COFACE Families Europe together with its members is very active in addressing the social challenges faced by families of today and advocating for policies to support their well-being.

In 2019, COFACE Families Europe mobilised voters locally through its member organisations (representing families of all types, without discrimination). A call was launched to the COFACE network to vote and speak out in May 2019 using 10 key values as a compass: non-discrimination, equal opportunities, empowerment, internet for all, social inclusion, sustainability, respect of human rights, solidarity, child well-being, accessibility. Following the election of the new European Parliament and the publication of the European Commission’s political guidelines, COFACE Families Europe published its New Deal for Families of Today which is a list of key short-term demands (also available in Easy-to-Read language) to be achieved by the new European Commission from 2020-2024, which are to be seen as concrete steps to meet the long-term goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

These demands reflect the needs and challenges of families of today and call for a mix of European actions (policy, law, funding, benchmarking, innovation) to drive real change. These recommendations are addressed at EU-level policymakers in the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU, from whom we expect joint leadership to ensure tangible results for Europe’s citizens.  It is on this basis that we have assessed  the European Union’s work from 2019 to 2024, and how it contributes to achieving eight positive outcomes for families of today (see more here). While this assessment refers to various initiatives to support families, it cannot fully assess the real impact on families at local level yet. It is crucial for the EU institutions to conduct monitoring and evaluation of their policies to understand the impacts (positive and negative) on families, in order to review and consolidate existing frameworks under the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and adopt any new measures needed to strengthen the Pillars.

Read the full assessment here.

See the 10 key actions we want integrated into the EU’s 2024-2029 programme here.

The post State Of The European Union for Families: COFACE assessment of the European Union’s work from 2019-2024 appeared first on COFACE Families Europe.

COFACE Families Europe together with its members is very active in addressing the social challenges faced by families of today and advocating for policies to support their well-being.

Civil society and rights-holders must be supported through sustained funding and life-long learning opportunities to engage meaningfully in the national and European policy-making processes in order to co-create systems and policies needed to support families of today.  They are best placed to provide inputs and feedback on the policies which concern them.

COFACE has the ambition to shape together a strong social Europe fit for families and foster a European society that is more inclusive, offers equal opportunities and brings everyone forward.

In preparation of the next European elections on 6-9^th June 2024, here are ten specific actions we would like to see integrated in the programme of the European Union.

These need to be developed within an economic framework which works better for society and planet towards an economy which cares.

It is time to act now for families of today.

Read our full Call-to-Action here.

Easy-to-Read version also available here.

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Joint statement of the EEG-DI. Brussels, 2 May 2024

Call for stronger prevention of child institutionalisation:

Time to step up monitoring and evaluation of early childhood intervention and family support in the European Child Guarantee

The European Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community-based care (EEG) welcomes the initiative of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to host the knowledge-sharing Conference “European Child Guarantee: from engagement to reality” on 2 and 3 May 2024. The EEG welcomes that many National Action Plans (NAPs) include measures in the area of deinstitutionalisation (DI) for children but calls for increased emphasis on prevention and early intervention, including Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) and support to parents and carers, to be monitored at national and EU level and addressed in the updated versions of NAPs.

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Enacted in June 2021, the European Child Guarantee represents a crucial step towards combating social exclusion by facilitating access to essential services and has catalysed momentum for the deinstitutionalisation of children. It identified children with disabilities and children living in alternative care among its target groups and invited Member States to enhance social protection, prevent children from being placed in institutional care, and ensure their transition to quality community-based and family-based care. Importantly, it also encouraged them to facilitate the early identification of developmental issues and health needs, and to provide habilitation and rehabilitation services for children with disabilities.

Overall, the Child Guarantee tackles many drivers of child institutionalisation, including poverty and lack of access to services, especially for children with disabilities. This is in line with the commitment of the EU to ensure the transition from institutional to family and community based care in its most important policies^[1] and funding regulations.^[2] These also include the 2024 Commission Recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child,^[3] encouraging investment in non-residential services, including accessible housing for children with disabilities, and calling for the promotion of national deinstitutionalisation strategies for deinstitutionalisation, ensuring adequate support for foster families and comprehensive support programmes for young people with care experience.

Importantly, as a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the European Union is required to ensure full enjoyment of all rights by children with disabilities “on an equal basis with other children.” This includes deinstitutionalisation, including the requirement not to invest any public or private funding into institutions for children.

