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

#BeTheSHIFTPublicationsReports
Images of children reading and in wheelchairs
Key findings: Expert meeting on inclusive education

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.

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#FamilyTeamworkNews
Taking action to achieve Gender Equality: COFACE’s President speaks at the European Parliament

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. 

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#BeTheSHIFTPublicationsReports
Images of children reading and in wheelchairs
Key findings: Expert meeting on inclusive education

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.

Read More

#FamilyTeamworkNews
Taking action to achieve Gender Equality: COFACE’s President speaks at the European Parliament

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. 

Read More

News

News
Austria’s implementation of the EU Work-Life Balance Directive: COFACE member KFÖ’s key takeaways

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. 

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News
Deposit savings rates: A costly consequence for families

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.

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News
First rEUsilience working paper “Family profiles: Risks, resources, and inequalities”

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.

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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 BriefsPublications
POLICY BRIEF. A families-sensitive approach in European and national measures to tackle energy poverty

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....

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Opinions

NewsOpinions
OPINION – Digital Media Parenting: How to Empower Parents Online? The European SafeOnline Initiative Model

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.

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Opinions
OPINION – Empowering Parenthood: How the Work-Life Balance Directive Reshapes Parental Leave in Poland

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.

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Media Releases

Media ReleasesNews
No Family Left in the Cold: Europe must build more inclusive energy systems

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.

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Media ReleasesNews
A photo of 5 children sitting at a table and playing claydough at school
Will the European Child Guarantee positively impact the lives of  children with disabilities and their families?  

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.

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Media ReleasesNews
Early Childhood Education and Care in times of trouble: Time for European minimum quality standards 

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,...

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