Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion through Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship in Europe and Scotland
What are learning points?
Learning points share what people have learned from their experience in regeneration - from people working or talking together, or from research into issues and evaluation of what is happening. Learning points can help people and organisations to improve their practice through identifying what works and what doesn't.
The views described in learning points do not mean that the Scottish Centre for Regeneration or the Scottish Government necessarily support them. They simply reflect what has been debated and what those involved in the event considered useful learning and lessons from their perspectives.
What is this learning point about?
This learning point is about tackling poverty and exclusion through human rights and democratic citizenship. It was written with Tanveer Parnez from the Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS) and develops from an event held by BEMIS in conjunction with the Democracy and Human Rights Education in Adult Learning Network (DARE) in March 2010.
The event brought together a range of international stakeholders in the field of Human Rights Education and Education for Democratic Citizenship (HRE/EDC).
It also included practitioners in formal and non-formal education, non-governmental organisation (NGO) activists, educational experts, political scientists and policy makers from various levels ranging from city councils to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.
This learning point provides a summary of the main issues, lessons and learning identified by participants at the event, as well as capturing the key points from presentations, workshops and group discussions.
The speakers included:
- Mr. Frank Elbers, Chair of DARE, Director of Programmes at Human Rights Education Associates (HREA). The Netherlands
- Yulia Pererva, Council of Europe, Division on citizenship and Human Rights Education Directorate General IV - Education, Culture and Heritage, Youth and Sport
- Frederick Banson, Educational officer for Human Rights at the European Fundamental Rights Agency, Vienna
- Dr John McKendrick, School of Law and Social Sciences Glasgow Caledonian University. Scotland
- Mr. John Wilkes (CEO) Scottish Refugee Council
- Mr. Robin Tennant (Training and Field Work Manager) - Poverty Alliance
- Ihsan Ikizer, Leuven University/VORMEN, Belgium
- Najimee Parveen, PATH Scotland
- Gabriella Patriziano Human Rights Office, International Volunteers for Development
- Tsvetoslav Nikolov, Partners Bulgaria Foundation
- Naqeeb Ahmed and Tony Breslin Citizenship Foundation
- Niamh O'Reilly, Ireland
The presentations focused on the causes of poverty and social exclusion and what impact this has on the lives of individuals, groups and communities. Case studies were used to demonstrate the impact of poverty and exclusion on a number of vulnerable groups. Examples highlighted projects aimed at improving the circumstances of those experiencing poverty and exclusion.
Workshops were also undertaken and these examined some of the approaches that have been adopted in central Europe to tackling poverty, policy approaches such as the EU Lisbon Treaty and the impact of stakeholders in EDC/HRE on present and future EU policies.
What are the important issues?
- How can we highlight the issues of tackling poverty and social exclusion as well as more effectively sharing experiences from EU and Scotland?
- What progress has been made on these issues since the Lisbon Treaty?
- How can we raise awareness of tackling poverty and social exclusion through Education and Democratic Citizenship (EDC) and Human Rights Education (HRE)?
- How can we help to promote a renewed sense of understanding of poverty and social exclusion beyond the existing definitions?
- How can we help to encourage enhanced engagement of diverse communities, policy makers and various equality strands in addressing issues regarding tackling poverty and social exclusion?
What do we know already?
- 2010 marks the European Year of Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
- Poverty and social exclusion is a challenge in today's society across the UK and Europe with 17% of the EU living below the poverty line.
- There are a wide range of groups in society who are affected by poverty and social exclusion and are therefore considered vulnerable. These groups span different demographics such as children, young people and adults.
- In addition poverty affects individuals from minority groups such as Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), asylum seekers and refugees, as well as those facing exclusion due to sexual orientation, disability or health and social problems such as drug use or mental illness.
- Such groups can be subject to prejudice and stereotyping and these views are often based on perception rather than fact. This may be fuelled by negative reporting from the media.
- Poverty and social exclusion affects people's rights and opportunities in a number of ways:
- Low income can limit ability to access basic needs such as quality housing as well as opportunities to participate in social and leisure activities and access to services.
- Limited opportunities to access education in both formal and informal formats can result in a lack of skills and knowledge and therefore individuals are not empowered to improve their circumstances.
- Limited access to information can lead to low awareness, knowledge or understanding of an individual's rights in a number of settings.
- Challenges accessing employment can be due to poor education, skills and opportunities. Even when people are able to access employment it can often be on a salary that is not sufficient enough to provide for basic needs.