This role of the Child Guarantee in implementing deinstitutionalisation has also been reiterated in The European Parliament’s Resolution Children first – strengthening the Child Guarantee, two years on from its adoption (2023/2811(RPS)) stressing the need for ‘’Time-bound targets for bringing children out of institutions and into family and community settings’’. Further, it adheres to the European Parliament’s Report ‘’Reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion in times of crisis for children and their families’ (2023/2066(INI)), highlighting that “child protection measures, including deinstitutionalisation, are also essential for children to achieve their rights and reach their full potential’’, and recommending that ‘’Member States develop proactive social policies to tackle the root causes of child institutionalisation, ensuring that it is not because of poverty and exclusion that children are institutionalised’’.

Nevertheless, almost three years after its adoption, across Europe hundreds of thousands of children still live in institutions, isolated from their families, their peers and local communities. An institution is any residential care facility where residents are isolated from the broader community, do not have enough control over their lives or decisions affecting them, and which is characterised by features such as depersonalisation, lack of individualised support, or limited contact with birth families or caregivers. “Family-like” institutions, including large or small group homes, also fall within the definition of an institution and should not be considered as a substitute for a child’s right to grow up with a family.^[4]

Growing up in an institution can severely damage children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development as well as autonomy. Children do not learn basic life skills or how to manage their own lives while they are kept in institutions, and are thus unprepared for life in the outside world.^[5] Child institutionalisation has devastating consequences not only on the affected children and their families, but on society as a whole, by exacerbating stigma and social isolation, and feeding the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.

Deinstitutionalisation requires a structural transformation of the social-care and child-protection systems. This includes preventative measures addressing children and families, to avoid children being placed in institutions in the first place, through access to mainstream services, healthcare, education, and welfare systems, as well as parents’ financial support, and programmes to foster kinship and foster care.^[6] It further requires that children, including children with disabilities, are involved in decisions made about them and that their opinions are given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity.^[7]

The EEG welcomes that several countries included measures to support children in alternative care and/or advance reforms linked to deinstitutionalisation in their National Action Plans (NAPs).^[8] However, we noticed that in some cases, these measures are limited and not part of a comprehensive framework, are not accompanied by the right type of support for local authorities to put them in place, and their implementation can be rather slow.^[9]

Prevention and early intervention should lead the development of alternative care programmes for all children, which should always be implemented with the best interest of the child as their guiding principle. For children with disabilities, overrepresented in institutions, family-centred Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) services are key in preventing institutionalisation as they empower children and families, and foster inclusion in education. ECI services provide individualised and intensive support to families with infants and young children with or at risk of experiencing developmental delays, or disabilities and support primary caregivers to improve their interactions with the child and build their capacities.^[10]

The EEG regrets that actions towards the strengthening of Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) systems and support to family and carers are present only in a minority of countries, and mainly focusing on the early identification of developmental delays and disabilities, rather than in the provision of support to families and children.^[11] It is clear that policies tackling the barriers for children with disabilities can only be efficient if accompanied by social protection and financial support to their families and carers, however, such measures are rarely found in the NAPs.^[12]

Gathering evidence and monitoring progress are crucial components of child rights policies. We thus embrace the adoption of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Framework in December 2023, that will guide the biennial reporting by Member States. It is a great achievement that one of the six main indicators focuses on the number of children in alternative care, broken down by care type; and share of children in residential care. This is a key milestone to monitor the progress on deinstitutionalisation and to provide comparative data for the EU, which should be complemented by national indicators and data collection efforts to improve the understanding of the demographics and needs of children in alternative care.

The EEG calls on Member States to:

