The Covid-19 pandemic and the European energy crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have brought energy poverty to the forefront of social and political debate. EU policies have increasingly reflected this, but gender considerations remain overlooked.
As Poland marks the one-year anniversary of the implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive, questions arise about its impact on gender equality in both professional and family spheres. Do women and men feel more equal in their professional and family lives?
Familias Monoparentales (FAMS), declared that single parents don’t depend on other parents, but on the services offered by the Spanish government. This relationship between single parents and government cannot work when more than 65% of single parents are looking for part-time work so they can be available for their children in the afternoons. This means reduced income to pay for childcare and the costs that come with infancy.
It has been a year since the Council of Europe condemned the French state for violating the rights of people with disabilities and their families. COFACE members Unapei and APF France Handicap along with other NGOs are urgently reminding the French government of their obligations to protect people with disabilities and their families.
The end of March 2024 marked a significant event for Fundação LIGA, our Portuguese COFACE Disability member. In fact, representatives of their Early Childhood Intervention Program participated in the inaugural meeting of ELI AASMA. ELI AASMA is the Early Childhood Intervention Association for the municipalities of Alenquer, Arruda dos Vinhos, and Sobral de Monte Agraço and serves as a platform for collaboration and knowledge-sharing among professionals working to support children and families.
On 14 and 15 April, COFACE Families Europe participated in the Social Summit on the Future of Social Europe that took place in the small Belgian village of La Hulpe. The purpose of the high-level conference was to sign an inter-institutional declaration, with the ultimate goal of shaping the future social agenda of the European Union for period of 2024-2029.
Autism Europe, a network of organisations advancing the rights of autistic people and their families became co-chair of the European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based support (EEG), with COFACE Families Europe. They took over from the European Disability Forum. The EEG is a coalition advocating to replace institutionalisation with family- and community-based support. It represents children and their families, people with disabilities and their families, homeless people, people experiencing mental health problems, service providers, public authorities, UN organisations.
For months, COFACE Disability Platform, Unapei, and other solidarity and healthcare associations have voiced concerns about the conditions of non-profit establishments and services implementing French local government policies. Alongside Uniopss (National Interfederal Union of Non-Profit Health and Social Organizations), Unapei is launching a petition, "For Dignified Support: Let's Sound the Alarm Together." It urges everyone to take action, including pushing for these topics to be discussed in the social life councils of establishments.
In view of the High-Level event of the Belgian presidency of the EU on the European Pillar of Social Rights taking place in La Hulpe on 15 and 16th April 2024, as well as the upcoming European elections, 16 European organisations call on EU policy makers to enhance the implementation of Pillar principle 18 on the right to long-term care under the next 2024-2029 legislature, starting with the creation of a European Long-Term Care Platform.
