(To be checked against delivered speech)

CEREMONY TO MARK INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY
(17 October 2003, Forecourt of the Council of Europe)

Speech by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe: The Council of Europe’s commitment to combating extreme poverty and inequality and building more cohesive societies

Fifteen years on from the unveiling of the commemorative stone to honour the victims of extreme poverty on the Trocadero human rights plaza in Paris in 1987, the fight against extreme poverty remains sadly topical, and perhaps more so than ever. Our information shows that the imbalances in the redistribution of wealth are growing in most of the member states and more and more people are living in precarious conditions that undermine their human dignity and human rights. “Don’t wait for fate to bring you face to face with misery and exclusion. Every one of us can choose to see, choose to act.” That was the message heard on television and radio at the initiative of ATD Fourth World and it certainly struck a chord with me.

Indeed, poverty is not inevitable. That is why combating extreme poverty and exclusion forms one of the main thrusts of the Council of Europe’s action. We agree with Father Joseph Wresinksi, founder of the ATD Fourth World movement, who said: “Wherever men and women are condemned to live in poverty, human rights are violated. It is our solemn duty to come together to ensure that these rights are respected”.

If these efforts are to bring about concrete changes they must be pursued hand in hand with the organisations that speak for the poorest. As Mrs Lalumière, then Council of Europe Secretary General, said to the NGOs representing the excluded in 1993, when unveiling the commemorative stone against extreme poverty we see before us, “Your fight is our fight”.

On 15 May 1982, at a meeting in Brussels under the banner “Human rights: rights for all”, Father Joseph Wresinski called for extreme poverty to be included among the violations of fundamental human rights listed in international instruments. The Council of Europe heard him loud and clear: thanks to an initiative from ATD Fourth World, the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion is now guaranteed under Article 30 of the revised European Social Charter.

That Charter is no abstract text, since it also provides for machinery for collective complaints, a vital tool for society’s vulnerable groups enabling NGOs to lodge collective complaints where they believe that social rights protected by the Charter have been violated. Those NGOs could make more frequent use of this means of ensuring better protection for social and economic rights.

In addition to this standard-setting instrument the Council of Europe has also adopted a Strategy for social cohesion, intended to help the member states develop active and sustainable policies for combating poverty and exclusion. Social cohesion is defined as the ability of a society to ensure the wellbeing of all its members by avoiding polarisation and minimising disparities.

So this strategy aims to curb inequality in order, firstly, to rein in violations of the dignity of those living in poverty but also to obviate the risks of instability that can be generated by the development of “two-speed” societies.

The Strategy for social cohesion focuses on access to social rights for all, be it access to employment, housing, social protection or health care. It reiterates the need to guarantee access to rights and services for all, without discrimination, the need to take special care of the most vulnerable members of our societies and also the need to pursue sustainable and fair social protection policies.

Here again, ATD Fourth World has substantially contributed to the work of our Committee for Social Cohesion, which drew up this Strategy.

I would also like to stress the major role played by a third Council of Europe instrument for combating poverty and exclusion: the Council of Europe Development Bank, the only international financial institution with a social role. This institution applies the principles of the Strategy for social cohesion by granting low-interest loans to member states for projects aimed at improving the living conditions of people in difficulty, be they refugees, victims of natural disasters, members of ethnic minorities or persons with low incomes.

So all these means of action open to us converge towards the objective of more balanced development, for the benefit of all, founded on respect for human rights.

I would like to conclude by reiterating that these aims can be achieved only through the joint efforts of our Organisation and civil society. Together, in combating poverty and exclusion, we are active both through concrete efforts on the ground and political initiatives at European level.

The international NGOs working within the Council of Europe have formed two groupings to fight against exclusion so that vulnerable groups may fully enjoy their social, economic and political rights. Those organisations, which include ATD Fourth World, represent better than anyone the voice, interests and aspirations of the excluded and therefore help us to optimise our response to those interests and aspirations.

Finally my special thanks go to Annelise Oeschger and Jean-Pierre Gollé of ATD Fourth World and also Marichu Rall of the International Association of Charities, who have greatly contributed to the organisation of this ceremony. They have been working hand in hand with us for years, building a bridge between the Council and vulnerable groups.