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.

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.  

The EEG advocates to replace institutionalisation with family- and community-based support. The EEG reminds the EU and member states of their obligation to stop funding and to replace institutionalisation with family- and community-based support based on: 

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 
• The UN Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Alternative Care for Children 
• European Fundamental Rights Charter. 

The EEG provides expertise on the transition from institutionalisation to family- and community-based support. We focus on how EU funding, law and policy should be used to facilitate the transition: 

• no spending on institutionalisation; 
• resources available to expand capacity and quality of family- and community-based support; 
• resources available to facilitate access to housing, early childhood education and care, inclusive education and accessible general public services and built environment; 
• resources available for monitoring of reforms at national level. 

The EEG facilitates development of quality family- and community-based support; by quality we mean support that is: 

• respecting human rights of all people with care or support needs; 
• person-centred. 

See more information about the EEG-DI here 

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8 April 2024

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. This is an essential first step to coordinate the urgent measures needed to address underinvestment, inadequate social protection, lack of person-centredness and staff shortages in long-term care. Finally, in line with the call by the High-Level Group on the Future of Social Protection, long-term care must be supported by economic policies which prioritise care expenditure not as a cost, but as an investment to ensure sustainability of Europe’s economy.[1]

______________

The Belgian Presidency of the EU, held in the first half of 2024, coincides with the ending of the 9th legislative term of the European Parliament and of the mandate of the Von der Leyen Commission. It also coincides with the EU Economic Governance Review and the beginning of the revision of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, that is foreseen to be completed for 2025. This puts the Presidency in a strategic position to take stock of the past and contribute to the setting of the agenda for the next term (2024-2029). 

We warmly welcome the initiative of the Presidency to strengthen the European Pillar of Social Rights, and we invite policy makers to put long-term care at the heart of their discussions, thus acknowledging the vital importance of care providers and receivers in our societies. In line with Pillar Principle 18 on the right to long-term care, we have great expectations that this High-Level meeting in La Hulpe and its recommendations will inspire substantive actions across the European Union to ensure the full implementation of the 2022 Council Recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term care in all Member States. 

The Council Recommendation, and the broader European Care Strategy, form a common strategic framework that paves the way for the transformation of the care sector and the creation of a person-centred, community-based care and support system in all Member States. It lays the foundation for a system that will respect the rights and dignity of persons in need of care and support, and their families as well as carers, both professional and informal. This strategy needs to be fully and adequately implemented to address EU Member States’ realities through ambitious national measures to be submitted to the European Commission by June 2024. These national measures must be appropriately funded, ambitious, time-bound, targeted and measurable to improve the affordability, accessibility and quality of care services. They must expand home and community-based care options; consolidate support systems for informal carers; provide parents and families with freedom of choice regarding the care options that suit them best; support quality employment and fair working conditions; and finally, improve professionalisation and address care staff shortages. 

We urgently call on the European Union to set up a European Long-Term Care Platform under the next legislature as part of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan. This Platform would gather national coordinators on long-term care, national and EU-level civil society organisations representing and supporting persons in need of care and their families, and service providers, as well as social partners. As organisations concerned with the well-being of persons who draw on care and support services, and service providers, we stand ready to support this process and to ensure the Platform contributes to an effective implementation of the Council Recommendation on Long-Term Care.  

It is only through the establishment of such an enhanced formal dialogue with civil society and social partners that we can hope to achieve satisfactory monitoring of investments in long-term care, since civil society is in the best position to inform decision makers on how their policies are received by their targeted groups. The Platform should be a key channel for sharing of information about the European monitoring and evaluating procedures regarding national measures on long-term care; cross-sectoral working with EU funding programmes; following investments in long-term care via the European Semester process and Economic Governance Reform; as well as to develop practical guidelines for the development of human rights-based long-term care service models at local level. 

Signatories: 

AGE Platform Europe 

Autism Europe 

COFACE Families Europe 

Caritas Europa 

Eurocarers 

Eurodiaconia 

European Anti-Poverty Network  

European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities 

European Federation for Family Employment and Home Care  

European Federation for Services to Individuals  

European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions 

European Public Service Unions 

Make Mothers Matter 

PICUM 

Social Platform 

UNI Europa 

[1] 29th October 2023 Joint statement of 17 European organisations: Building up European care capital – sustainable investments, not burdensome costs https://coface-eu.org/joint-statement-building-up-european-care-capital/

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On 15th May from 17.30-19.30 in the Schuman area of Brussels, COFACE Families Europe invited friends to assess the results of the last 5-year mandate of the von der Leyen Commission and highlight some key messages ahead of the European elections.

