Poverty on our doorstep

Poverty comes in different forms and may have different degrees of intensity; from slight or moderate to the most severe form which can lead to dire misery.

Most people consider poverty ugly and repellent because it is a privation, weakness and abjection. It is a lack of those material economic and pleasure-giving values that have become their unfulfilled dream and which place them at the lowest social level

Various countries have enacted anti-poverty laws which endorse a strategy of massive social action and numerous governments, for instance that of Brazil headed by President Inacio Lula da Silva Lula, have adopted policies which aim to wage war against this scourge of society.

In spite of all the measures that have been taken, millions of people all over the world are still crying out for help. They want help to help themselves, to achieve happiness and a more meaningful life and for the gates of opportunity to open before them.

What concerns us most, however, is not the poverty of the past or the poor of the Third World - though their plight is deserving of help and attention - but the poor in our own country. It may come as a surprise to some that there are still, at the beginning of the third millennium, poor people living with us and around us. It is these people whom we hope will be the main beneficiaries of the Malta national action plan on poverty and social exclusion launched recently by the government.

It cannot be denied that notwithstanding all the efforts to keep them hidden, the signs of this repugnant social phenomenon are quite visible locally and they are often exposed and laid bare even if some people pretend not to see them. Time and again, complaints about poverty are heard from various quarters.

There are couples that cannot afford to buy or rent a home in which to live decently. There are families with low incomes who are hardly able to provide for their daily needs. There are others who cannot keep their heads above the quagmire of ever-increasing debt, as well as children and senior citizens who live on diets deficient of energy-giving and protective food.

The development of modern civilisation has reached a stage where it is now fighting poverty. This has become, for many people - such as politicians, social workers and economists - the object of praiseworthy interest. It is studied and assisted in many ways. But to honour the poor as human persons, respect their rights and give them what they need most takes a great deal more than just pity and sporadic assistance. Nor is it enough simply to point out symptoms of poverty. The urgent need is to try and cure it and, hopefully, take steps to prevent it.

Our society, through dialogue with the poor, must find ways of developing and offering programmes that will reduce the vulnerability of the poor. If poverty-related social problems are to be tackled properly, people who fall below the poverty line should have a greater stake in society as a whole; their voice must be heard, more often, so that they may be able to air their views and needs. They must have a chance to effect, more successfully, important decisions at every level.

The government, as well as other agencies such as the NGOs and communities, must direct their efforts at resolving the deep social complexities which underlie and cause poverty, always, of course, with due regard for the personal dignity of the people in need. No stone should be left unturned to remove everything which may seem to be or become a barrier which divides the poor from the better off. War against poverty must never be a war against the poor but it is a battle that should be fought with them. It is in everybody's interest to win it.

Mgr Cauchi is Bishop of Gozo.