UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Saturday, Oct 17 — In commemoration of the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Mary Collins (Pavee Point Primary Health Care Worker) & Rudolf Simonic (Pavee Point Roma Programme Community Development Worker) addressed a gathering in Dublin organised by All Together in Dignity – ATD Ireland.

The national theme for the day was a call to action: Uniting communities to end poverty and guarantee everyone an adequate home.

Mary spoke of her work as a Primary Health Care Worker, seeing and experiencing the impacts of homelessness and inadequate accommodation on Traveller mental health.

Rudolf spoke about the impacts of housing deprivation and overcrowding on Roma populations in Ireland – impacting well-being and mental health – as well as the specific barriers Roma are currently facing in accessing housing support.

The day’s call to action centred on three themes: