Latest activities
Check out the latest COFACE activities, and use the search for further information on the latest campaigns, media releases, publications, events, projects and more.
Campaigns
Key findings: Expert meeting on inclusive education
In March 2023, taking the Italian system as a starting point for discussion with European peers, we brought together organisations of families of persons with disabilities and service providers, education professionals, persons with disabilities and their families and policy-makers from several countries to examine key actions to implement inclusive education.
Taking action to achieve Gender Equality: COFACE’s President speaks at the European Parliament
COFACE and its members in Europe work to address the needs of all families and boost gender equality. In February 2023, our president Annemie Drieskens delivered a speech at the European Parliament during the “Empowering Women Now” event organised by Renew Europe.
Key findings: Expert meeting on inclusive education
In March 2023, taking the Italian system as a starting point for discussion with European peers, we brought together organisations of families of persons with disabilities and service providers, education professionals, persons with disabilities and their families and policy-makers from several countries to examine key actions to implement inclusive education.
Taking action to achieve Gender Equality: COFACE’s President speaks at the European Parliament
COFACE and its members in Europe work to address the needs of all families and boost gender equality. In February 2023, our president Annemie Drieskens delivered a speech at the European Parliament during the “Empowering Women Now” event organised by Renew Europe.
News
Austria’s implementation of the EU Work-Life Balance Directive: COFACE member KFÖ’s key takeaways
Alfred Trendl, President of the Catholic Family Association Austria (KFÖ), expressed both approval and concern regarding the government's implementation of the EU directive aimed at strengthening work-life balance and partnership. While applauding the doubling of the family time bonus to 1,480 euros per month, Trendl voiced criticism of the government's decision to cut two months of leave for families where only one parent takes parental leave. He argued that this infringes upon parental choice in childcare arrangements.
Deposit savings rates: A costly consequence for families
In a recent presentation to the European Banking Authority’s Banking Stakeholder Group, several consumers organisations brought to light a pressing concern – the enduring issue of persistently low savings interest rates for household deposits in the Eurozone. This financial predicament, coupled with surging inflation and rising banking costs, is exerting great pressure on families.
First rEUsilience working paper “Family profiles: Risks, resources, and inequalities”
rEUsilience, a Horizon Europe research initiative spanning from 2022 to 2025, is a collaborative effort involving renowned universities such as Oxford, Stockholm, Barcelona, Warsaw, KULeuven, and Zagreb, with COFACE as an integral partner. The first working paper from rEUsilience maps how resilience is being used in the EU policy discourse, noting how there is a lack of a clear conceptualisation of how it applies to families.
Projects
COFACE Families Europe builds projects with its members (NGOs) and partners (research and policy), in order to deepen our actions in specific domains and strengthen the research-policy-practice triangle.
By building partnerships between practitioners, policy-makers and research institutions, we aim to support evidence-based practice and policy-making. We have been involved with a wide range of European projects, as both advisory board members and impact managers, funded by Erasmus+, Horizon 2020 and the European Research Council. We use the research to feed into EU and national policies under review and under preparation, and disseminate the results to our wide network of family organisations, inserting the research into practice via different programmes to support families which are run by COFACE members.
Publications
POLICY BRIEF. A families-sensitive approach in European and national measures to tackle energy poverty
The EU and its governments must act swiftly for a families-sensitive approach to energy policy and planning. This includes integrated policy solutions that combine energy and social policies - these are vital in addressing the multifaceted nature of energy poverty....
Paving the way for a disability-inclusive Child Guarantee
Assessment of the European Child Guarantee National Action Plans from the perspective of children with disabilities and their families More than 18 million children living in the European Union are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.[1] This represents...
Thematic Note on High-quality Early Childhood Education and Care
COFACE has developed a thematic note to trigger debate and examines a crucial precondition for high-quality ECEC provision: the ratio of children to staff in daycare settings (child-staff ratio). Low child-staff ratios can yield multiple benefits for the children and all the other actors involved.
Opinions
OPINION – Digital Media Parenting: How to Empower Parents Online? The European SafeOnline Initiative Model
Digital parenting is first and foremost parenting. It involves guiding children to use technology safely and wisely, understanding their online activities, setting boundaries together with children and teaching them to be responsible in a positive and beneficial way.
OPINION – Empowering Parenthood: How the Work-Life Balance Directive Reshapes Parental Leave in Poland
On 23rd of March 2023, the President of Poland signed the bill implementing the work-life balance directive in Poland and the new regulation came into force on 26th of April 2023. This marks, two years of advocacy work led by Share the Care foundation coming to an end.
Media Releases
No Family Left in the Cold: Europe must build more inclusive energy systems
As international stakeholders gather in Warsaw today for the International Annual Conference on Energy Poverty to address the multifaceted challenges of energy poverty, it is crucial for the EU and its governments to act swiftly for a families-sensitive approach to energy policy and planning. This includes integrated policy solutions that combine energy and social policies which are vital in preparation for the winter ahead. COFACE has developed a policy brief.
Will the European Child Guarantee positively impact the lives of children with disabilities and their families?
On the 14th of June 2021, EU Member States unanimously adopted the Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee. Two years after this historical adoption and the promise of all EU Member States to act to lift children and their families out of poverty, COFACE Families Europe has published an assessment of the National Action Plans implementing the Child Guarantee.
Early Childhood Education and Care in times of trouble: Time for European minimum quality standards
Media release, 15th May 2023 International Day of Families As governments across the EU are called upon to increase the overall uptake of Early Childhood Education and Care, COFACE members are reporting increasing trade-offs between quality and quantity,...