1. Place measures towards deinstitutionalisation at the heart of their NAPs  starting from prevention,  through the development of community-based and family-based services, including systems of family-centred Early Childhood Intervention, financial support to families, and of foster care programmes.
2. Put the necessary measures in place to ensure that social welfare, social protection, and social services prioritise the strengthening of families and communities, taking proactive measures to prevent unnecessary separation of children from their families.
3. Advocate for the social and human rights model of disability, focusing on dismantling barriers faced by children or caregivers with disabilities when accessing services, and ensuring that children with disabilities receive adequate support within their family environments and to ensure they can access their right to inclusive education.
4. Support safe family reunification and transition to independent living based on individual needs and circumstances. Provide ongoing support for families and care leavers to facilitate their full inclusion into the community, as well as for young people with personal experience of care. This includes access to personal assistance for children and young people with disabilities in need of such support.
5. Ensure meaningful participation of children, caregivers, parents, persons with disabilities, and civil society organisations, including organisations of persons with disabilities, in the implementation, revision and monitoring of the NAPs.
6. Address and combat stigma and discrimination within the system, including challenging ableism, gender norms and discriminatory social attitudes towards marginalised communities that could lead to child institutionalisation.
7. Implement a systematic approach to disaggregating data across all sectors, including housing, parental or child disabilities, living arrangements, and social protection programmes. This approach should enable regular assessments of progress in transitioning to community-based support services.
8. Align national monitoring and evaluation frameworks, including the indicators, with the EU Monitoring and Evaluation framework on children in alternative care. Improve data collection of children and families at risk, on the one hand, and of the available services, on the other hand.

The EU holds significant sway over national policy development, which can be achieved by:

1. Fostering exchange between Member States on effective measures in the area of deinstitutionalisation for children and developing a study on EU-level effective deinstitutionalisation and ECI policies and practices.
2. Formulating EU Guidelines on DI for children including prevention, and guidance on how to establish and improve national Early Childhood Intervention services and systems.
3. Increasing the use of EU financial tools for DI for children and measures to tackle the drivers of child institutionalisation, through prevention and early intervention programmes with the child’s best interest at heart, including ECI system development and better coordination with general measures targeting families such as access to income, quality ECEC services and work-life balance, and piloting personal assistance for children and young people with disabilities.
4. Ensuring effective implementation of the UN CRPD at EU level, including through improved intersectional and intersectoral coordination at the European, regional, national and local levels, and with full participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations.
5. Implementing the measures linked to deinstitutionalisation included in the  2024 Commission Recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child.

We hope that this Presidency event will be used as an opportunity for Member States to plan coordinated efforts towards the inclusion of all children and ensure that children receive care in a family and community-based environment.

For further information: https://deinstitutionalisation.com/

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^[1] The recent guarantees towards child protection enshrined in EU policy frameworks and initiatives include the Strategy on the Rights of the Child (2021), The Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2021-2030), the European Child Guarantee (2021) and the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2020-2024).

^[2] These EU Funding instruments include the Common Provisions Regulation (2021), the European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund (ERDF/CF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) Regulation (2021) The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (2021-2017) and the third Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (2021-2027).

^[3] Commission Recommendation of 23.4.2024 on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child

^[4] General comment No. 5 (2017) on living independently and being included in the community, CRPD/C/GC/5, paragraph 16(c)

^[5] Opening Doors for Europe’s Children, (2017). Deinstitutionalisation of Europe’s Children, Question and answers https://www.eurochild.org/uploads/2021/02/Opening-Doors-QA.pdf

^[6] European Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community-based care (2022), EU Guidance on Independent living and inclusion in the community https://deinstitutionalisation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/eu-guidance-on-independent-living-and-inclusion-in-the-community-2-1.pdf

^[7] UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 7 (Children with disabilities)

^[8] These measures were included  for 16 NAPs – BE, BG, HR, CY, CZ, FI, FR, EL, IT, LX, MT, PL, PT, RO, ES, and SE in March 2023. Children in alternative care in the Child Guarantee National Action Plans. A summative analysis, (2023) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Eurochild https://eurochild.org/uploads/2023/05/Children-in-alternative-care-in-the-Child-Guarantee-NAPs_DataCare-analysis.pdf

^[9] Children in alternative care in the Child Guarantee National Action Plans. A summative analysis, (2023) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Eurochild https://eurochild.org/uploads/2023/05/Children-in-alternative-care-in-the-Child-Guarantee-NAPs_DataCare-analysis.pdf

^[10] EASPD (2022). Family-centred Early Childhood Intervention:The best start in life. Position paper. https://easpd.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Family-Centred_ECI_PP_EASPD_The_best_start_in_life.pdf

^[11] EASPD (2023). What place for young children with disabilities in the Child Guarantee National Action Plans? https://easpd.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/EU_Child_Guarantee_National_Action_Plans.pdf

^[12] COFACE. (June 2023). Child Guarantee Assessment. https://coface-eu.org/wpcontent/uploads/2023/06/COFACE_CGAssessment_June2023.pdf

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Media release. Brussels, 4^th December 2023.

UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Persons with disabilities have the right to live independently, included in the community, and to family life. To mark the 2023 UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the COFACE Disability Platform places the spotlight on family carers. Their crucial role can significantly boost the fulfillment of the rights outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, provided they receive adequate support. A COFACE Disability “Thematic Note” was developed to contribute to policy discussions and help find constructive solutions.

As the formal Long Term Care sector is facing dramatic shortages in services and staff that has consequences on the entire society[1], the pressure on family carers is increasing. With the implementation of the European Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the European Care Strategy, the COFACE Disability Platform, while keeping the human rights of all as guiding objective, wants to stress the need to urgently address the needs of all family carers beyond measures to support access to the labour market. The impact on their physical and mental health related to the provision of care and support is real, especially as they are advancing in age.

Chantal Bruno, Co-president of the COFACE Disability Platform said : If the EU is serious about transforming long-term care systems in a human rights-centered manner, it should not consider care only as an economic good but as an enabler of rights and dignity for all.”

Since the proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the COVID-19 crisis, family carers have entered the political discourse. After being neglected and forgotten and after years of advocacy from COFACE Disability Platform, the European Union and the EU Member States seem to have finally recognised that care and support is not a private matter only but a public and political one and should be addressed as such. However, to respond to the needs and challenges in an appropriate manner, family carers must first be identified.

Annemie Drieskens, COFACE President said: It is crucial during the transformation process of the care system to identify the role and responsibility daily taken by millions of family carers across Europe. Caring is timeless, family carers of all ages should be recognized for their valuable role in caregiving and receive targeted support adapted to their situation.”

In the newly released Thematic Note, the COFACE Disability Platform offers reflections on the life course perspective adopted in the 2022 Council Recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term care, to explore how family carers of different ages face different challenges and how to support them in accessing resources, time and services.

On the 2023 International Day, COFACE Families Europe calls on the European Commission and to EU Member States to swiftly implement measures under the European Strategy of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the European Care Strategy that ensure a global reform of the care and support system based in the community and aiming to promote the human rights of all.

Read the thematic note here.

ENDS//

Note to editor

• Joint statement: Building up European care capital – sustainable investments, not burdensome costs, (COFACE, 2023)
• Family Organisations welcome the European Care Strategy and call for swift adoption by EU Social Affairs Ministers (COFACE, 2022)
• EU Work-life Balance Directive transposition in action: A mixed picture (COFACE, 2022)
• From Words to Actions: Shedding light on the S.H.I.F.T. towards meaningful inclusion in Europe (COFACE 2021)
• S.H.I.F.T. A guide to shift towards meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families (COFACE 2019)
• EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR FAMILY CARERS, (COFACE, 2017)

For more information, please contact Bettina Guigui: bguigui@coface-eu.org

[1] October 2023 Joint Statement of 17 European and international NGOs

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As a purpose-driven company, our mission is to create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain, and develop children through play. As part of that, we want to make the faces of all children light up, not only with the joy of play, but with that spark of seeing themselves and others represented.

We are striving to live this mission each day through the inclusive toys and characters we create. Toys like the Hot Wheels remote-controlled wheelchair that honours US Paralympian and five-time Wheelchair Motocross World Champion Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham, as well as our Wheelz scale model of his iconic green chair.

Like many children, Aaron went down his first ramp at a local skate park when he was eight years old. But he wasn’t on a skateboard or scooter, he was in a wheelchair he’d just started to use permanently. Those inspirational early days at the skatepark when he could be creative spurred him on to become a wheelchair athlete – and we hope our collaboration will help to inspire and empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.

Representing children with disabilities

On 3 December, the United Nations (UN) marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which serves to promote the rights and wellbeing, as well as raise awareness, of people living with a disability.

As explained in COFACE Families Europe’s report “From Words to Action: shedding light on the S.H.I.F.T. towards meaningful inclusion in Europe”, Mattel is proud to support the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Article 5 “Equality and non-discrimination”; Article 7 “Children with disabilities”; Article 8 “Awareness-raising”; and Article 9 “Accessibility”.

