Our three struggles to tackle the causes of poverty
Living our solidarity as a political commitment is one of our guiding principles, inspired by Abbé Pierre, that has been in place since the creation of Emmaus International.
Emmaus International has been working for structural change in our societies for decades, helping in the fight "until the cause of each ill is eliminated" and defending "access to fundamental rights for all". (The Universal Manifesto of Emmaus, 1969)
The Emmaus groups are currently facing up to an unfair global system which creates exclusion and conflict as well as a financialised economy and the privatisation of common goods.
In 2016, 10 years after the death of Abbé Pierre, the Emmaus groups came together for the world assembly in Jesolo, Italy, and committed to providing fresh momentum to our international solidarity whilst fighting, on a daily basis, for an ethical and solidarity economy, a social and environmental justice for a sustainable world, and peace, freedom of movement and of residence for universal citizenship.
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Amicii Emmaus Targu-Jiu
contact
Strada General Christian Tell, Bloc A10, Scara 1, Etaj 3, Ap. 7 GORJ 210192 TARGU-JIU ROMANIA
Tel : + 40 722 618 433 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Amicii Emmaus in Târgu Jiu was created in 2011 thanks to the partnership between Emmaus Forbach, France, and the 'Our Children from Elsewhere' association in Târgu Jiu. Amicii Emmaus collects and sells on second-hand objects. The association sells material which was been brought in by partner associations in its 700m² sales room. The group also receives clothes from 4 clothing containers in the city centre, a fifth of this clothing is sold on and the rest of it is given to about 20 families that the group is in touch with.
Amicii Emmaus provides financial support for the children’s house (managed by the 'Our Children from Elsewhere' association), for children who have been put into homes by the local authorities. Amicii Emmaus has created a company to start economic activities in the sectors of food and clothing.
A fake association under the name ‘Aide humanitaire’ (Humanitarian Aid) is sending out volunteer opportunities and is asking for financial contributions using our address. Please be careful, this fraudulent organisation has no link to Emmaus.
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Declaration of the Emmaus International World Assembly
For a renewed insurrection of intelligence against absurdity and in favour of justice
Jesolo, Italy, 22 April 2016
While once again, we hear hundreds of migrants have lost their lives in the Mediterranean, the representatives of Emmaus, who work in 37 countries on four continents, met in Jesolo, Italy, for their World Assembly.
The actors of Emmaus once again note the unstoppable rise in exclusion and inequality. The daily lives of the vast majority of people are shaped by the struggle to survive and the poorest amongst us are not even guaranteed minimal access to basic services – food, healthcare, education, housing and work. The outrageous logic that underpins our financialised economy, in which the most powerful rule, means that the value of human life is utterly disregarded and the environment is being destroyed rather than allowed to thrive. Conflicts, mindless violence, corruption and a lack of democracy characterise a now globalised system, whose sole objective is to maintain the dominant position of a minority.
The delegates of Emmaus unite around the values bestowed upon them by Abbé Pierre and urgently call for priority to be given to the respect forpeople and their dignity as well as the environment, for sharing, openness, solidarity and a culture of welcome. In a climate in which people are becoming increasingly inward-looking, the notion of solidarity is being deliberately destroyed and we are faced with growing disarray all around the world, our priorities must be:
- To develop economic activities truly based on solidarity and respect for people as well as the environment, - To develop actions and combats that enable everyone to access their fundamental rights, - To defend the common goods needed for the world to remain inhabitable for us and future generations, - To pursue ethical finance practices that benefit both the public and private sectors of the economy, - To advocate openness and freedom of movement for people, - To enable all people to have a full say at all levels of the decision-making process on public policy.
Emmaus International will continue its relentless fight against poverty and for the rights of the world’s weakest. It calls on people and civil society organisations everywhere to lose no time in uniting in pursuit of these two objectives.
Together, following in the footsteps of Abbé Pierre, we call for an “insurrection of intelligence against absurdity and in favour of justice”.
