The European Commission, together with the Azores 2030 Programme, and local authorities, hosted a conference in Ponta Delgada on poverty and social exclusion in the Azores. Regional leaders, academics, and civil society debated the future of regional policy and funding to fight poverty.

EU funding in the Azores region

Funding through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) makes up 60% of the Azores’ anti-poverty budget. ESF+ opportunities help the region to improve social inclusion, fight poverty and make social services more accessible. 

Through ESF+ and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Azores receives over €105 million in EU funding (2021-2027).

Regional measures and results 

The region recently issued a €150 million strategy supported with EU funds to fight the roots of poverty. The strategy will provide support to citizens including efforts to curb early school leaving. It will put in place Youth Guarantee schemes and vocational training, also linked to green economy jobs.

With the help of EU funds and regional measures, the Azores region already expanded vocational programmes and citizen support. The rate of people not in education, employment or training dropped from 19.6% in 2015 to 12.1% in 2024. Moreover, energy poverty programmes including home insulation subsidies, have reached 5 000 households so far.

European Anti-Poverty Strategy 

The forthcoming first ever European Anti-Poverty Strategy underpins such efforts in the Member States. The strategy recognises the specific challenges of remote regions and the importance of ESF+ and cohesion funds for greater social inclusion.

The Azores wants to reduce poverty by 40% by 2030. Local measures and EU funds will help to achieve such regional and EU priorities.

Background

Poverty is one of the biggest challenges facing the Azores region for several years. Child poverty stands at 20% and energy poverty affects 22.9% of households. On average, 1 500 young adults leave the region every year leading to the loss of valuable talent.