On 17 June 2021, FEBA President Jacques Vandenschrik was invited by Mr Pierre-Alain Fridez (Member of the National Council) to a public hearing of the Council of Europe on the topic “Eliminating extreme child poverty in Europe: an international obligation and a moral duty”.
FEBA President gave a general overview on child poverty in Europe, stressing the urgency to intervene by public authorities to address this growing issue all over Europe. In fact, in 2019, an estimated 22.5 % of children (aged less than 18 years) in the EU-27 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2019).
On 8 June 2021, the European Parliament adopted the European Social Fund Plus. In this context, Member States with a level of child poverty above the EU average should use at least 5% of their ESF+ resources to address this issue. All other Member States must allocate an appropriate amount of their ESF+ resources to targeted actions to combat child poverty.
FEBA and its members welcome the adoption of the ESF+ and calls on all Member States to allocate an appropriate amount of their ESF+ resources to combat child poverty.
Not only does the activity of Food Banks belonging to the European Food Banks Federation address the immediate challenge of providing food and promoting food security, it provides huge benefits to wider society, the environment, the economy, and food chain resilience.
Food redistribution is good for people and the planet, it is aligned with many EU policies such as the Circular Economy Package and the Farm to Fork Strategy. It provides a multitude of support to individuals by not just providing food assistance but providing community-based food programmes through local charities.
Through the collaboration with charities, FEBA members access a wide network of people who are often hidden such as children (more than 1 million children supported by charitable organisations affiliated to Food Banks in the FEBA network considering 2020 data available from 11 FEBA members).
Jacques Vandenschrik underlined how the European Food Banks Federation is willing to give its strong and active contribution to collaborate with public authorities and all the organizations and stakeholders involved to better face this challenge in the upcoming years to support the younger generations.