This was also be the occasion to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the International Year of Families.

COFACE Families launched its “State Of The European Union for families” assessment of the last 5-year mandate of the von der Leyen Commission and how it contributed to achieving eight specific outcomes for families. We also presented our #ActNow for Families of Today call to action, which comprises 10 specific actions that COFACE believe should be integrated into the EU’s 2024-2029 programme. Also available in Easy-to-read version here.

Last but not least, a COFACE song has been developed with the aim to push our message in a creative and engaging way.

_____________________

Background

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 2019 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. They 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 work of the European Union’s work from 2019 to 2024, and how it contributes to achieving positive outcomes for families of today.

The post State Of The European Union for families appeared first on COFACE Families Europe.

COFACE member NELFA marked World Children’s Day on November 20th 2023, alongside several other rainbow organisations with a joint statement highlighting and condemning recent developments in Italy, where some children are now facing the distressing reality of unrecognised parents.

Early this year, Italy’s Minister of Interior announced that registrars should no longer register the children of same-sex couples. The government’s intimidation resulted in a series of administrative and legal attacks against LGBTIQ*families throughout the country. In Padua at least 33 mothers of 37 children received notification that their child(ren)’s birth certificates, in which two women’s names appeared, were illegitimate. On Tuesday 14 November 2023, the first hearings possibly leading to the retroactive removal of the non-biological mothers’ names from their respective birth certificates, effectively erasing the legal motherhood of the non-biological mothers, took place before the Court of Padua. The public prosecutor’s office and the lawyer of the mothers in question, claim that removing one mother is unconstitutional.

In many cases, the deregistration comes after many years, and the children thus ‘lose’ one mother, and sometimes their family name, from one day to the other. The Joint Statement highlights that deregistration of a parent marks a clear breach of human rights, with significant negative impacts on the well-being and day-to-day lives of the parents and the children, and are clearly not in the best interests of the child.

These attacks are possible due to the fact that Italy lacks a national law ensuring the recognition at birth or through adoption of the children of same-sex couples. A few courageous mayors have in the past agreed to register the birth certificates of children with two mothers or transcribe the birth certificates of children with two fathers to ensure the children are not exposed to discrimination. The order to deregister one of the parents ultimately amounts to “orphanage” by decree, instigated by the prosecution and in line with the Meloni government’s clear stance of not recognising parental rights of LGBTIQ* individuals. This is a reminder that only legal protections such as adoption rights for same-sex couples can ensure that the fundamental rights and the best interest of all children to have their parents recognised are guaranteed. These attacks on rainbow families are happening in a context of broader attacks on the LGBTIQ*community in Italy and their fundamental rights by the government.

All families need to be recognised and respected, without discrimination, in order to protect the best interest of the child and make sure they are not exposed to discrimination. The undersigned organisations condemn the recent attacks on rainbow families and urge the Italian government to reconsider the current anti-LGBTIQ* actions and decisions:

• NELFA – Network of European LGBTIQ* Families Associations Famiglie Arcobaleno, Italy Arcigay nazionale
• ILGA-Europe
• EL*C – Eurocentralasian Lesbian* Community
• Društvo kulturno, informacijsko in svetovalno središče Legebitra, Slovenia
• Familles-arc-en-ciel/Regenbogenfamilien/famiglie_arcobaleno/famiglias_a’artg, Switzerland
• Sateenkaariperheet ry / Rainbow Families Association Finland
• ILGA World

Read the full joint statement here.

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Joint Statement. Brussels, 30^th October 2023.

On the first UN International Day of Care and Support,
17 European organisations call for urgent measures to address underinvestment and staff shortages in long-term care.

The first UN International Day of Care and Support is a welcome initiative that marks a positive development in the recognition of the vital importance of care and of those who provide it in our societies.  We hope that the welcome momentum generated by the UN International Day of Care and Support will catalyse and inspire substantive actions across the European Union.

