The European Meetings of People Experiencing Poverty contribute to the right of people living in poverty to participate in and access information relating to the decision-making processes that affect their lives and well-being. The European meeting is the most visible point in the process of fostering this but perhaps even more important is the fact that they act as a catalyst for national participation processes.

This years’ Meeting of People experiencing poverty was on Poverty & Access to Education: Let’s make education a way out of poverty!

Over a hundred people experiencing poverty from 30 European countries prepared around this topic and came in Brussels on 7-8 November to share their knowledge and experience with each other, and with EU decision-makers.

For EAPN, education is a state of being ready for continuous learning, and ready for life. It is a fundamental right that should be accessible to all and not solely seen as a means to access the labour market.  We used participative methodologies to discuss issues like:

  • Developing a broad and inclusive education policy
  • Early-learning, early school-leaving and child poverty
  • Lifelong learning beyond labour market needs
  • Ensuring participation of students and parents experiencing poverty in education schemes… And much more.