On the initiative of Minister Suzanne Raab, Austrian Minister for Women, Family, Integration and Media , a high level conference of European Ministers responsible for Family Affairs took place in Vienna on 13th June 2024, as part of the commemoration of the 30 anniversary of the International Year of the Family.
The conference “Importance of families in society” focused on the central role families and family policies hold in EU member states and acknowledged that families should receive the best possible financial and institutional support.
It was a great honour for COFACE Families Europe President, Annemie Drieskens, to participate in this conference and raise the voice of families, highlight the challenges families of today are facing across Europe and present the work COFACE delivers in close cooperation with his members.
In her keynote Annemie Drieskens highlighted also the ambition of the recently launched “European Observatory on Family Policy” to promote strong family policies which support the wide diversity of families and fulfill successfully their needs. It is clear from the first report of the Observatory that moving “Towards greater Family policy integration” is crucial and requires a joint effort of local, national, European governmental organisations.
The high level conference was also an important opportunity to take the Ministers on a journey and present “The State of the European Union for families”, COFACE’s assessment of the European Union’s work over the last 5 years. Important steps have been taken by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to improve family wellbeing and it is clear that those initiatives must be sustained and be implemented. Even by doing so the situation of families remains critical. All families are in the same storm but they are not in the same boat. More needs to be done to ensure that policy systems help families to face the risks and be resilient.
The Ministers were invited to be the ambassadors for families and to join forces to “Act Now” on the key challenges families are facing and what COFACE Families Europe believes the European and national policy makers should concentrate on.
After rich discussions, exchanges of experiences and good practices between member states the Ministers expressed their commitment for families in a joint declaration:
“The importance of families in society.
A European agenda for family wellbeing. Priorities and Solutions.
Declaration on creating the best possible conditions to enable and promote family life.”
The Ministers also expressed their willingness to join Minister Suzanne Raab in her ambition to have regular meetings and aim for the establishment of a European Council of Ministers responsible for Family Matters.
Read the full declaration here.
Photo ©️ Federal Chancellery of Austria