According to the 2022 EURES Report on labour shortages and surpluses, there are critical shortages in health and social care occupations across many, if not all, European countries. Everywhere, organisations have been raising the alarm about the shortage of care services, professional care staff, insufficient support to informal carers, and the dangerous and immediate consequences for the entire society.

At the EU level, the European Care Strategy paves the way for the transformation of the sector and the creation of a person-centred, community-based care and support system. It lays the foundation for a system that will respect the rights and dignity of persons in need of care and support, and their families as well as carers, both professional and informal. This strategy needs to be fully and adequately transposed to address EU Member States’ realities through ambitious national measures to be submitted to the European Commission by June 2024. These must present concrete actions to address qualified professional care staff shortages.

Understaffing and underinvestment in care are nothing new. Underneath remains the issues of ableism^[1] and ageism and other discriminations based on gender stereotypes, migration or residence status, and other grounds of discrimination that affect both care receivers and caregivers.

Care is still considered a woman’s duty, with 44% of Europeans thinking that the most important role of a woman is to take care of her home and family.^[2] This leads to women absorbing 90% of the paid care staff jobs, which are undervalued, low paid, precarious and with little to no career advancement or development.^[3] The scale of the problem has grown incrementally of late, notably due to the COVID-19 and cost-of-living crises.^[4] Finding competent, well-trained and stable staff remains a challenge in every country of the region. This has consequences on all persons working in the sector with too many dealing with poor working and occupational health and safety, leading to burnout, stress and anxiety, further deteriorating mental health, third-party violence and low staff retention for service providers.[5]

On this day, the undersigned organisations call on all stakeholders to invest in the transition to community-based, person-centred high-quality, affordable and accessible long-term care systems. We call namely on:

Member States to: 

• present by June 2024 appropriately funded, ambitious, time-bound and targeted measures to improve and expand their long-term care systems, supported by a national monitoring and evaluation mechanism;
• urgently work with the social partners and civil society on actions in the framework of the national measures and action plans to sustainably address the needs of the long-term care workforce in view of enabling human rights-based principles.

The European Commission to boost implementation of the European Care Strategy, namely by:

• creating a monitoring and evaluation framework, with qualitative and quantitative indicators which foster the development of strong national action plans on long-term care towards improved service coverage, more affordable quality care and coordination of care services across people’s life-course;
• creating a European Long-Term Care Platform to coordinate the implementation of the Strategy with the involvement of the national coordinators, those who draw on care and support services, people who provide it and their representative organisations;
• continuing support to the Members States through the Technical Support instrument and systematically follow their investments in long-term care through the European semester process;
• pursuing the Economic Governance Reform in a direction that gives Member States the necessary flexibility to foster social investments into care services.
• proposing European Year of Care and Support.

The Council of the European Union to swiftly adopt the Council Conclusions on the transition of care systems throughout life towards holistic, person-centred and community-based models that respect the rights of carers and of the persons in need of care and support, ensuring they put human rights at the centre.

The EU parliament to:

• support necessary financial and fiscal governance policies that support Member States to invest more on long- term care;
• to monitor closely and support the implementation of the European Care Strategy.

Signatories :

• AGE Platform Europe
• Autism Europe
• Caritas Europa
• COFACE Families Europe
• EAPN
• EASPD
• EFFE
• EFSI
• EPSU
• Eurocarers
• Eurodiaconia
• Eurohealthnet
• European Women’s Lobby
• Make Mothers Matter
• Mental Health Europe
• PICUM
• UNI Europa

Read the full statement here (PDF)

[1] Ableism and its impacts have been described as “a value system that considers certain typical characteristics of body and mind as essential for living a life of value. Based on strict standards of appearance, functioning and behaviour, ableist ways of thinking consider the disability experience as a misfortune that leads to suffering and disadvantage and invariably devalues human life.” CRPD/C/GC/8: General comment No. 8 (2022) on the right of persons with disabilities to work and employment

[2] Report on equality between men and women in the EU,European Commission, 2018

[3] European Care Strategy, European Commission, 2022

[4] Stop the cost-of-living crisis from harming Social Service provision, EASPD, 2022

[5] EPSU report reveals hundreds of thousands of long term care workers leaving the sector, EPSU, 2021

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What is the European Observatory on Family Policy  

The European Observatory on Family Policy is a joint research programme of COFACE Families Europe and the Centre for Family Studies of ODISEE University of Applied Sciences launched in 2022. The Observatory aims to serve as a platform for the observation, analysis, and dissemination of evidence on family policy and other social concerns directly relevant to family well-being across the European Union. 

