Speech of Sonja

Good morning ladies and gentleman,

First I will tell you something about myself and then about the 10^th meeting of People Experiencing Poverty and Social Exclusion and EAPN.

I am Sonja Leemkuil, born in 1955. I grew up in Voorst a small rural village in the east of the Netherlands, in a social family of construction workers. After general secondary education I worked at the tax-office of the Ministry of Finance. I married and got 2 children. My husband has a disability benefit.

In 1985 I did an exam in commercial knowledge and had a social cycle shop.

I needed to stop this shop because of health reasons and a major surgery. After recovery I was a volunteer at the school of my children and member of the parent participation council of local public education.

In 1993 I had a second major surgery and after recovery of a year I cared for my father, who’s deceased from cancer after a care at home of 6 months. I also cared for my husband who had a brain trauma with neck injuries; he had a treatment of 3 days a week in rehabilitation for more than a year and in the same time for my daughter who was abused as a child and my son who was adolescent in this very difficult time for all of us.

My son wanted to study as a graphic designer, but unfortunately we could not pay this study costs with travel expenses, so this education was not possible. We managed to lead his disappointment in another direction to assure that he had an education which brought him at least a decent job. He studied the economic secondary general education and has now a well paid job and enjoys his work. But still it does a little bit pain…….

My daughter had mental health problems and because of that she couldn’t complete her secondary education. She had a job for 2-3 days a week in an office with a very understanding employer, who has a physical disability himself. She became a very respected employee. Her husband had a well paid job till 2½ months ago. The company he worked for is now bankrupt. The last salary was 500 euro paid in august. The home rent they have to pay is 530 euro in a month. End of this month they get money? ? ?

The results of this reality is many money worries, borrow money from family, family tensions, payment of rent arrears etc.

Since 2000 I am a member of the local client council at the Department of Social Affairs. Till November I’m the treasurer of the local handball club. I help people to sort out their post, their records and filling out forms to apply for benefits and help with debt problems. As a volunteer I try to help people who do not dare to go to various agencies.

In 2007 I met Jo and Quinta from EAPN Netherlands. Through this way I was able to take part in the 7, 8 and 10^th European Conference of People Experiencing Poverty, the conference we call PEP, and I became a volunteer for EAPN Netherlands. We had a local poverty conference with the people experiencing poverty, policy advisors, social organisations, organised by EAPN Netherlands in our village and in other communities. This year I was an EAPN NL volunteer for Row4Rights, a rowing event on the Danube from Vienna to Bratislava with the finish in Budapest, whose sponsor proceeds were earmarked for Amnesty International and EAPN.

Two days a week I’m a proud nanny of my 4 beautiful grandchildren. I cared for many family members and the last 4 years for my favourite niece Annie, who was a dialysis patient. She died last Thursday.

It was a difficult choice to made for me:

Stay in the Netherlands for the funeral Tuesday, tomorrow or going to Poland for my very important messages. I said two weeks ago to Annie: don’t do crazy things when I must go away and she said: I will not, but if I do You go to Poland.

I think I’ve made the good decision to be here.

Working as a full time volunteer –a non paid job- knowing EAPN and all the other European people and the possibility for participation in the PEP Meetings have made me grow stronger as a person and helped me to grow as an activist with direct experience of poverty.

Meeting many other people who have experiences similar to mine, shows me that my situation is not just my personal problems but is a structural problem about how we organise and distribute wealth and opportunities in our society.

Crisis, our crisis?

As I said my son in law lost his job and around me I hear more and more stories of people losing their jobs too. Unemployment is rising, poverty is rising, and exclusion is rising. This is not what we want. We all want a job, which provides us with a decent income, which can be earned within decent and humane working conditions.

When we read and hear about the crisis it is a financial crisis with the financial implications. From my own experience and the experiences of all the people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, I ask your attention for “these European people” in this crisis with all the social and financial implications coming down on their necks.

The social impact on society of this: unemployment, depression, family breakdown, drugs and alcohol abuse, shame, anxiety, disability, etc. are all additional "problems" that also need equal attention. In the future it will cost a lot of money to solve these social problems if we don’t do something about it now!

So coming back on having a job.

The theme of the annual 10^th PEP meeting was “Employment, Work and Jobs and the reality for People Experiencing Poverty and Social Exclusion” on these topics.

The Key messages from the meeting were sent to the ‘Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs’ Ministers meeting. You can hear these key messages in the video you will see after my speech in the coffee break and you can read them in the Report of the 10^th meeting which is available outside on the EAPN table.

Some key Messages coming out of the workshops of the 10^th PEP Meeting I would like to highlight now:

· Everybody should have an access to a decent job regardless of the type of work.

· Access to fundamental rights for all must include employment, housing education and training.

· Many delegates spoke of their difficulties with employment agencies. Often these services are experienced as a hindrance rather than as a help for getting into employment

· For many delegates the difficulty of accessing employment is often based on discrimination

· Delegates spoke of the lack of recognition of the impact of unemployment on family life and of the difficulties they face accessing, maintaining or returning to employment.

· The starting point must be human being: people should be recognized for who and what they are.

· People experiencing poverty feel the impact of the crisis stronger than the banks. Although there is now a European target to reduce poverty: due to crisis, poverty is increasing.

· Delegates and guests at the meeting were unanimous: the voice of people experiencing poverty must be heard: national and international

As regards to the future, there was and still is a call that the annual meeting of people experiencing should have a structural place in the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion. The PEP meetings are humongous important!

I like to share some key messages with you from the Institutional guests who took part in the workshops.

1. The problem is implementation: we need to make it happen! This also recalls what was said during last years Round Table in Brussels by the delegate from Austria to the PEP meeting, Michi, “you can’t eat paper and we can’t eat paper”

2. A job is the best solution to fight against poverty, but not always. This can only be so when we recognize the importance of the quality jobs, decent wages and stable jobs and work life balance.

3. Last but not least it is crucial to give the floor to people experiencing poverty, to listen to them and to take their opinion in to account and to add from the PEP to actually do something with the outcome of the PEP Meetings.

Only together, also with the people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, with us, Europe will overcome the crisis and will we build forward to a Europe free of Poverty.

On behave of all the Participants of the People Experiencing Poverty and Social Exclusion and on behave of all the EAPN (European Anti Poverty Network) members who has giving this meetings all their support and attention:

I reach out my hand to you and ask all the PEP people to do that too, Let’s work together. I hope you will take our hands.

Thanks for listening