Lisa Stewart, campaigns and comms manager at Oxfam Scotland, says poverty could be more effectively tackled if wealth inequality is addressed
Oxfam believes that there's no need for poverty in Scotland or anywhere else
Despite huge progress in tackling global poverty, right now nearly 800 million people across the globe still don’t have enough to eat.
Worse still, the twin challenges of inequality and climate change threaten to undo much of the progress we have made in making sure millions more people have food on the table, a decent education and access to health care.
Here in Scotland, the scandal of poverty is a daily reality for around one in five people. In our rich country, we should all be impatient for faster progress.
Oxfam has just published our policy priorities for the Scottish Parliament, setting this challenge to all politicians and calling on them to do all they can to end poverty.
We are increasingly aware of the barrier that extreme economic inequality represents in tackling poverty. Yet poverty and inequality are not inevitable, they are consequences of deliberate political and economic choices.
In our policy paper, we urge all parties to outline clear and robust policies to reduce inequality and poverty – including how they will use devolved powers to address food insecurity and enhance the quality of paid work.
We cannot end poverty in Scotland at the expense of people overseas or at the cost of harming our planet
Parties must also recognise that poverty extends beyond money; it also causes and exacerbates an inequality of influence. We must do more in Scotland to challenge unequal power dynamics by amplifying the voices of people in poverty within decision-making.
Not all political power rests in Scotland but where the Scottish Parliament has power it should act boldly, and where it does not, it should be a strong and progressive advocate for change.
We cannot end poverty in Scotland at the expense of people overseas or at the cost of harming our planet. The Scottish Government, with cross-party support, has a huge opportunity to play a leadership role on the world stage, building on our proud record.
We can take action across all of these areas now.
However, the Scottish election in May 2016 creates a significant opportunity for every political party to transparently commit themselves to creating a more equal Scotland within a more equal world.
Lisa Stewart is campaigns and comms manager at Oxfam Scotland
