Poverty and Inequality

Khodr Al Hawshi:

The darkness affects me a lot. Can anyone live without light?

Narration:

This is the daily reality for Khodr, a man in his seventies. Like the over the 6 and a half million people in Lebanon,he gets an average of only two hours of state provided electricity every day.Electricity blackouts have been a persistent problem due to decades of state corruption and mismanagement. But it got even worse recently because Lebanon is suffering one of the worst economic crisis in its history. Since 2019, its currency has lost 95% of its value. This means the state, still reliant on fossil fuels, can’t afford the imports to run its power stations.

 

Khodr Al Hawshi: Before things were manageable. We’d have electricity for three hours, then off for three. It was tolerable. Day or not, we get it for an hour [but] we aren’t really aware of it.

Narration: 

The lack of electricity has a severe impact on the rights to an adequate standard of living, education, health, and livelihood. The Lebanese government has an obligation to ensure that all residents have a continuous, affordable, and clean supply of electricity. Without electricity, Khodor has no running water.

 

Khodr Al Hawshi:

If I want to cook, I buy myself a gallon of water. I use it to wash the vegetables and I cook only a little bit because I can’t put anything in the fridge since there’s no electricity.

Narration: 

In order to cope, many people have subscriptions for private diesel generator providers but these are unaffordable for many. The generator industry, a multi-billion-dollar business, operates with almost no regulation and monitoring.

 

Khodr Al Hawshi:

The reason I don’t have a subscription is because I cannot afford it.

 

Narration

The Lebanese government should reform the electricty sector in line with its human rights obligations. International donors should invest in helping Lebanon transition to renewable sources of energy. 

Khodr Al Hawshi: Some people have subscriptions on the street so I feel some light. This lifts my spirits a bit, when I see the light. It breaks the darkness and makes you happier, a bit.

 

 

 

Jorge Afonso

I never thought I'd be asking for food

and financial assistance at this point in my life.

 

Tamara

As a mother, I feel anxious and terribly helpless.

 

Pedro Luis Álvarez

My dream, my aspirations right now are immediate… to survive.

 

TEXT CARD

The consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic

have pulled hundreds of thousands of people

in Spain into poverty, compromising

protection of their basic rights.

 

The Spanish government has not

responded adequately to urgent needs

for food and financial support leaving

many people turning to food banks.

 

 

Raquel Coronel

I’ve come here to collect food because I need it,  mostly as I’m unemployed now

and I don’t have another option.

 

Jorge Afonso

I used to work as a computer technician,

and I even had my own business.  But I was very badly affected by the pandemic and now I’m in this financial situation, something that has never happened to me

before in my life.

 

TEXT CARD

Spain needs a social security system

that guarantees people’s right to food

and an adequate standard of living.

 

Paola Castillo Erago

coordinadora de reparto de alimentos

Parroquia de San Ramón Nonato.

During the pandemic, the number of people

coming here increased significantly. Right now, the poverty situation is very serious. Because we’ve noticed that even people with jobs

 are coming to Caritas [food distribution] to ask for help because the salaries they receive

aren’t enough to support their families.

 

TEXT CARD

In April 2020, Spain’s government brought

in a furlough scheme and Minimum Vital

Income (IMV) assistance to help citizens and

residents during the pandemic.

 

However, many people in need never received support.

 

75% of those who applied for IMV

were refused by March 2021.

 

 

Pedro Luis Álvarez

When I worked in a factory,

I was getting something like 1,050 [euros] a month. My rent alone costs 730 euros. After you deduct the rent, transportation,energy, the water bill, the girls’ school expenses,

there is nothing left. It’s that simple.

 

We’ve tried to access different resources

established by the government like the minimum vital income, and we always find ourselves in limbo. What kind of limbo? Well, there is always a requirement that excludes us.

 

TEXT CARD

Pedro, who moved from Cuba,

is a Spanish citizen and one of

six million people living in

poverty in Spain.

 

Pedro Luis Álvarez

The biggest difficulty we have is the energy issue. We were very cold, during the winter

and we simply couldn’t afford to pay for the heating. Everything is a hardship

when you don't have enough. Coming here to Spain,

a land I loved from afar, and realizing that the

situation is so difficult.

 

 We see no future. If we don't have a stroke of luck,

our prospects are terrible.

 

Tamara

Right now, the income that

I have in my household is zero. Expenses can be 150 to 200 [Euros per month]. The pandemic’s economic impact

has very much been felt in my family. I worked cleaning houses,

but I lost [my job in] the houses because they were owned by older people. I’m waiting for an appointment

at the unemployment office so I can get my benefits. 

But they never have openings.

 

TEXT CARD

For some, help has come from

community members during

the crisis.

 

 

Jessica Ferrer

Despensa Solidaria San Diego

Here you mostly see people who clean

and people who take care of the elderly. Followed by restaurant workers,

waiters and cooks. I think the government should have

stronger strategies to help families. The little that they're doing,

is not noticeable because otherwise we wouldn't

be here [in the pantry] for these types of cases.

 

Usman Camara

When the pandemic came,

there were all kinds of people, Spaniards, migrants, all kinds of people who did not have basic food to eat a daily meal. They couldn’t even buy a loaf of bread. At least, thanks to the foodbank,

 all these people were able to eat daily. No one was left behind.

 

TEXT CARD

Usman donated thousands of kilos of fruit

and vegetables to community foodbanks

during the crisis.

 

Usman Camara

Man, it’s essential that

no one should go without basic food. If we let that happen

then we’ve lost our common sense.  For me, it’s crucial that no one goes hungry.  We must collaborate.

We must support one another. We must help.

 

TEXT CARD

Governments like Spain’s should learn

lessons from the pandemic.

 

They should implement reforms to ensure

a strong social security system that guarantees

everyone’s rights to social security, food,

and an adequate standard of living.

 

People’s rights, including the ability to feed

their families, should always be protected,

especially in times of crisis.