue for governments around the world. However, social housing is no longer limited to characterless blocks of concrete. These days, the aim is often to provide low-cost housing to individuals and families who need it – while still affording them the dignity of well-designed and distinctive homes. These modern public housing projects frequently…

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Reasons for a fair distribution

Social Platform published an appealing and motivating text about inequalities. You find here one of the reasons why we need a fair distribution. A distribution on power, on resources and means, and on a future for everyone. Inequalities Inequality in Europe is growing because of policies implemented over the past 20 years. This has contributed to deeper social and wealth disparities and to weaker social cohesion. The economic crisis over…

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World Homelessness Day

World Homelessness Day Last Thursday’s World Homelessness Day passed relatively unnoticed. If we ignore the problems we face, none of us will have the luxury of blindness on the matter this time next year. In each European country homelessness upsweeps with the auterity measures. The winter in view, our blindness will kill people on the street. There’s a lot that governments can do. Create enough shelters in the first place.…

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Motion on social housing

Motion on social housing The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has adopted on 30 April 2013 a report and an motion on social housing. The importance of this report and motion is that the committee goes byond the problem of social housing in Europe and that they give answers to different problems of housing. Here you find the explanatory statement of the report. A link to the report you…

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2013 For an equal and social Europe

For an equal and social Europe In may 2013, the Alliances in cooperation with EAPN Portugal held in Lisboa a seminar with as title “for an equal and social Europe” . The outlook for the European countries looks really poor. Almost all countries have to make severe budget cuts. Because of the cuts, the economy in many countries is shrivelled. The consequences are clear. Austerity costs and kills. Even the…

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