"working full-time, but … not earning enough to make a decent living" - "being undocumented, so for you I don’t exist" - "stealing our future by keeping us out of touch with the knowledge-based society" - "days without bread are the longest days" - "being paid regularly, but my debts still mounting up anyway" - "what really wears homeless people out is time. Always waiting, always being on the go…" - "every agency wanting the same papers. And more photocopies every time" - "waking up in bad housing conditions which saps the will to do anything" - "being old and living alone. I am sick. I am afraid of loneliness … I cry a lot but try to look calm and collected when I go out." - "hard to talk about, but when I did start to talk to others I felt no different from them and I wasn’t embarrassed" - "constant pressure. It wears you down. Nobody prepared me for living in such harsh conditions" - "my children inheriting my poverty"

What we WANT

Shared political message

In order to build a Europe for all and end poverty we need political action. The members of the NGO coalition called for…

  1. A public debate on the causes of poverty and social exclusion
  2. Enhanced dialogue with people in poverty and anti-poverty NGOs
  3. A strong political legacy from 2010
  4. Funding to match the EU Commitments to fight poverty and social exclusion

Read the Coalition’s demands for the outcome of 2010 in English - French

Specific demands

NGOs have also developed specific demands for the outcomes of the year in their specialised area. See the Coalition’s page.

Voices of People experiencing Poverty
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