Around one in 10 children and young people worldwide have a disability, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Children with disabilities are 51% more likely to feel unhappy and 41% more likely to feel discriminated against than children without disabilities. We believe that representing all children through inclusive toys is hugely powerful for two reasons: it empowers children with disabilities, and it educates children without disabilities, so they are more respectful and don’t discriminate against others. We call that “purposeful play”. Disability has rightly moved from being a medical issue to a societal issue, with the focus being on breaking down the physical and cultural barriers people with disabilities face. For toy companies, it means the need for inclusive design is paramount and something our incredible teams at Mattel strive to do every day as part of our roles.

Inclusive design for purposeful play

We make toys for and, most importantly, with children with disabilities and their families, working alongside focus groups and responding to letters from consumers. Our toys aim to build connections through empathy, are customisable and have comfort built in. Often what makes them more user-friendly for someone with a disability also makes them more comfortable for everyone to play with. This year, we collaborated with Rose Ayling-Ellis, a deaf British actor, on a Barbie with a behind-the-ear hearing aid. As a child, Rose used to draw hearing aids on her dolls to make them look more like her, and she says it’s “It’s so important for children to be able to see themselves represented in the toys they play with… so I am thrilled that Mattel is releasing more dolls that encourage kids to celebrate and embrace their differences!”

The Barbie Fashionistas line is where the Barbie brand delivers the most diversity and inclusion, and since its inception, 175+ looks have been introduced, offering children a variety of skin tones, eye colours, hair colours and textures, body types, disabilities, and fashions to choose from, coming in six different body shapes and 22 skin tones, but also in a wheelchair, with a prosthetic leg, with vitiligo and without hair. Through Barbie, we’re also able to pay tribute to disability role models like the Braille pioneer Helen Keller in our Inspiring Women series, and Turkish Paralympian athlete Sümeyye Boyaci.

We need to talk about Bruno

The need to raise awareness of children with disabilities goes beyond toys, to all the interactions children have with the characters we look after. Our diversity and inclusion work also enables us to bring representative characters to life on screen, which can have a huge impact. In September, we introduced Bruno the Brake Car to the Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go series, in collaboration with autistic writers and organisations. Bruno is also voiced by British nine-year-old Elliott Garcia, who has the developmental disability autism. Elliott describes Bruno as “funny, smart, a very relaxed character”. Bruno can become really overwhelmed, but Elliott says he uses comedy to get past situations. “He loves schedules and timetables and when everything goes to plan.” In the UK alone, there are 160,000 school-age autistic children, according to Tom Purser, Head of Guidance, Volunteering & Campaigns at the National Autistic Society, which helped with the casting of Elliott.

“It is important that everyone sees autistic characters on our screens because [autistic children want to see their stories told], but it is also important that non-autistic children get insight and understanding into what it can be like to be autistic.”

Besides supporting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, our work also supports the 2021-30 EU Disability Rights Strategy, specifically, the objectives “Accessibility – enabler of rights, autonomy and equality” and “Promoting the rights of persons with disabilities globally”.

At Mattel, we strive to live our purpose for every child and disability, to empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.

About the author: Sanjay Luthra is the Executive Vice President for EMEA at Mattel and Chairman of Toy Industries of Europe (TIE). Formerly Managing Director for five years, his challenger mindset and focus on digital strategy led EMEA to become Mattel’s fastest-growing region in 2021. His vast experience in the toy sector spans two decades and several continents, from his native India to the UK. In 2019, Sanjay was elected as Chair of the TIE Board and he has been at the forefront of adapting the toy industry to meet the challenges of a changing retail market throughout the uncertainties of Brexit and COVID-19. Sanjay is an advocate for the power of toys to educate children, and of the toy sector to promote social change, such as encouraging inclusion and diversity. 

**DISCLAIMER: All opinions in this article reflect the views of the author, not of COFACE Families Europe**

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Media release, International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2022 – Brussels, 2^nd December 2022

In the run-up to the 2022 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the COFACE Disability Platform for the rights of persons with disabilities and their families is launching a policy brief looking at how children with disabilities are represented in recent EU Social Policy Frameworks. With this brief COFACE Disability wants to launch a reflection on the intersection between disability and age and how to integrate it into policies and programmes. For this EU Year of Youth COFACE Disability has focused this brief on Children with Disabilities and their families.

Children with disabilities are at the intersection of various policy fields. As persons with disabilities, they are supposedly covered by disability-specific policies and as children, their rights are protected by child-focused policies, given that they are disability-inclusive. While there should be an increased opportunity to advance the rights of children with disabilities and there are noticeable efforts to address intersecting vulnerabilities in EU social policies, much still needs to be done as children with disabilities fall through the cracks of “siloed” policy-making.

