European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland: Newsflash September 2021

EAPN Ireland News:

EAPN Ireland AGM 2021 and Workshop on the Future of Europe

The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland is holding its 2021 Annual General Meeting on Thursday 23^rd September at 11am.

The AGM will be online and include the business of the meeting followed by a workshop on the Future of Europe at 11.45pm.The keynote speaker at the workshop on the Future of Europe is Hugh Frazer, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University. Hugh formerly worked in the European Commission and was Director of the Combat Poverty Agency.

Members( for the AGM) and non-members (who can attend the workshop only) can register by emailing enquiries@eapn.ie. This is an online event.

Foundations for Futures Europe 

The Foundations for Futures Europe Project launched on July 28th. The purpose of the project is to recognise the impact of poverty and inequality on participative democracy processes. The project seeks to engage citizens from a range of socio economic, geographical, cultural and ethnic backgrounds on themes of common interest in the framework of rights of people living in Europe. Partners will engage participants in debate, dialogue and analysis of issues that impact on their lives and seek to form common positions to impact on European policy. They will develop a digital communication platform to facilitate the participation of young people and underrepresented communities in cross European policy debates  and encourage the greater involvement of higher education in engaged research that focuses on participative democracy and European social policy.

The six project partners are:

• Maynooth University, Ireland – Coordinating partner
• Hellenic Anti-Poverty Network, Greece
• University of Pecs, Hungary
• European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland
• Föreningen Urkraft, Skellefteå, Sweden
• Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Serbia

The project will continue throughout 2021 and 2022 and further updates will follow in due course. You can find out more about the project here.

EAPN Ireland Blog 
Please find enclosed a new EAPN Ireland blog entry entitled “The Pay Divide and Where Worlds Collide”. Written by Robert Carey, programme manager in Kerry for NEWKD Local Development Company, the blog focuses on the issue of low-paid employment and how we define the value of work.

Adult Literacy for Life – a 10-year adult literacy, numeracy and digital literacy strategy
The 10-year adult literacy, numeracy and digital literacy strategy was launched by Minister Simon Harris TD on 8th September 2021.The Strategy makes a number of commitments including:

• Increasing in the number of learners engaging with literacy and language support by 20,000 by expanding the range of courses available over the first half of the strategy’s lifetime;

• Reduce the number of people adults in Ireland with unmet literacy needs, from 18% to 7%.

• Reduce the number of adults in Ireland with unmet numeracy needs from 25% to 12%;

• Reduce the share of adults in Ireland without basic digital skills from 47% to 20%.

       You can find out more at www.adultliteracyforlife.ie

EAPN Europe News:

Fit for 55, Not Fit For Europes Energy Poor | EAPN & Right to Energy Coalition 
As a member of the Right to Energy Coalition, EAPN Europe calls on the European Council and Parliament to scrap the new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to buildings. The new energy legislation put forward by the European Commission is set to put energy-poor households in jeopardy, with unfair rises in Europeans’ energy bills. This is down to proposals to extend the ETS to buildings and transport, putting energy poor households at risk. You can read more here.

FEBA Annual Report 2020 / European Food Banks Federation 
The pandemic has had a detrimental impact on many in society, in particular people at risk of food insecurity in Europe. This is reflected in the FEBA report of 2020 where their members redistributed 12% more food compared to the pre-COVID levels. The Annual European Food Banks Federation Report focuses on the impact and work of food banks across the continent. You can the report here. EAPN Ireland formed a basic necessities working group at the end of 2020, to publish a briefing note on the increasing demand for basic necessities as provided by the Community and Voluntary Sector in Ireland. You can read that note here.

EU Institution News:

Has the EU Made Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals ? | EUROSTAT
As the von der Leyen Commission has made sustainability an overriding political priority for its mandate, it is important to track the EU’s progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recently, Eurostat released a report that describes and informs the public of this progress. Under SDG 1 (the eradication of poverty), the report claims that the EU has made significant progress in terms of short-term trends, such as tackling material deprivation. Further information can be found in this report.

The Arrival of the New European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)  | European Commission
On 1 July 2021, the ESF+ Regulation came into force to support the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. With a budget of over €99 billion for the 2021-2027 period, the ESF+ will support actions in the areas of employment, education & skills and social inclusion. The priorities for this period include supporting young people and helping children in need, both having been among the groups of people most affected by the pandemic. You can find more information here.