Together, we call upon ourselves to reach out and join forces with those working passionately to tackle the causes of poverty all around the world. We invite them to meet for a forum with all those excluded from society to discuss and formulate the alternative approaches we need to eradicate poverty.
Together, we reaffirm that “it is not enough to act, we must conquer - defeating the forces pushing against us”.
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The events that have shaped Emmaus
December 1947 – Switzerland
Abbé Pierre involved in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in United Nations
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As Vice-Chair of the executive committee of the World Federalist Movement, Abbé Pierre took part in the second session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
There he met members of the drafting committee, Eleanor Roosevelt and Alexander E. Bogomolov, USSR ambassador.
(Photo: René Cassin, the French member of the committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with Abbé Pierre. Geneva, Switzerland, 1947)
1 february 1954 – France
“My friends, your help is needed.”
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France was hit by a bitterly cold winter at the beginning of 1954, and many families were struck by a lack of housing.
Abbé Pierre made an appeal on Radio Luxembourg: “A woman froze to death at three o’ clock in the morning last night, on the pavement on Boulevard Sébastopol, clutching the document with which, the day before yesterday, she was evicted… Every night, there are more than 2000 of them huddled up in the freezing weather, without shelter, without bread, some of them practically naked…” “Every one of us can help the ‘homeless’”.
The whole of France answered his appeal, and donations flooded in: it was dubbed ‘the insurrection of goodness’.
(Abbé Pierre speaking on Radio Luxembourg a few days after the appeal. Neuilly-Plaisance, 1954.)
1959 – India
Abbé Pierre met disciples of Gandhi
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When he first travelled to India, Abbé Pierre was invited to speak at the national congress of Catholic universities in Bombay.
Whilst he was there he met the country’s Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He accompanied Vinoba Bhave on a three-day walk to where Vinoba was mobilising villagers to share land ownership.
Abbé Pierre was dubbed “a French Vinoba” by the Delhi Statesman in its edition of 15 January 1959.
(Newspaper extract from the Statesman, Delhi, India, 15 January 1959)
11 july 1963 – Uruguay
Abbé Pierre’s boat shipwrecked
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Whilst on a tour of the Emmaus communities in Latin America, Abbé Pierre, who was firstly presumed drowned, did in fact survive when his boat sank.
“This near-death experience was, without a doubt, just as important a moment in my personal life as joining the capuchin order and begging in the streets of Paris at night. But it was also a major turning point for the Emmaus movement’s history, and future.”
(Newspaper extract from El Diario, Montevideo, Uruguay, 12 July 1963)
27 october 1971 - India
Appeal to 38,000 French mayors to help refugees in East Bengal, India
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The civil war in East Pakistan led to the displacement of 10 million refugees who fled to India.
Abbé Pierre was one of the three French representatives at a conference in India led by Indira Gandhi to attempt to tackle the crisis.
On his return, he appealed to France’s mayors to set up twinning agreements to support the Bengali refugee camps.
(Sleeve of the record to support Bengali refugees, 1971)
September 1973 – Chili
Coup in Chile – two Emmaus leaders arrested by the military
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In the days following the military coup by General Pinochet in Chile, two community leaders from Las Urracas Emaús in Temuco, Carlos Melillán and Oscar Pregnán, were arrested and tortured.
Emmaus International mobilised its members in many different countries to save their lives.
Abbé Pierre went to Chile to meet the military authorities and managed to secure the two community leaders’ release in exchange for their lifelong exile.
(Newspaper extract from El Diario Austral, Temuco, Chile, 18 October 1973)
1984 – Benin
Albert Tévoédjrè triggers a new beginning for Emmaus in Africa
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Albert Tévoédjrè took on significant responsibilities in Benin and then at African and international organisations, the International Labour Office in particular.
He published a book, La Pauvreté, richesse des peuples (Poverty, wealth and peoples) in 1977.
