For the 4th year in a row, the Social Inclusion Observatory is conducting field surveys in the Municipalities of the South Aegean on poverty and social exclusion, accessibility, the elderly, juvenile delinquency and gender-based violence.
As part of the field surveys that are being conducted in many Municipalities of the South Aegean Region, a field survey was carried out in the Municipality of Leros in collaboration with the Community Center of the Municipality on Thursday, July 18 and Friday July 19, 2024.
The researcher, Ms. Dimitra Tassiopoulou, interviewed eleven (11) citizens of the Municipality who live in poverty and receive the Guaranteed Minimum Income.
In addition, meetings were held with two (2) of the executives of the Community Center of the Municipality of Leros, Ms. Maria Pavlidi, coordinator of the Community Center and Social Worker, and Ms. Christina Polykreti, Administrative Officer of the Community Center, thus recording the work they implement in the context of their duties, the aspects that need improvement as well as the suggestions they themselves have regarding the operation and effectiveness of the structure.
The interviewees talked about the non-existence of extreme poverty phenomena on the island, while at the same time, they stressed the importance of the individualized approach to social protection in small communities where the beneficiaries face difficulties in finding work mainly due to their low level of education and lack of skills.
During the interviews, it was also found that since most of the interviewees do not have mobility problems, they do not know if accessibility in the Municipality of Leros is easy or not, while almost half of them also do not know if there is any activity space for the elderly.
Finally, a meeting was held with the Deputy Mayor of Social Policy of the Municipality of Leros, Ms. Vasiliki Evangelou, who informed us about the way the current municipal authority deals with the phenomena of poverty, abuse, accessibility for the disabled, as well as the solutions given and planned to be implemented in the near future.
We would like to warmly thank the Community Center of the Municipality of Leros for their hospitality and participation as well as the Municipality of Leros for their interest and support in our project.
(Text and photos: Dimitra Tassiopoulou)
