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

European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN)

EAPN is a network of national, regional and local networks of anti-poverty NGOs and grassroots groups in every EU Member State, and European-wide organisations mainly active on poverty and social exclusion. EAPN’s aims are:

to put the fight against poverty and social exclusion on the political agenda of the European Union;
to promote and enhance the effectiveness of actions against poverty and social exclusion;
to lobby for and with people and groups facing poverty and social exclusion.

See online : EAPN

Specific Message

EAPN’s demands for the outcome of 2010

English/French

Planned activities

EAPN will continue to coordinate a broader EY2010 NGO coalition at European level.

EAPN events:

Conference on The political legacy for 2010, (Ireland, February),

Seminar on Globalisation and Migration, in Cyprus (June, linked to the EAPN General Assembly),

Conference on Minimum Income/Social Standards, (Belgium, September, in liaison with the Belgian EU Presidency).

Communications tools:

a leaflet with key messages and political requests,
Poverty explainer,
wealth explainer,
materials arising from 9th Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty

Facilitating EAPN members’ participation in the Year:

Coordinating links between EY national focus weeks activities,
regular updates, including dissemination of national EY programmes and calls for tender,
creation of an EAPN fund,
inputs to main EU events (round table, opening/closing conferences),
supporting participation of PEP in the EY Communication events.

events of European Anti Poverty Network

Date	Title	Description	Location	Country
2/06	Conference "Stratégie Europe 2020 pour l’emploi et la croissance: Quelle place pour la lutte contre la pauvreté?"	Organised by EAPN Organised by ATD Quart Monde. With the participation of Pierre Defraigne (Foundation Madariaga (...)	Brussels	Belgium
1/10	Poverty Alliance Annual Conference	Organised by EAPN This year’s Annual Conference is taking place during the UK ‘focus week’ for the European Year for (...)	Glasgow	United Kingdom