Opinions
About Opinions

Take a look at our Opinion series, with individual voices from inside and outside COFACE, providing different perspectives and insights on topics relevant for families of today.

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OPINION – Preventing child–family separation: support before it’s too late

OPINION – Preventing child–family separation: support before it’s too late

Families are often judged before they are supported. When difficulties arise, the question is rarely what does this family need? but rather what went wrong? Child–family separation is still too often treated as an inevitable solution, when in many cases it is the outcome of poverty, isolation, migration or lack of accessible support.

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OPINION – Full-time family carers should be recognised as workers

OPINION – Full-time family carers should be recognised as workers

In Italy, those who care for a family member with a disability living with them 24 hours a day are neither recognised nor supported. They find themselves alone, poor (having given up work to provide care) and at risk of depression. The law in Italy has been awaited for 30 years and has been under discussion in parliament for 15 years. Read more in this opinion piece by Alessandra Corradi, President of Genitori Tosti in Italy.

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OPINION: Transforming marketing and advertising of toys through positive portrayals of children in all their diversity

OPINION: Transforming marketing and advertising of toys through positive portrayals of children in all their diversity

The toys children play with have a powerful impact on the way they perceive the world.  Presenting positive portrayals of children in all their diversity is crucial: toy companies should take a transformative approach to ensure their toys and associating marketing are diverse.

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OPINION: Support to children with disabilities and their carers should start as early as possible

OPINION: Support to children with disabilities and their carers should start as early as possible

The first few years of a child’s life are a particularly sensitive period in the process of development of the body, brain, and communication. They lay the foundation for cognitive functioning; behavioral, social, and self-regulatory capacities; and physical health. EASPD – the European Association of Service Providers for persons with Disabilities – is strongly committed to developing quality ECI systems across Europe based on the individual needs of the children, families, and carers.

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OPINION: Back-to-School season is not for every child – let’s push for inclusive classrooms

OPINION: Back-to-School season is not for every child – let’s push for inclusive classrooms

For the third time, Unapei and its partners have launched their campaign “#NoSchoolForMe” to denounce the protracted situations of exclusion lived by children with disabilities. As pupils and students find their way back to school, the UN Committee on the Rights of...

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