EAPN FLASH No 172 6 November 2006

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

European Anti Poverty Network Ireland

FLASHNo 180

23 April 2007

Adapted from EAPN (Europe) Flash. EAPN (Europe) is fundedby the European Commission under the Social Exclusion Programme.

EAPN Ireland is funded by the National Lottery through the National Anti Poverty Networks Programme

of the Department of Community, Rural, Gaeltacht Affairs

Contents of this issue

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

24 May 2007 needs to go in your diary now!

1AGM 2007 in the morning

2Seminar: Ending Poverty –a five-year agenda” in the afternoon

3Party: Goodbye to our Coordinator – in the evening

Elections 2007

• Meeting the candidates – 18 constituency meetings announced

Election 2007 continued…Other resources on

1. Discussions with the political parties and updates

2. Where the parties stand on poverty

3. Other Campaigns and Briefings for Election 2007

4. How you can make poverty an issue in Election 2007

5. Election Links and Resources

Fighting Poverty

• 2010 European Year for fighting exclusion and poverty: EAPN is preparing answer to EU Commission’s questionnaire
• Future Portuguese Presidency to organise 6th European Round Table on Poverty and Social Exclusion on Minimum Social Standards

6th European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty

• Irish Delegation
• Commission launches exhibition on 'How to cope with everyday life'

Regional Policy and Structural Funds

• European Commission presents state of play in negotiations on Structural Funds’ National Strategic Reference Frameworks and Operational Programmes
• New online tool to promote local jobs and growth
• New financial rules facilitate use of EU funds
• Microfinance in a Banking Environment: Models, Experiences, the Way Forward, 25-27 April 2007, Berlin

Employment policy

• EAPN invited to speak at Stakeholder Conference on Flexicurity
• “Flexicurity: A New Paradigm for Labour Market and Employment Regulation?”, 3 May 2007, Brussels
• Employment Week 2007, 5-6 June 2007, Brussels
• 8th European Union of Supported Employment Conference, 13-15 June 2007, Belfast

Housing and Homelessness

• FEANTSA takes stock of the situation of children and young people experiencinghomelessness in Europe
• European Commission study on measuring homelessness in the EU - now available!

Health

• Final "Closing the Gap" Conference, "Action for Health Equity", 8 May 2007, Brussels

Racism, discrimination and ethnic minorities

• ENAR condemns fascist attack on ENAR-Cyprus
• Situation of Roma in Europe demands more rigorous action
• ILGA Europe disappointed as European Parliament adopts soft approach on homophobia in Poland
• Undocumented Migrants Have Rights! : An Overview of the International Human Rights Framework

Funding, contracts and Jobs

• Seventh Framework Programme/Cooperation: Socio-economic sciences & the humanities – Cultural interactions and multiculturalism in European societies
• Support of civil society in the Member States which acceded to the EU on 1st May 2004
• Call for applications for participation in the Personnel Exchange Service (PES) under the Next Mile of the European Civil Society Infrastructure project
• Women and Multiple Discrimination
• Contract for the provision of services for creating a network of experts on employment and gender equality issues
• Call for tender: contract for the establishment and maintenance of a network of experts in gender equality, social inclusion, health and long-term care

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

24 May 2007 needs to go in your diary now!

4AGM 2007in the morning

5Seminar: Ending Poverty –a five-year agenda”in the afternoon

6Party: Goodbye to our Coordinator – in the evening

Where and when?

AGM and Seminar, Comfort Inn, Great Denmark Street (opposite EAPN Ireland)

Party – Cobalt Café, North Great George’s Street

24 May 2007

What and why?

The AGMwill include a chance to discuss 5-year priorities for the Network. How will we push effectively for the elimination of poverty

The seminarwill be a chance to discuss in detail a paper developed by Camille Loftus summarising the main proposals of the community sector for fighting poverty in Ireland. We hope to use the workshops to discuss in some details where we are and what can be achieved and to develop both a common manifesto and a ‘policy tracking tool’ for the sector

The party – whatever you make of it

Programme

10.30 amTea, coffee and networking

11am to 1pmAGM 2007

Reports, elections, etc.