He was invited to speak at Emmaus International’s general assembly in 1984.
This marked the start of a lasting and rewarding friendship with Abbé Pierre and Emmaus International. He re-established the movement in Africa when he set up Emmaus in Benin in 1988.
Friends and fellow members of Emmaus in Benin, Albert Tévoédjrè and the Archbishop of Cotonou, Isidore De Souza were heavily involved in the country’s return to democracy after almost 17 years of dictatorship.
They called on Emmaus International to offer practical support for civil society activists helping society’s poorest members.
Abbé Pierre endorsed the campaign launched by Emmaus International and several other NGOs ‘for democratic reform in Benin’.
(Abbé Pierre in Benin for the campaign to support democratic reform. November 1990)
1990 – Paris
Fighting for the right to housing – France
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Abbé Pierre championed the cause of a group of migrant families who had been evicted and were living in camp at la Réunion square in Paris.
He supported the action of Droit au logement (Right to housing), an organisation which requisitioned empty buildings to accommodate homeless people.
Right up until his death, Abbé Pierre supported their action.
(Newspaper extract from Le Parisien, Paris, France, 11 June 1990)
1992 – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina – Abbé Pierre speaks out and Emmaus takes action
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Emmaus organised convoys to send supplies and equipment to refugees and victims from 1992 until after the war, which ended in 1995.
In response to the mounting violence, Abbé Pierre made an angry appeal on 18 July 1995.
With the backing of Emmaus International and Emmaus France, he sent an open letter to the president of France to call for Serbian military sites to be bombed and to condemn the United Nation’s capacity to fulfil its peacekeeping commitments.
(Photo: Emmaus convoy in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1997)
18 August 1996 – Brazil
Dom Hélder Câmara and Abbé Pierre’s appeal
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Abbé Pierre spent a week in Recife to celebrate the opening of the Emmaus community and 65 years since dom Hélder Câmara, the city’s former archbishop, became a priest.
Together they launched an appeal to all people everywhere.
“Don’t forget the golden rule: the key to peace, justice and solidarity lies in serving others, and ensuring that those who suffer most and the poorest people are served.”
(Photo: Abbé Pierre and dom Hélder Câmara, August 1996)
20 November 2003 – Burkina Faso
Invitation to take action for peace and fight inequality
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At the first ever Emmaus world assembly held in Africa, Renzo Fior, Emmaus International’s then Chair, condemned war and justice, which destabilise Africa and many Southern countries.
Under the banner, ‘Take action and speak out together’, a rally for justice brought together some 400 people of around 40 different nationalities who demonstrated in the streets of Ouagadougou – it was an extraordinary event, which hadn’t been seen in the Burkinabe capital for two decades previously.
(Photo from left to right: Koudbi Koala, Renzo Fior, Laurent Desmard, Abbé Pierre, René Bettiga, Raihan Ali, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 20 November 2003)
June 2005 – Togo
Mobilisation to restore democracy to Togo
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After violence was wreaked both before and during the presidential election, the Emmaus organisations mobilised and challenged the new president of Togo about the political handling of the crisis, and demanded respect for human rights and that democracy be restored to the country.
Many people in the south of Togo were persecuted and took refuge in neighbouring countries – 25,000 fled to Benin and 20,000 to Ghana.
(Photo: Emmaus Africa providing refugee aid, Lomé, Togo, July 2005)
Every four years, Emmaus International invites all its member organisations – full and trial members – to get together. It’s a major event for the movement. The world assembly is the highest body of Emmaus International as it may exercise all the powers of the movement. It ensures democracy, since decisions are made at the assembly by all member organisations, which are each entitled to a vote. The assembly also sets the movement’s direction for the following four years, its priority areas and organisational strategies.
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Frequently asked questions
-> What is Emmaus International?
