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"Wherever
men and women are condemned to live in poverty,
human rights are violated. To come together
to ensure that these rights be respected
is our solemn duty." Joseph
Wresinski. |
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Joseph Wresinski,
founder of The International Movement ATD
Fourth World
Through his enormous energy and ability
to inspire people, Joseph Wresinski achieved
the remarkable feat of building a worldwide
anti-poverty organisation from an emergency
housing camp near Paris, to a United Nations
recognized organisation.
Joseph Wresinski was a priest who was brought
up in extreme poverty. This experience and
his great determination resulted in the
development of an innovative approach to
poverty eradication, moving away from traditional
charitable assistance to a real partnership
alongside those with first-hand experience
of poverty. |
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People experiencing extreme poverty tell
us over and over again that a human beings’
greatest misfortune is not to be hungry
or to be unable to read, not even to be
jobless. The greatest misfortune of all
is to know that you count for nothing, to
the point where even your suffering is ignored.
The worst blow of all is the contempt on
the part of your fellow citizens, for it
is that contempt which stands between a
human being and his rights. It makes the
world disdain what you are going through
and prevents you from being recognised as
worthy and capable of taking on any responsibility.
The greatest misfortune of extreme poverty
is that for your entire existence you are
like someone already dead.
The very poor, living proof
of the indivisibility of human rights, Wresinski’s
contribution to the French national human
rights commission, 1989.
Publications
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In 1957,
Joseph Wresinski and the families living
in an emergency camp founded the organisation
which was later to become International
Movement ATD Fourth World. They replaced
soup kitchens and the distribution of old
clothes with a library, a nursery and a
chapel.
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Joseph Wresinski’s firm purpose
was to unite all sections of society around
its poorest members. He was joined by full-time
volunteers from all around the
world, and met heads of state, churches
and international bodies. He believed that
every man or woman he met represented a
chance for people living in poverty and
he was determined that ATD Fourth World
would remain open to people of all cultures,
faiths and races.
Joseph Wresinski’s persistence and
enthusiasm resulted in his appointment to
France's Economic and Social Council in
1979 which was a significant step in his
quest for official representation for very
poor people.
On 17th October 1987, in the presence of
100,000 people from all over the world,
Joseph Wresinski unveiled in the Trocadero
Human Rights Plaza in Paris a commemorative
stone in honour of the victims of extreme
poverty. This stone has become a rallying
point for people from all walks of life.
They gather to bear witness to the very
poorest people in the world and to make
a personal commitment to join forces with
them in creating a world free of poverty
and social exclusion. October 17th was declared
International
Day for the Eradication of Poverty
by the United Nations in 1992. |
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