Brainstorming on future plans

Guided tour of

1 to 2 pmLunch and more networking

2pm to 4pmSeminar: Ending Poverty – a five year agenda for the Community Sector

Introduction to the synthesis paper (Camille Loftus, OPEN Head of Policy and EAPN Ireland Board member)

Four parallel workshops to agree our priorities and demands on

1. Income adequacy and poverty targets
2. Employment and ‘activation’
3. Services
4. Participation and implementation of NAPS

Discussion on the future of anti-poverty policy in Ireland and Europe, introduced by Hugh Frazer (ex-European Commission Social Inclusion unit, ex-Director Combat Poverty Agency)

6pm till late: Party in the Cobalt Café, North Great George’s Street (tbc) to say good-bye to Robin Hanan, Coordinator 1999-2007

(in case you didn’t hear, he is moving to the Irish Refugee Council)

Elections 2007

See

Meeting the candidates

EAPN Ireland is supporting local and regional anti-poverty groups in organising meetings to discuss with general election candidates their proposals to eradicate poverty in the lifetime of the next Government.

The meetings confirmed or planned are as follows (Note: this list includes some meetings planned by groups convened by EAPN Ireland and others which were already planned which we are supporting):

If you would like to organise a meeting in one of the other constituencies, or tell us about one which you have already organised, please contact :

• Seamas Devine, , 0749164750 or
• Justin Moran, , 01-8745737

And watch for up-to-date information on constituency meetings

Election 2007 continued…

Other resources on

1. Discussions with the political parties and updates

EAPN Ireland has met with three of the parties to discuss our recommendations to for Election Manifestoes and the Programme for Government. We will post information on election proposals on our website as they become available. For the proposals to parties and other materials about the election, see . Also keep an eye on the daily media updates on

2. Where the parties stand on poverty

Parties contesting the coming election were contacted and asked to send us material from their policy documents on their socio-economic positions and especially, those with an anti-poverty focus. See for their replies.

3. Other Campaigns and Briefings for Election 2007

On this section of our website, you will find links to:

National Women’s Council of Ireland manifesto 'What Women want from the next Irish Government'"

Make room: a joint initiative to end homelessness by 2010 by Simon Communities, Threshold, Focusireland and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

End Child Poverty Coalition

Older and bolder: a joint initiative between a number of organisations who are working to achieve a better quality of life for older people throughout Ireland.

Demand Your Right to Learn: Campaign launched by AONTAS, the National Association for Adult Education.

Public Services: Frontline Quality, Backroom Dedication: Campaign launched by Ireland's second biggest trade Union, IMPACT, to defend public services and the people working in them.

4. How you can make poverty an issue in Election 2007

Suggestions as to how you as an individual can best inform yourself to take action in ensuring the eradication of poverty is top of the agenda in Election 2007.

5. Election Links and Resources(including some referred to in the action list above)

Fighting Poverty

See

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

2010 European Year for fighting exclusion and poverty: EAPN is preparing answer to EU Commission’s questionnaire

EAPN and its members are currently preparing their answer to the questionnaire sent by the European Commission on the 2010 EU year against poverty.

This questionnaire, drawn up to consult key stakeholders identified in the context of the OMC on Social Protection and Social Inclusion, will serve as a basis for the Commission's proposal to the Parliament and Council to be published this Autumn.

Future Portuguese Presidency to organise 6th European Round Table on Poverty and Social Exclusion on Minimum Social Standards

The Portuguese Presidency recently announced it will organize the 6th European Round Table on Poverty and Social Exclusion on 16-17 October 2007.

EAPN actively participated and contributed to the Social Inclusion Round tables in previous years and was present in the first preparatory meeting for this year’s event which was organised by the Commission on 28 March in Brussels with the social NGOs and the Portuguese Presidency. The final programme of the conference will be confirmed at a later stage. Meanwhile EAPN will prepare a position statement to be presented at the event.

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

6th European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty

See

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

Entitled “Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion: Progress made, future steps”, this year’s meeting, organised by the German Presidency, with assistance of the European Commission and support from EAPN, aims at assessing the results achieved so far and elaborating strategies for the future.

The meeting will be attended by over 200 people. These included delegations of people experiencing poverty from 25 countries (24 Member States plus Norway) together with many Social Protection Committee (SPC) and Social Exclusion Programme (SEP) committee members, representatives of the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, EAPN and other European NGOs.

For more information on the previous European meetings:

Irish Delegation

The Irish delegation has been preparing for the meeting and this year the focus of the group will be on Migration. The delegates are Egide Dhala representing the Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative (SPIRASI), Salome Mbugua representing the African Women's Network Ireland (AkiDwA) and Ma.Lourdes Gernan and Rajat Bhatnagar representing the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland. The Co-ordinator for the Irish delegation will be by Kay Lynch who represents Northside Community Law Centre on the Board of EAPN Ireland.

Commission launches exhibition on 'How to cope with everyday life'

From the 19th April till the 5th May, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities will host an exhibition on the theme “How to cope with everyday life”.