It’s a non-religious movement that was set up in 1971 by a French priest, Abbé Pierre, to combat poverty and social exclusion. Solidarity is an essential part of the Emmaus ethos. This means working to help people less fortunate than yourself. What makes Emmaus original is that it’s a movement that’s all about bringing people together – people who have experienced, or who are experiencing social exclusion and people from more privileged backgrounds – who together, come up with alternatives to poverty.
-> What is Emmaus International’s purpose?
All around the world, we’re running income-generating activities with people experiencing social exclusion, to give them back their access to their fundamental rights. Emmaus International challenges decision-makers and policy, using its experiences as an example to show how it is possible, and necessary, to implement alternatives to injustice. The universal manifesto, the Emmaus movement’s founding text, was adopted in 1969 and sets out our main ethos: “Serve first those who suffer most” and “raise awareness and share struggles until the cause of each ill is eliminated”.
-> What are Emmaus International’s missions?
There are three: - Take action at the local-level and challenge public powers - Organise solidarity between the member organisations and with other activists - Keep the memory of Abbé Pierre alive, as Emmaus International is Abbé Pierre's sole legatee
-> Who are Emmaus International’s members?
They’re local-level organisations, communities, “friends of Emmaus” grouped into voluntary organisations and social enterprises implementing work integration activities with a social purpose. Our movement is made up of a wide range of activists working all around the world. To get an idea of their diversity, go to the Emmaus around the world section, which describes all their different activities.
-> What is an Emmaus community?
Communities are places where people live, work and put solidarity into action. People living at Emmaus communities have often experienced social exclusion and are known as companions. There are also community leaders and volunteers, also sometimes known as “friends”. They make up the three essential components of Emmaus communities. Their activities mainly centre around collecting and recycling second-hand or discarded items that consumer society throws away, often unnecessarily. Most of their income comes from selling recycled goods.
-> What is a friends' committee?
They’re groups of volunteers in France who offer support to communities and other members of Emmaus. Sometimes they employ people on subsidised employment contracts. Their activities are the same as those of a community (collecting donated goods, reconditioning and selling them.)
-> How does Emmaus International challenge policy?
At Emmaus, local-level initiatives back up the movement’s policies. To tackle local-level problems, the movement’s members come up with alternative solutions. At their world assemblies, which meet every four years, they decide which issues they are going to tackle together as priorities. They then challenge decision-makers about these issues in order to make structural changes that are capable of overcoming the causes of poverty.
-> What are the movement’s priority areas?
Since 2012, Emmaus International champions its member organisations’ collective commitment to six priority areas: - right to water, - health, - education, - ethical finance, - fighting human trafficking, - international migration.
-> What does solidarity mean at Emmaus International?
Solidarity is put into practice at the movement’s different levels: - At local level, through solidarity projects run by Emmaus organisations with their wider communities - Between member organisations: second-hand goods are shipped by container to Africa and Latin America. The member organisations use the goods themselves or sell them in their second-hand shops, which brings in small amounts of revenue. Emmaus organisations also often pool financial support or skills. - At international level, the 410 member organisations pool the proceeds of one day’s sale. These pooled resources are then redistributed and used for projects run by organisations in the movement requiring support. Some of the resources are used for emergencies, such as accidents, or if a member organisation is hit by a natural disaster. Take a look at the sheer variety of projects in the section on Solidarity.
-> What does being Abbé Pierre’s “sole legatee” mean?
Emmaus International is responsible for promoting Abbé Pierre’s ideas and action, and for protecting and keeping his memory alive. For that reason, Emmaus International owns the copyright to Abbé Pierre’s books, and is responsible for the use and protection of his name. An inventory of the archives has been underway since 2001. The movement puts the collections to good use to ensure Abbé Pierre is remembered.
-> How can I get involved or support Emmaus International?
There are many ways you can get involved: make a material or financial donation, join our team as a volunteer or intern or visit one of our shops. You can also support our campaigns for change, for a fairer world.
