Here you will see news from Europe, from civil society, from research, highlighting emerging trends from local to international level relevant for families of today.
As part of the European Semester, the Joint Employment Report 2025 emphasises that participation in ECEC under three is improving but at a very low pace, calling for renewed efforts in line with the European Child Guarantee, the European Care Strategy and the Council Recommendation on ECEC.
All across Europe, COFACE members continuously work to contribute to positive outcomes for diverse types of families in a changing society, including single-parent households. Organisations such as La Ligue des Familles and Single Parents Foundation have both recently and respectively put a spotlight on concrete ways to support and empower single parents in Europe from Belgium to Hungary.
In November 2024, COFACE member organisation APF France launched its second season of the short TV programme "Tous en scène pour le Handicap" (All on Stage for Disability)”. After the success of its first season in 2023, 10 new artists and public figures have taken the stage to humorously share real-life stories experienced by members of APF France.
Since 2017, the City of Paris has implemented a digital inclusion strategy with numerous partners, aiming to use digital technology as a lever for social integration. In 2024, COFACE member Unaf participated in the launch of the week-long event dedicated to digital parenting titled "My Child and Screens" and brought its 20 years of field experience and expertise to the discussions
COFACE member, the Association of German Family Organisations (AGF), was founded on the 25th of March 1954. 70 years later, on the 25th of march, AGF members looked back on its history and discussed the current challenges in family policy. The constituent meeting of AGF took place in 1954 in Königswinter, Germany, and laid the foundations for coordinated and committed representation of family interests at a national level and international work.
Several UN entities, civil society organisations, governments, and future generations joined forces at the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) to emphasise the importance of gender equality and the rights of women and girls everywhere. To share good examples and best practices to address challenges for women of today, the Union of Hungarian Women Association (COFACE member) hosted an official Parallel Event
COFACE is part of the rEUsilience project which aims to understand how different families respond when they are faced with socio-economic shocks and major decisions regarding managing family life and securing a decent income. A key outcome of this project is a compendium of families’ risks, resources, and resilience which provides users with open-access data to understand the situation of families in Europe.
On 2-3rd May 2024 in Brussels, the Belgian presidency of the EU organise a conference entitled European Child Guarantee from engagement to reality. The event had a dual objective: firstly, to give key players the opportunity to analyse the work already completed and what remains to be done to achieve the objectives set, and secondly, to provide Child Guarantee coordinators with a platform to share their knowledge in the implementation of the European Child Guarantee.
On this 2024 International Day of Families and ahead of the European elections in June, COFACE is pleased to publish its assessment of the European Union’s work from 2019 to 2024 as well as its key demands to the EU for the 2024-2029 mandate. Both will be presented to friends of COFACE in Brussels during a Meet&Connect event in the presence of the Belgian Presidency of the EU, the occasion also to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the International Year of Families.
