17/10/2012 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Strasbourg, 17.10.2012 – “The rise in poverty and social exclusion is a threat to the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights by an increasing part of the population and a danger to the social cohesion of our societies,” today said Sir Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC) in Strasbourg, speaking on behalf of the PACE President in the Conference “Building Europe through Human Rights: Acting Together against Extreme Poverty”, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
“A particularly worrying phenomenon of long-term unemployment has exposed entire families to unprecedented hardship, which might leave life-long scars on the youngest generation and accentuate the intergenerational transmission of poverty,” he added.
Therefore, “we must ensure that the existing solidarity mechanisms reach far enough into the deepest pockets of poverty across all Europe,” Mr Meale stressed. “The PACE has repeatedly highlighted the role of parliaments in consolidating social rights in Europe and will continue advocating strong parliamentary oversight of the implementation of national and international social commitments,” he said. He recalled the responsibilities that many countries undertook by adhering to the revised European Social Charter, the most advanced human rights protection instrument in the field of socio-economic rights, including protection against poverty.
The conference also adopted a joint declaration in which the Presidents of the Committee of Ministers, the PACE, the Congress and the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe undertake to work together to formulate and implement measures to promote the eradication of extreme poverty, applying an approach based on human rights.