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Description
Purpose of the project: to involve vulnerable groups (people experiencing poverty and social exclusion) in the public policy decision-making process and to enable them to represent their interests.
Vulnerable groups if people often do not have the real opportunities or capabilities to express their proposals. Poverty lowers their dignity and causes helplessness. Experience of other countries has shown that the inclusion of the people in poverty can be addressed in various ways. Meetings of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion are being organized in many European countries. During these events individuals have the opportunity to express their concerns and make suggestions, thus shaping the agendas of organizations and politicians to address poverty in the country. Based on the international experience this project will seek to organize regional and national meetings of people experiencing poverty. The aim is to make people aware of and to discuss human rights (social and civic rights) and to find out if people encounter violations of these rights in everyday life. Public authorities will also attend the meetings.
The project will consist of three phases: the first phase will include the development of a methodology for organizing and moderating meetings of people experiencing poverty and their inclusion in public administration, as well as training for civil society organizations. The second phase will include regional meetings of people experiencing poverty. Meetings will be organized in every county of Lithuania. The meetings will be moderated by an experienced Forum theatre expert in cooperation with regional coordinators. In the third phase, the regional coordinators will independently organize regional meetings in their own counties using the developed methodology.
During the project an awareness campaign will be developed.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to involve vulnerable groups - people experiencing poverty and social exclusion - in public policy decision-making at national and local level and empower them to represent their interests. The project was necessary because people at risk of poverty and social exclusion often do not have real opportunities and capacities to voice their proposals. Poverty demeans their dignity and promotes powerlessness. In many European countries, this problem is addressed by organising meetings of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, where they have the opportunity to express their own problems and proposals, thus shaping the agendas of organisations and politicians in tackling poverty in the country.
As part of the project, NSMOT and its methodological partners have developed a methodology for meetings of people living in poverty and their involvement in public governance. The project promoted the involvement of people living in poverty in decision-making, dialogue between people and institutions, inter-institutional cooperation and the breaking down of stigmas about the poor in society. The partnerships and initiatives implemented contributed to publicising the project, highlighting and addressing the problems.
Based on developed methodology the regional partners in Forum Theatre and meeting organisation have been trained, and a two-day training course has been organised on the basis of the international experience. 1 national and 20 regional meetings on human rights for people living in poverty were organised in each of Lithuania''s counties. 292 people living in poverty participated in the two series of meetings. The meetings were also attended by 90 representatives of decision-making public authorities. During the meetings, the poor raised issues and made suggestions, which were used in the NSMOT''s advocacy and synthesis publication.
The publication was presented to the SADM, municipalities, MPs and a researcher and used for further advocacy. The project also implemented an awareness-raising campaign to promote social sensitivity and raise people''s awareness of social rights. Together with regional partners, 83 social media posts were disseminated to raise awareness of the challenges and proposals of people living in poverty, promote social sensitivity and raise awareness of social rights. With the NSMOT and partners'' messages, a total of 115629 social network users were reached.
Summary of bilateral results
We communicated with our international partners (Norwegian Poverty Reduction Network) via emails, information sharing and Zoom. European Anti-Poverty Network Norway shared its long experience in involving vulnerable groups in decision-making, problem-solving, advocacy methods, organisational skills and cooperation with authorities. The knowledge and good practices were incorporated into the methodology being developed.