COFACE Core Values
COFACE – FAMILIES EUROPE is a network promoting the well-being, health and security of families and their members in a changing society. And serves as a trusted entity for family mainstreaming and for the voice/needs of families in the EU and beyond.
COFACE Families Europe is rooted in a set of six core values:
COFACE key activities
We advocate for families of all types without discrimination, bringing their voice to the table of European Union decision-making, ensuring that EU policies and legislation work in the general interest.
Furthermore, we support transnational exchanges between COFACE members (civil society organisations representing and supporting families) in the form of expert meetings, trainings, campaigns, conferences, webinars and more.
COFACE members are regularly updated and partners via the Families Corner newsletter, and interact with our social media communities.
Act NOW for families of today
COFACE Families Europe together with its members is very active in addressing the social challenges faced by families of today and advocating for policies to support their well-being. Here are ten specific actions (also available in Easy-to-Read language) which we would like to see integrated in the programme of the European Union from 2024 to 2029.
HIGHLIGHTED COFACE NEWS
Latest articles
European Commission takes Germany to the EU court over family benefits for mobile workers
In July 2024, the European Commission decided to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to uphold the rights of mobile workers from other EU Member States as regards the amount of family benefits granted to them.
KMOP trains informal caregivers to support people living with Dementia
In June 2024, COFACE member, KMOP, educated and raised awareness among 12 informal caregivers about improving services for people with dementia and helping them build better social relationships with their patients.
OPINION – Ethnic segregation of Roma children in Europe’s schools demands real action
Ethnic segregation is a widespread and systematic practice in many European countries. These practices are illegal yet continue to shape the lives of children and families across Europe. Our rights to education, housing, and health, ostensibly enjoyed by us all, remain divided along ethnic lines. For many Roma, their enjoyment of these rights is severely limited, often with the tacit support of the state.
Explore more of COFACE work
COFACE develops different types of publications
including position papers, studies based on feedback from families, briefs on family and EU policies, meeting reports.
Our latest publications include a list of economic principles to help build an economy that cares.
You and the EU
The European Union develops different actions and laws to ensure family and child well-being.
And we at COFACE try to shape these actions based on our core values. These actions include:
- key guidelines and laws for national governments to strengthen their social and family policies;
- different long-term action plans to support governments;
- funding mechanisms to boost NGOs and families.
European Family Lab
Family supports & resilience in challenging times
Family supports are an essential part of making social rights a reality, and civil society has grown over decades to create a wide range of supports to families and children to ensure health and well-being.
Now, more than ever, it is important to connect professionals in real time through transnational exchanges in order to tackle the social impacts of different transitions (digital, green, energy, health) on families and children.
We believe the European Family Lab is the place to connect them, serving as an innovation incubator for ideas and cross-country knowledge transfer to help family professionals deliver the best possible supports for Europeans. We are building the Lab virtual room by virtual room, with a newly launched Education&Training programme for upskilling of professionals and families: the L.I.N.K. Programme.
COMING UP with COFACE
Events
The role of local level prevention systems for implementing the European Child Guarantee
The role of local level prevention systems for implementing the European Child Guarantee
This expert meeting will use the integrated family policy framework created by the European Observatory on Family Policy to look more closely at the impact of services on children and their families, linking the implementation of the European Child Guarantee recommendat...
COFACE working group on transnational families
COFACE working group on transnational families
This working group meeting aims to explore the impact of globalisation on family structures, identify the challenges faced by transnational families, discuss relevant EU developments, and promote collaboration among stakeholders to enhance support systems for these fami...
COFACE Disability platform – annual meeting
COFACE Disability platform - annual meeting
The annual meeting of COFACE Disability will take place in Brussels this year. Save the date! Agenda coming soon.