 

Partners

The Observatory is implemented as a partnership between COFACE Families Europe and Odisee’s Centre for Family Studies. COFACE Families Europe offers the programme its extensive knowledge on EU policies and the realities of families across Europe, while the Centre for Family Studies provides its expertise on practice-based research from the perspective of families and its research networks in Belgium and internationally. The partnership is conceived to bring together the respective strengths and expertise on family policy and family life to better meet its monitoring and analytical goals. 

 

Values

The starting point for the Observatory is human rights, gender equality, social inclusion, diversity, empowerment, and intergenerational solidarity, with a stated ambition of promoting policies which support all types of families, without discrimination. The key principles underpinning the Observatory’s activity are public interest, impartiality, and quality of content.  

Objectives

The Observatory sets out to address three broad objectives: to identify emerging trends and priorities in family policy across EU Member states, while monitoring progress on family-related targets; to develop innovative frameworks for interpreting the evidence collected; to broker knowledge at the EU and member states level, providing a bridge between academics, decision makers, advocacy coalitions, and grassroots family organizations. 

 

Activities

Through its activity, the Observatory aims to document and highlight the impact of public policy initiatives on families, intended both as a set of individual members and as a collective entity.  It brings together different perspectives on family resources and needs from a range of public policy, research, and advocacy contexts. It strives to integrate these viewpoints into a unified theoretical framework, and to design suitable recommendations for policymaking at EU, national, and local levels.  

 

 

  

 

Steering Group

Its activities are overseen and coordinated by an executive Steering Group that convenes regularly and outlines the strategic direction for the partnership. The Steering Group further ensures the quality, consistency, and timeliness of the Observatory’s activity. Coordination of the Observatory is based in Brussels. Members of the Steering group are: 

 

Annemie Drieskens, President of COFACE and Steering Group chair. 

Annemie is President of COFACE Families Europe and board member of Gezinsbond in Belgium. She has been for many years actively involved in Social and family policy at National and European level giving a voice to the needs and challenges that families are facing, and defending the rights of all families and their members in EU and beyond.

Kathleen Emmery, Coordinator of ODISEE Knowledge Centre for Family Studies.

Kathleen has been coordinator of ODISEE since 2012. In her scientific work on relationship support and family transitions, Kathleen focuses on the needs and demands of families, fathers, mothers, children and professionals, through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Elizabeth Gosme, Director of COFACE.

Elizabeth has been Director of COFACE since 2016. She is an EU social policy analyst with extensive experience in EU affairs representing the interests of civil society organisations. She has worked extensively with various EU institutions contributing to building a social policy architecture for Europe.

Sven Iversen, Vice-president of COFACE.

 Sven Iversen is Vice-President of COFACE Families Europe, delegated from  the Association of German Family Organisations (AGF), of which he is  General Manager. He is a political scientist, holds an MBA and has previously held positions in a parliamentary group, an agency for sustainability and particpation, in cultural management and the prevention childhood obesity.

Jos Sterckx, Senior Researcher at ODISEE.

Jos Sterckx worked as a social worker / family counselor and director in a foster care service. Subsequently, he was director of a Flemish umbrella of 150 service providers in the disability field; and director of the Knowledge Center Social Europe from 2008 to 2018. He advises and supports the researchers of ODISEE in project development and European funding.

Tanja Neulant, Director of ODISEE Knowledge Center for Family Studies.

Tanja Nuelant is director of  graduate and bachelor programmes and research in the field of social work, orthopedagogy and family studies at Odisee University College. Tanja is also family policy advisor  of Gezinsbond (the Flemish league of families).

Martino Serapioni is Research Programme Coordinator at COFACE
He coordinates research activities in the framework of the European Observatory on Family Policy. Prior to COFACE, he worked as researcher in comparative early childhood education and care policy at the G.M. Bertin Faculty of Education of the University of Bologna. He is a member of the European Commission Network of Experts on Social Aspects of Education and Training (NESET II). 

