Different faces of poverty - fighting social exclusion

Sosialministerens åpningsinnlegg på europakonferansen til International Council on Social Welfare, 11.06.03.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to our capital and to this European conference, with the theme:

“Different faces of poverty – fighting social exclusion”.

The Norwegian Government is very pleased to support this conference.

I would like to underline from the start that the Norwegian Government share the objective to combat poverty and social exclusion with the International Council on Social Welfare, as well as other organizations in the European area. This is also one of my main concerns and priorities as Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs.

As you all know, we live in times of change. Processes leading to growth and new opportunities have become increasingly global. International cooperation for the common good has in many ways grown and contributed to positive trends.

Yet, the differences between the power and wealth of some, and the vulnerability and marginalization of others continues. Global inequalities and inequalities within nations promote powerlessness and deprivation.

Even though we in Norway and in most of Europe experience that the vast majority of the population enjoys good economic living standards and social inclusion, some people don’t. They are marginalized and excluded in terms of being

• permanently unemployed
• having low skills
• do not have a permanent place to live
• having low income
• poor health

The causes of poverty in developed countries are numerous and complex.

By the Lisbon process, the European Union have added the social dimension to its economic aims for 2010. Although the fact remains that Norway is not a member of the EU, we are dedicated to take part in the EU Community Action Programme to combat social exclusion. This will allow Norway to take part in the transnational cooperation and exchange as a result of the programme.

The present Norwegian government has also committed itself to take action to combat poverty in our own country. Last autumn the Government presented a Plan of action for combating poverty for our national assembly, The Storting. The Storting gave its approval to the plan just a few weeks ago.

In our national Action Plan the main goal in combating poverty is to enable people with low or no income to provide for themselves through their own work. Both the welfare services and benefit schemes are being adapted to this goal. We are therefore also working on a labour market and social protection reforms that will ensure our goal. We aim at a more targeted and flexible approach in our welfare policy, with one of our main priorities to combat social exclusion.

Some people suffer from poor health and other problems that make them unable to work. The public sector has a duty to secure that these people have a sufficient standard of living, while also giving them the opportunity to have meaningful activities and take part in society.

We find it particularly unacceptable for children to be living in poverty. Disadvantaged families with children are a target group for the overall efforts to combat poverty and social exclusion.

Our Action Plan builds on the same policy tools and social indicators as used in similar plans in other European countries. By this approach we ensure that learning and knowledge will be shared between us all, to guide and monitor future steps towards a society where the risks and burdens of poverty and social exclusion are minimised.

New elements of knowledge will increase our opportunities to design improved and targeted measures to combat poverty and social exclusion.

However, poverty cannot be removed merely by increased knowledge in itself. I strongly believe that the role of non-profit and non-governmental organisations as well as the role of the social partners cannot be overestimated.

The Norwegian Government has therefore taken on the role of mobilising and strengthening the NGO’s and other important actors operating in this field. Involving NGOs and the social partners in all aspects of fighting poverty is of utmost importance, because the Government alone, neither in Norway, nor in any other country can solve these problems.

I am certain that the discussions and exchange of views in this conference will be useful for all participants and give us all better understanding for future actions in combating social exclusion and poverty.

Our capital is at its most beautiful at this time of the year. Enjoy it, too. I wish you a pleasant stay.

Thank you for your attention.