Read up on what has been happening this week on our weekly editorial.
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Welcome to our new members! |
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17 January 2013
I am delighted that this week we welcomed The National Association of City Missions in Sweden into membership of Eurodiaconia. The Association is comprised of City Missions in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Uppsala, Skane, Linköping, Västersas and Kalmar. We have been working with Gothenburg and Stockholm recently on intra EU migration and extreme destitution and we look forward to meeting the rest of the Association members in the coming months. The aim of all the City Missions in Sweden is to meet each individual with understanding, responsiveness and respect, based on their own reality. From there they look to motivate and support a positive process of change. They recognise the need for short and long term assistance - alleviating severe distress in the first instance and in the long term helping people find the strength and opportunity for a sustainable life change. I know that the City Missions will bring much to Eurodiaconia and I am sure they will soon become a very active part of our community. You can find out more about them here.
Expanding our network is key if we want to ensure partnership and exchange - the more participants we have the more we will learn from each other. For that reason I really want to draw your attention to the events that give the possibility for this exchange coming up in 2013. They are listed in this E-news and on our website. We are just finalising dates and venues for all our meeting this year. We are excited that already for the Roma Network we will have more participants than ever before. Please also put the dates for this years' AGM in your diary - it is going to be a big one! More information to come...
Have a good weekend
Heather
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10 January 2013
Happy New Year! Wherever and whenever you are reading this I hope that 2013 has started well for you and you will be blessed with health and happiness in the coming year!
Unfortunately, we know all too well that that is not the case for everyone. Many will have started 2013 with a sense of foreboding as the hand of austerity squeezes them tighter and tighter, or where the threat of unemployment or reduced salaries is apparent. This week the UK Parliament voted to limit annual increases in working age benefits, with some politicians making the argument that everyone, even the poorest in our societies, have to share the burden of austerity. Disgraceful! At the same time a report was released by staff of the IMF indicating that the original assessment of austerity as being the answer to the financial impact of the crisis was wrong - you can read the paper here. To add to this extreme juxtaposition of views, this week the European Commission launched its annual analysis on social and employment developments in 2012. In a way, much of the report is not new, but what is important is that it re-iterates what we in diaconia already know from our extensive day-to-day experience:
1) The economic crisis is contributing to a wider poverty gap.
2) Member States with the highest welfare spending are not those with the highest public debt.
3) Social protection, including social services, can and do contribute to reducing poverty.
4) Investment in social services and other social initiatives is essential to reduce the effects of the crisis.
5) Conditions set by the social troika od the IMF, European Central Bank and the European Commission have exasperated the dire social conditions in some member states.
Is this an encouraging way to start the year? Perhaps not, but I want us to be hopeful - hopeful that by working together we can learn more from each other about how to develop services and approaches that meet peoples needs in this difficult time. I want us to be hopeful that if we use our voices effectively and challenge our leaders on their approaches that we will be heard, and that eventually change will happen. I hope we will work together this year more than ever to gather examples of the good and bad that is happening locally - both the reductions and the innovations - and develop partnerships across borders. I hope that through the inherent goodness and solidarity in all people we will see actions that proritise empowerment and develop both community- and institution-led approaches. I hope that Eurodiaconia will continue to grow our network, our creativity, our understanding and our influence. I hope that a year from now we will be starting the year with a more positive assessment of the social reality in Europe. I hope because I have hope.
Have a good weekend
Heather
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Looking Back and Looking Forward |
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21 December 2012
As we come to the end of the year it is always a chance to reflect a little on the year that is coming to a close. I am so proud of what Eurodiaconia has achieved in the past year! We have seen our policy focus get stronger and continued to be real experts in some areas such as debt, intra EU migration and destitution and social services. We have seen many members participating in both capacity building and networking events and it has been great to see many new faces as well as some old. The richness of the exchange between members and what we learn in the secretariat is invaluable. We have also started to progress our work on diaconal identity and strengthened our work with other ecumenical bodies such as the World Council of Churches. There is so much to be proud of!
A few years ago I drew a picture of how I envisoned the Eurodiaconia of the future. I drew (badly..) a spider's web. I imagined an organisation where the secretariat enabled connections to be made but also where members worked between themselves without the 'assistance' of the secretariat but as a result of meeting and developing knowledge of each other and finding common interests. I really believe we are getting close to that model and it is quite exciting to see it emerge and grow and get more intricate in its connections.