The exhibition will feature the posters produced by the participants in the fifth European meeting of people experiencing poverty co-organised by EAPN and which took place in Brussels on 12 and 13 May 2006.

Viewing these posters offers an insight into some of the realities for the 72 million people (including 14 million ‘working poor’) who live their lives in the EU, facing poverty and social exclusion.

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

Regional Policy and Structural Funds

See

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

European Commission presents state of play in negotiations on Structural Funds’ National Strategic Reference Frameworks and Operational Programmes

5 March marked the deadline for all EU Member States to introduce their National Strategic Reference Frameworks to the Commission. These frameworks outline how they would apply the principles by which they would put the new round of Structural funds (2007-2013) into effects.

The Commission is currently examining them and has already adopted two of them, one by Malta and the other by Greece.

In a press release issued two weeks ago, EAPN called on the Commission to live up to its responsibility and make sure this new round enables the EU to make a decisive impact on poverty and social exclusion.

New online tool to promote local jobs and growth

On 14 March the European Commission launched a new online tool to link up local economies. The 'Linking Local Actors' project aims at networking people and organisations to create jobs and prosperity at local level.

The European Social Fund will spend some 70 billion euro between 2007 and 2013. A portion of this will hopefully be used to contribute to concrete employment opportunities for older workers. The new website will enable local actors to:

• Keep up to date with sources of funding
• Search for project partners
• Look up good practices in local development
• Share experiences in discussion forums

The website covers initiatives in the 27 EU Member States and is available in 20 languages at the following address:

New financial rules facilitate use of EU funds

Two years of intensive work finally bear fruit: the European Union has a new set of financial rules to better use EU funds in the 2007-2013 financial framework.

The new rules simplify access to funding and reduce administrative procedures to a strict minimum. For the first time the names of the beneficiaries of all EU funds will be made public.

For more information, click here.

Microfinance in a Banking Environment: Models, Experiences, the Way Forward, 25-27 April 2007, Berlin

The European Microfinance Network 4th Annual Conference will underline the main challenges face by the microfinance sector in relation to the banking sector and confront various practices.

It will bring together around 300 participants, practitioners, bankers, researchers, investors, local government representatives, the European Commission representatives, policy makers, central bankers, private sector and the media.

For more information, click here.

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

Employment policy

See

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

EAPN invited to speak at Stakeholder Conference on Flexicurity

Fintan Farrell, EAPN Director, will present EAPN position on flexicurity at the Stakeholder Conference on flexicurity which will take place on 20 April in Brussels.

This conference is part of the board consultation process the European Commission is conducting among Member States, parliamentarians, Trade Unions, business, NGOs and the general public on Flexicurity.

The Commission will draw conclusions from this board consultation and will present in June a Communication which is to provide major input to the development of common principles around Flexicurity.

“Flexicurity: A New Paradigm for Labour Market and Employment Regulation?”, 3 May 2007, Brussels

The discussion will be introduced by Emilio Gabaglio, newly elected President of the European Employment Committee (EMCO).

This event is organised in collaboration with the Central Economic Council, the National Labour Council and the Observatoire social européen with the support of the Federal Public Service – Social Security and Federal Public Service – Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue.

For Information and registration, please contact Françoise Verri :

Employment Week 2007, 5-6 June 2007, Brussels

Focusing on ‘Working Europe – creating more and better jobs’, the 14th edition of Employment Week will takes place on 5-6 June 2007 in Brussels. A two-day conference and exhibition will offer a great opportunity for practitioners and European decision-makers to connect and discuss the latest policies and trends in European employment and social issues.

More information is available on the Employment Week 2007 website:

8th European Union of Supported Employment Conference, 13-15 June 2007, Belfast

This Conference aims to promote goods practices in Supported Employment as well as exploring how the model can be used with other disadvantaged groups. The Conference will also pose the question “Is Supported Employment working for all?” and if not, why not?

For more information: the conference dedicated website,

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

Housing and Homelessness

See

See also

EAPN Ireland Flash No. 180 23 April 2007

FEANTSA takes stock of the situation of children and young people experiencinghomelessness in Europe

As part of its work on social inclusion in 2007, FEANTSA is currently taking stock of the situation of children and young people experiencinghomelessness in Europe, in order to feed into debates on child poverty at EU level.

This exercise is divided into two parts:

1. The collection of information (feedback from members, research, press articles) on children and young people experiencing homelessness in different EU countries to add to the"Children and young peopleexperiencing homelessness"compendium onthe FEANTSA website;