- Challenges accessing health services can lead to a decline in an individual's health. This in turn can impact on a range of life factors and lead to a shorter lifespan.
- Overall many of these excluded groups can suffer from a 'lack of voice' in that individuals are not able to have their needs heard or have input into the design and delivery of services within their communities which will meet these needs.
What have we learned?
Poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue. Delegates felt that:
- Poverty and social exclusion is a significant problem in the UK and in Europe. It affects communities' abilities and opportunities to access vital services and fully participate in society.
- There is a need to acknowledge and act upon the fact that these issues are not one dimensional and related solely to income levels. They are multifaceted and peoples lives are affected in a number of areas including education, employment and health.
- Tackling poverty and social exclusion was seen as the 'responsibility of all' and it needs to be recognised that everyone has role to play whether this is at a personal and or organisational level.
Human rights education and democratic citizenship provide a new approach and will have implications for policy makers. Delegates felt that:
- There is strong evidence which supports a correlation between lack of education, democracy and human rights and an increase in poverty and social exclusion.
- Tackling poverty and social exclusion through human rights education and democratic citizenship has implications for EU member states, policymakers and NGO practitioners.
- There is a need for a shared understanding of the reasons for poverty in Europe and this needs to be a prerequisite for any European Strategy in combating poverty and social exclusion
- Politically there is a need to consider the interrelationship between xenophobic, homophobic and right wing extremist tendencies that potentially put vulnerable groups across Europe at the risk of exclusion
Education has a key role to play. Delegates voiced the opinion that:
- Citizenship skills are a basic need of any democratic, cohesive and economically strong society. Therefore it is imperative that the focus of policy measures be on people and their opportunities to participate in life long learning across all aspects of society. It is believed that NGO's have a key role to play in this area.
- Adult education programmes should have a specific focus on civic and human rights education and democratic participation. In addition adult education programmes should be designed particularly with learners from vulnerable groups in mind.
- Sustainable funding and political commitment for education for democratic citizenship and human rights is crucial for long term capacity and maintaining high quality results.
NGOs can have a fundamental role to play in eradicating poverty. Delegates felt that a number of key areas for these organisations to address are:
- To ensure people are at the core of their agenda and implement inclusive approaches in education for democratic citizenship rather than stigmatizing those who are excluded.
- To allow non formal education needs to come from the bottom up as opposed to the top down. Examples of current good practice cited were the Community Education Network - Aontas Ireland and the Young Muslim Leadership Network
- To link education for democratic citizenship and human rights education to people's real lives. For example empowerment in the workplace, community education and family and peer learning. It shouldn't be limited to a particular age or lifestage rather it must be about lifelong learning.
- To ensure that the tools and methods used in learning environments must be based on the learners needs and should be designed and developed with input from these individuals
- Finally as was noted earlier those who are at risk of social exclusion often have 'no voice' and as such ways must be found to develop their leadership and participation skills. At the same time NGO leaders need to have the skills to communicate effectively with policy makers.
What next?
- The Community Regeneration and Tackling Poverty Learning Network provides support and help for people to exchange information and ideas. This will include organising further events to share good practice; identifying and publishing information about case studies of good practice; and developing other opportunities for sharing experiences. You can join the Learning Network online at Partners in Regeneration or contact Heather Smith, Learning Network Co-ordinator, on 0141 271 3736.
- BEMIS will develop a full conference report which will build on the issues contained within this learning point.
- BEMIS are also working to develop a certificate module with Caledonian University on poverty and social exclusion "Researching Poverty at a Community Level". This will enable community groups and grassroots organisations to carry out research on poverty within their own communities, rather than depending on larger external researchers.
Scottish Centre for Regeneration
This document is published by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration, which is part of the Scottish Government. We support our public, private and voluntary sector delivery partners to become more effective at:
- regenerating communities and tackling poverty
- developing more successful town centres and local high streets
- creating and managing mixed and sustainable communities
- making housing more energy efficient
- managing housing more efficiently and effectively
We do this through:
- coordinating learning networks which bring people together to identify the challenges they face and to support them to tackle these through events, networking and capacity building programmes
- identifying and sharing innovation and practice through publishing documents detailing examples of projects and programmes and highlighting lessons learned
- developing partnerships with key players in the housing and regeneration sector to ensure that our activities meet their needs and support their work
Scottish Centre for Regeneration
Scottish Government
Highlander House
58 Waterloo Street
Glasgow
G2 7DA
Tel: 0141 271 3736
Email: contactscr@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.partnersinregeneration.com
April 2010