With this brief, the COFACE Disability Platform wants to launch a reflection on how to design better policy responses for children with disabilities and their families. The interrelated well-being of children and their families is now an acknowledged trait in recent EU policies and this whole-family approach is even more crucial for children with disabilities whose families need to be supported in order to create a safe a nurturing environment where children can grow up and develop according to their needs and wishes. This brief intends to extend the reflection to these families and how the focus on the intersection of disabilities and age (and more) can lead to better outcomes for children with disabilities and their families.

Chantal Bruno, COFACE Disability co-chair said: “COFACE wants to trigger a S.H.I.F.T. from children with special needs to children who require special responses and support. All children, all individuals have special needs as we are all unique, and the same goes for children with disabilities. By focusing on special responses, we can break the silo thinking in policy making and develop more intersectional and person-centered policies and programmes.”

By looking at recently adopted frameworks under the European Pillar of Social Rights Actions Plan, the COFACE Disability Platform intends to map and reflect on the state of play of the inclusion of the rights of children with disabilities in EU policies. Building on the expertise of COFACE Disability Platform members, this brief intends to explore the dynamics in EU Social either through the development of strong disability-focused policy or by integration of disability-inclusive measures across the social policy board.

Read the full policy brief here.

//ENDS

Notes to editor:

–Family Organisations welcome the European Care Strategy and call for swift adoption by EU Social Affairs Ministers (COFACE, 2022)

–EU Work-life Balance Directive transposition in action: A mixed picture (COFACE, 2022)

–From Words to Actions: Shedding light on the S.H.I.F.T. towards meaningful inclusion in Europe (COFACE 2021)

–Early childhood education and care: A tool for child education, reconciliation of work and family life, and a caring and inclusive economy (COFACE 2021)

–S.H.I.F.T. A guide to shift towards meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families (COFACE 2019)

For more information, please contact Camille Roux: croux@coface-eu.org 

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COFACE Disability Policy Brief

Breaking policy silos to better support children with disabilities and their families

#BeTheSHIFT #IDPD2022 #DisabilityRights #ChildRights #childrenwithdisabilities

In the run-up to 2022 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the COFACE Disability Platform for the rights of persons with disabilities and their families launched a policy brief looking at how children with disabilities are covered in recent EU Social Policy Frameworks. With this brief COFACE Disability wants to launch a reflection on the intersection between disability and age and how to integrate it in policies and programmes. For this EU Year of Youth COFACE Disability has focused this first brief on Children with Disabilities and their families.

__________________

The aim of this policy brief is double:

• First to take stock of how children with disabilities are covered in EU social policies;
• Second to launch a broader reflection on how to deepen the interaction between disability and age in policy making.

In this exercise, the COFACE Disability Platform has looked at some recently adopted EU frameworks. This brief does not have the ambition of offering a holistic view of all the EU policies and measures that can have an impact on children with disabilities and their families, rather it aims to lay down the foundations for reflection around the development of more inclusive and intersectional policies, with a specific focus on policies falling under the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan:

• The European Child Guarantee;
• The European Strategy on the Rights of the Child;
• The European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030;
• The European Care Strategy.

The policy brief starts with clarifications, describing the whole-family lens of the 2030 COFACE Child Compass as well as key references to children in international and EU human rights law. Then follows the analysis of the selected EU policy frameworks, giving an overview of measures which specifically include or target children with disabilities. This leads into a reflection on interrelated well-being of children and their families, highlighting the need to consider children with disabilities within their family and community context to ensure two-generation supports are put in place for positive and sustainable outcomes. The concluding section reflects on the results of the analysis and on the steps needed to address gaps at the intersections of these EU social policies.

Read the full brief here.

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The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) represents a milestone for the promotion of human rights and equal treatment in Europe and worldwide. The CRPD recognises that ‘ disability is an evolving concept’, resulting from ‘the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society ’. Above all, it identifies persons with disabilities as right-holders rather than passive beneficiaries of welfare and medical assistance : this paradigm shift in the understanding of disability – from a medical to a social and human rights model – remains one of the Convention’s most innovatory aspects.

Several articles in the CRPD also affect, directly or indirectly, the rights and wellbeing of family members of persons with disabilities.

