Here you will see news from Europe, from civil society, from research, highlighting emerging trends from local to international level relevant for families of today.
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.
Ethnic segregation is a widespread and systematic practice in many European countries. These practices are illegal yet continue to shape the lives of children and families across Europe. Our rights to education, housing, and health, ostensibly enjoyed by us all, remain divided along ethnic lines. For many Roma, their enjoyment of these rights is severely limited, often with the tacit support of the state.
On 6-9th June 2024, Europeans voted to renew the European Parliament and new Members of European Parliament (MEP) will convene for the first time in Plenary mid-July in Strasbourg, France. While the European People’s Party (EPP), European Conservatives (ECR) and Identify and Democracy Group (ID) have seen an increase in seats, the Greens and Renew Europe have had significant losses. The Socialists have maintained around the same number of seats. The biggest increase has been for the non-aligned MEPs which are a heterogenous group, yet with most of them coming from the far right.
With new MEPs recently elected to the European Parliament and a new European Commission about to be formed, COFACE has produced a policy brief highlighting the importance of digital technologies for children and their families, and analysing whether existing and currently debated EU frameworks – aimed at ensuring safe and empowering digital experiences for children – integrate a families perspective. COFACE calls upon EU policy-makers to ensure that all families are given support and guidance to access and navigate the digital environment in a meaningful way.
On 11 June 2024, the world celebrated its first International Day of Play. This initiative was driven by a coalition of global organisations who urged the United Nations General Assembly to establish it through a UN resolution. Adopted on 25 March, the resolution underscores the essential role of play in children's lives, highlighting its importance for education and well-being. It also stressed its role for inclusivity, resilience, and tolerance, ensuring that every child can have access to sufficient leisure time and can play freely.
We are pleased to welcome and introduce COFACE’s newest members joining us from Northern Macedonia, Georgia, and Malta to contribute to positive outcomes for families in a changing society.
Dutch COFACE member Pro Parents are stressing the importance of strong safety standards and adequate conditions for women working during pregnancy. 50% of pregnant women in the Netherlands work in unsafe conditions. This shocking statistic was recently uncovered from research by Dr. Monique van Beukering. Dr van Beukering is a company doctor, scientific researcher and domain expert at Pro Parents Workplace Wellbeing.
For the past 7 years, Bulgarian COFACE member Tulip Foundation has been running its Sure Start programme. As part of this initiative, the foundation has funded and distributed several book series developed with the aim of preventing child sexual abuse by providing age-appropriate sexual health education for children at different ages with the involvement of their parents and/or trusted adults. Special attention is also paid to the risks online.
On the 4th of June, COFACE-Families Europe held a financial inclusion meeting to discuss key priorities in financial inclusion at the European level, learn about political developments and the “Reset Finance” campaign from Finance Watch, and share good practices through the work of COFACE’s Spanish member Isadora Duncan. The event gathered members and attendees from across Europe to address the pressing issues faced by families in Europe related to economics and finance.
