Commission lacks ambition in replying to first European Citizens’ Initiative

19/03/2014 –  The European Commission (EC) published a Communication today that gives its official response to the first successful European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) which called on the EC “to implement the human right to water and sanitation in European law.” In the Communication, the European Commission does recall the importance of the human right to water and sanitation and states the importance of water as a public good and fundamental value and that “water is not a commercial product.” However, that’s as far as it goes.

APF Malta welcomes Green Paper ‘A Framework for Poverty Reduction and for Social Inclusion’

18/03/2014 – APF Malta welcomes the Green Paper ‘A Framework for Poverty Reduction and for Social Inclusion’ issued by the Maltese Government, with satisfaction and considers this document as an important step to combat poverty and social exclusion. The Green Paper stands as a thorough and positive roadmap to tackle this reality. As a network of NGOs working with people experiencing poverty, APF Malta collected feedback from all member organisations on this Green Paper and forwarded feedback to the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity.

EAPN Spain meets on EAPN’s European Parliament elections campaign and participates in “Challenges in advocacy for the NGO agenda” roundtable

19/03/2014 – EAPN Spain held its Executive Committee, represented by local networks (19) and state agencies (16) more than 8,000 institutions throughout the State, on the premises of the Platform of the Third Sector. The meeting focused on the EAPN campaign on the European elections 2014, which calls on the candidates for the upcoming elections to commit to the fight against poverty, social exclusion and inequality in Europe.

The Poverty Alliance (member of EAPN UK): New edition of Poverty in Scotland series of books

20/03/2014 – The Child Poverty Action Group in association with the Poverty Alliance (EAPN in Scotland), the Open University and Glasgow Caledonian University have published a new edition of Poverty in Scotland series of books. The latest edition focuses on the key social justice and anti-poverty issues facing Scotland as it decides its constitutional future on the 18th of September 2014. As well as looking at the Scottish situation, the collection contains articles look at the experience of tackling poverty in Germany, Belgium, the Basque Country, Catalonia and others.

EAPN loses a friend and a great poverty fighter

EAPN was saddened to hear recently of the untimely death of our friend and colleague Patricia Stepman on 12 March 2014For more than 20 years Patricia has fought with heart and soul against poverty and exclusion, convinced that every human being has a right to a dignified existence. She was a supporter and co-founder of the Fourth World group People for People (Mensen voor Mensen), an association where the ‘poor’ take the floor in Aalst, Belgium. Patricia was a very recognizable contributor to the European Meetings of people experiencing poverty and was an active participant in a number of General Assemblies and other EAPN meetings.