Poverty aid
New fund makes best use out of available EU resources for aiding most deprived
The European Parliament today voted to adopt and confirm an EU funding scheme, which will provide aid to the most deprived persons from 2014-20. The Greens welcomed the outcome on the €3.5 billion scheme, with Green social affairs spokesperson Marije Cornelissen stating:
"This new fund will make the best use of the available resources and strikes the right balance for addressing the needs of the most deprived, with food aid and social inclusion measures. Importantly, the fund will be implemented in close cooperation with organisations that have experience with helping the most deprived on the ground. This will help make the fund more efficient and more sensitive to the needs of the most deprived.
"The Greens played a key role in improving the fund, ensuring it can finance the collection, transport, storage and distribution of food donations. This should help reducing wastage of perfectly edible food from local sources instead of merely buying new food on the market. This solution will help food banks to become less dependent on EU aid and have positive environmental impacts. Another important improvement is the broader scope, which will mean the fund is not only aimed at food distribution, but will also promote other measures to advance the social inclusion of the most deprived. This will include guiding them to social services, such as schemes to find decent housing, social integration programs or assistance with budget management."