The greatest connection of all however, and what is really at the centre of our web, is our faith in God. That is what helps us spin the web, that is what helps us make the connections, that is what helps us be diaconal, that is what transforms difficult social situations all over Europe. If we keep our faith at the centre of our web, our of relationships, we can only get stronger together. So as much as I am proud of what members, our staff and our Board have achieved in 2012 I am excited by what will come in 2013 as that web gets bigger and stronger.
So thank you for all you have contributed to Eurodiaconia in 2012, as members, as partners, as friends, as colleagues... you are all part of that web.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
Psalm 36 v9
May your Christmas be filled with the light and joy that is found in community and relationship and may 2013 bring you happiness, health and a continued resolve to work for a Europe of solidarity, equality and justice - together.
Heather |
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14 December 2012
As we come towards the end of the year there does not seem to be much sign of things slowing down! This week Laura Jones has been one of the NGO experts participating in the Social Protection Committee's Peer Review process on the Social Economy, held in Paris, France. The review focused on how the potential of the social economy can be fully realised and to encourage initiatives in the social economy. We are very much aware that the social economy is a key interest for our members and so we want to see how we can expand our work in this area next year. Today (Friday) we are also participating in a seminar held by our colleagues in the Churches (CEC-CSC and COMECE) on the Social Market Economy in Europe.
All these discussions have been very timely as this week the European Council meets yet again to talk about 'deepening economic and monetary union'. Once again there is little or no attention being paid to the social situation in Europe. I do wonder how long this can continue. How long can we continue to think that we can wait to end poverty and extreme destitution? How long can diaconia and other service providers absorb the increased demand on services with little or no increase in resources? Data from the UK government has shown that homelessness has increased by 14% in England in the past year. I am sure similar data can be found in most countries in Europe for a variety of social risks. That is why our advocacy work is so important. In this Enews you can read updates on the newly proposed programme for Aid for the Most Deprived in Europe - a really practical initiative that is currently used by many members who support and run food banks - as well as an update on the European Semester, the tool by which EU member states co-ordinate their social and economic policies. We need to get engaged in both of these and I do encourage you to read the briefings and consider the action points.
We are also looking to gather examples of European Social Fund projects that aim to combat poverty and social exclusion. We want to show how the ESF is used by members and the results you acheive as we advocate for the retention of the proposed budget for the ESF from 2014. If you have projects that we many not know about please send me an email!
This week we also bid a fond farewell to our Administration and Communications Officer Aisling van Vliet. Many of you know Aisling as your main point of contact with the office and as the organiser of all our communications work and tools. After nearly three years at Eurodiaconia she has taken up a new post developing non formal educational programmes for school students. We thank her for all her work and wish her all the best in her new adventures.
have a good weekend
Heather
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7 December 2012
It is always a pleasure to have our members in Brussels speaking about their work. This ŵeek was a bumper week! At our very successful conference in the European Parliament on Active Ageing for Social Inclusion members from Church City Mission Oslo, Bracke Diaconie, Diakonie Österreichand the Diakonie of the Czech Brethren Church presented models of excellence. Their work brings generations together, ensures dignity, changes attitudes to ageing in society and supports families and most of all ensures that older people get the inclusion and care they deserve. As you will see from our press release, members of the European Parliament were enthusiastic in their praise for our members' work. We accompanied this with an exhibition of photographs from members' projects and a new publication.
We have also been participating in the Second Annual Convention of the European Platform against Poverty. Some of the discussions have been disappointing and without a real sense of a comprehensive strategy for addressing poverty in Europe, but there have also been more opportunities to discuss and share ideas than in previous years. We were delighted that the 'Debt Buddy' project from Kerk in Actie and the work of Abej-Solidarite in Lille, member of the FEP France, were both chosen as best practices to be presented during the conference and that representatives from both organisations have been participating.
Our members' work is the most important witness to the need for political change in Europe, and we will keep organising ways to show this witness at every opportunity.
Have a good weekend,
Heather Roy
Secretary General |
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Monday, May 20, 2013