This publication adopted ten years ago in 2012 consists of the COFACE position on the family dimension of the UNCRPD, followed by the integral text of the Convention. The COFACE position is the outcome of the work done by its members within the COFACE Disability platform for the rights of persons with disabilities and their families.

The first aim of this paper is to illustrate the main implications of the CRPD for the improvement of the rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities and their families, recalling Member States’ and EU’s role in this regard. Moreover, this position intends to raise awareness on the scope and relevance of the Convention among family organisations, policy makers and other representatives of civil society, in order to promote advocacy activities and facilitate the dissemination of the CRPD at national and European levels.

Finally, we chose to publish the integral text of the Convention to support the dissemination of this document, which is a keystone for the human rights system in Europe.

See full publication here in English and French.

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In September, COFACE Families Europe, represented by its President Annemie Drieksens, had the privilege to participate in a conference on inclusive families policies organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Istanbul, Turkey.

The conference brought together representatives from governments, the private sector, and civil society organisations from across Eastern Europe and Central Asia to discuss the importance of “Inclusive family policies for a better future”.

Vice-president of the European Commission Dubrovska Suica was invited by UNFPA Director Florence Bauer to set the scene and inform the audience about the EU policies and especially about the European Care Strategy.

It was an important opportunity for COFACE President Annemie Drieskens to participate in this panel to share the work of COFACE Families Europe and the need to put families at the center of policymaking. She referred to the joint Family Teamwork campaign of COFACE and UNFPA, focusing on sharing the care at home in the family, as a way to help close the gender care gap, gender pay, and pension gaps.

“It is clear that families all over the world are in the same storm but they are not in the same boat More than ever there is an urgent need for well-designed inclusive and gender-responsive family policies to guarantee the wellbeing of all families of today. “

This event in Istanbul was an important opportunity to build bridges with Eastern European countries beyond borders and learn more about the ongoing complex reforms and the improved family policies and practices in Albania, Georgie, Moldova, and Kosovo.

We look forward to further deepening exchanges to continue our common efforts and join forces to capitalise on changes and turn common challenges into Opportunities.

More here.

The post COFACE speaks at international UNFPA event “Inclusive Family Policies for a Better Future” appeared first on COFACE Families Europe.

From non-compliance and basic minimum standards
to ambitious reforms for modern gender-responsive family policies

The EU Work-life Balance Directive is the first legislative initiative that follows the launch of the European Pillar of Social Rights in 2017, was formally adopted two years later in 2019 and fully integrated in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan. COFACE Families Europe expects high ambitions from the different EU institutions and national governments in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, as a stepping stone to develop a framework for a more social and fairer European Union. Therefore, the transposition phase of this Directive has been of paramount importance. COFACE has published an assessment of the transposition, focusing on family leaves (paternity, parental and carers’ leave) in 10 countries.

This new report presents the findings of COFACE Families Europe’s transposition assessment carried out together with national experts from 10 Member States representing a geographical and welfare mix: Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Spain. First, the report introduces the objectives of the assessment, presents the methodology, and specifies the scope of the assessment on family leaves (paternity, parental and carers). In the second part, the findings of the assessment are outlined providing a comparative analysis of the transposition in the 10 respective Member States. The third section discusses these findings in a broader social policy context, summarising the most important take-aways from the assessment. Finally, the concluding section highlights COFACE messages and priorities for future EU policy and legislation, providing recommendations in this regard.

Overall, COFACE Families Europe considers it crucial to launch a new dynamic in all Member States’ social policies by setting out new minimum standards in terms of family leaves which respect diversity of social systems and family-friendly policies at workplaces by providing flexible working arrangements for both men and women. In the light of the current challenges of economic crisis, there is further need for legislation which helps families to tackle and prevent poverty.

While COFACE Families Europe acknowledges the importance of the new social acquis of the Directive, it will continue to advocate for higher standards by using all tools available (EU, national, statistical, policy, research and more) working closely with its member organisations to monitor closely national reforms, ensuring that national family policies and systems are fully compliant with EU law. This includes both hard law like the EU Work-life Balance Directive and soft law like the EU Child Guarantee, EU Care Strategy, EU Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities, and the EU Gender Equality Strategy – all fundamental policy frameworks to consolidate and rethink welfare systems so that families of today can be supported and resilient to different social and economic shocks.

Consult the full report here

See also the 2022 assessment of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination:  The transposition of the Work-Life Balance Directive in EU Member States: A long way ahead.

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