Almost every third person is affected by poverty and social exclusion in Hungary. People experiencing poverty have worse access than most to health care benefits, education, cultural life and information.
Every year the Hungarian Anti-Poverty Network organizes a public event – based on the active involvement of civil society organizations, volunteers, and activists – to raise awareness, mobilize people for a specific action around a specific aspect of poverty, and offer possible solutions to these issues. Along with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, with the contribution of our member organisations and partners this year we planned a whole week with different events around these topics.
On 17 October this year we submitted an open letter to the Ministry of Human Capacities about the possibility of the introduction of an Adequate Guaranteed Minimum Income Scheme in Hungary, which could be a solution or at least ease the above mentioned problems.
The event could not have been complete without describing the need itself and the situation of the people affected by those problems. In order to illustrate the whole picture three speakers, who experienced and / or still experiencing poverty, shared their personal stories and told us about the circumstances of their lives. Those life stories implied that the current system with the different social transfers and schemes are simply not enough for a dignified life, hence it needs significant improvements or restructuring. Therefore an Adequate Guaranteed Minimum Income System could be a relevant answer to all those problems they face on a daily basis.
To make the demonstration more inclusive for people experiencing poverty and more attractive for the representatives of the press, we designed a huge postcard with the four venues of our programs (Budapest, Kecskemét, Mátraverebély, Hajdúhadház). During the event, people experiencing poverty and their allies wrote messages on the postcard which could be delivered to the Ministry – together with our open letter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSQ5KMffxN0
http://www.atv.hu/videok/video-20161017-a-szegenyekert-tuntettek
