- ATD Fourth World

On 25 May 2005, a draft declaration on “Guiding Principles for Sustainable Development” was adopted by the European Commission that will form the basis of the Sustainable Development Strategy review later this year. At the launch of this Strategy, adopted at Gothenburg in 2001, the then President of the European Commission declared: “Sustainable development is not a choice. It’s an imperative […]. What is at stake is leaving our children, grandchildren and future generations a world worth living in, with a more just society and a healthy, clean environment. This is a duty in which we must not fail.”

At the time, poverty and social exclusion in Europe and the rest of the world were highlighted as being major challenges to achieving sustainable development.
Today, poverty persists. It is not in decline.
People living in poverty do not see their situation improving and they are afraid that their children and grandchildren will not have a better life.

Creating the conditions which allow genuine equal opportunity for all is one of the main requirements for our societies to develop in a sustainable manner. In order for Europe to do so, it must be recognised that many people do not have access to fundamental rights. We must be ready to offer more means, support, and time to those who, because of extreme poverty, have received less.

Inequality and poverty are on the increase, causing a split in society that was reflected, for example, in the way people from disadvantaged areas voted in the recent French referendum on the Constitution.
Many young people do not envisage a promising future. They see themselves obliged to stay jobless, unable to be useful, powerless to improve their prospects and participate in society as others do. What future can these young people hope for when many of them have seen their parents remain unemployed? All they are currently offered is a string of placements and training courses that lead to nowhere, with the alternative being a life of inactivity and feeling useless.
Everything must be done to enable these young people to reach their goals in life. In particular, investment is needed in programmes offering long-term guidance and support that are accessible to those experiencing many difficulties.

The Commission’s draft declaration does not adequately address the need to find a response to these threats to sustainable development.
Even so, “social equity and cohesion” are stated as being goals of sustainable development to “promote a democratic, socially inclusive, cohesive, healthy, safe and just society with respect for fundamental rights and cultural diversity that creates equal opportunities and combats discrimination in all its forms”.
The International Movement ATD Fourth World is satisfied with the expression of such a priority but, in view of the menace posed by the persistence of poverty, considers that “the eradication of poverty and social exclusion in Europe and the rest of the world” should be stated as an explicit objective.

People living in poverty no longer trust strategies which claim to make them a long-term commitment and yet frequently change their objectives. They have lost faith in programmes which never reach them because they are designed only to alleviate poverty and not to eradicate it.