Report of the European Observatory on Family Policy: Towards greater family policy integration across Europe

 

Families with young children have complex necessities in the period before the start of compulsory schooling. Often, these needs cannot be reduced to educational, healthcare or caregiving demands alone.

Successful fulfillment of these needs requires a joint effort of different governmental organizations to build ties and form functioning networks of cooperation over a long period of time. This comparative report aims to investigate possible responses to the multisectoral needs of households by providing an overview of the current alignment and coordination between complementary services and policy areas in four European countries (Finland, Germany, Italy, and Poland) and the Belgian region of Flanders.

 

Read the full report here and watch our research webinar presenting the findings below.

The post EUROPEAN OBSERVATORY ON FAMILY POLICY appeared first on COFACE Families Europe.

On the 24th of May 2023, COFACE Families Europe’s Director, Elizabeth Gosme, took part in the fourth edition of the European Mental Health Week conference to offer crucial knowledge on nurturing mentally healthy communities from a family perspective.

During the conference, the importance of work-life balance emerged as a vital factor for mental well-being. COFACE highlighted the urgent need for measures that promote work-life balance and prevent burnout. Emphasising the significance of minimum legal standards derived from the EU work-life balance directive, COFACE’s Director also highlighted the importance of regulating the digital environment to ensure compatibility with human rights.

Inclusive education was another crucial topic addressed during the event by Elizabeth Gosme, who emphasized the role of structural arrangements within key communities such as family, education, and leisure in nurturing children’s mental health. Boosting inclusive education fosters respect and inclusion. This is why COFACE and its member KMOP have launched a free online course on school bullying management which equips educators with the necessary tools to combat bullying and create safer environments for students.

Access to mental health services emerged as a pressing concern as well. COFACE shed light on the disparities in accessibility across European Union countries and stressed the need for community-based centers that offer comprehensive support, including mental health services, to families seeking assistance.

Promoting gender equality and reducing the burden of the mental load on women were prominent themes discussed. COFACE encourages family teamwork as a means to achieve a fair distribution of caregiving and household responsibilities. By challenging traditional gender stereotypes, the network aims to empower families and create supportive environments where everyone can thrive.

Last but not least, COFACE Director, Elizabeth Gosme, emphasised the significance of empowerment, mediation, communication, active listening, and problem-solving in fostering positive family dynamics.

COFACE Families Europe remains committed to its vision of mentally healthy communities where everyone can thrive. By advocating for work-life balance, inclusive education, accessible mental health services, and gender equality,  it strives to create inclusive societies that value and support the well-being of families in all their diversity.

The post COFACE Advocates for Mental Health at the European Parliament appeared first on COFACE Families Europe.

Brussels, 16 March 2023 

Dear Madam Presidents, 

As the second edition of the Anti-Racism Week is approaching, we are writing to you to inform you of the consistent and persistent defamatory attacks on civil society organisations fighting racism across the EU. In particular, we would like to draw your attention to the statement by François Xavier-Bellamy, an MEP representing France that includes many misstatements about the EU Anti-Racism and Diversity Week (2023) and the European Network Against Racism, labelling the organisation as ‘radical’. ENAR is the only pan-European anti-racism network that combines advocacy for racial equality and facilitating cooperation among civil society anti-racism actors in Europe. 

The video from François Xavier-Bellamy MEP appears to be filmed in the European Parliament, which is detrimental to the reputation of the European Parliament. We are aware that Rule 10 on MEPs conduct says “The conduct of Members shall be characterised by mutual respect and shall be based on the values and principles laid down in the Treaties, and particularly in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Members shall respect Parliament’s dignity and shall not harm its reputation”. 

The EU Anti-Racism and Diversity Week 2023 is organised by Members of the European Parliament from five different political groups in partnership with European Network Against Racism (ENAR AISBL) and other institutions and organisations. As a longtime partner of the European Commission and the European Parliament in organising events around the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 of March), we aim that the event convenes a European discussion to counter racism, mainstream racial equality and evaluate the ongoing European anti-discrimination agenda in line with European values. 

It is deeply concerning that every time we discuss racism and discrimination against all groups, there is a cohort of individuals, including now an MEP, that attempts to undermine the work of civil society and the European Commission and the European Parliament by making incorrect and irrelevant links to radical extremism. We are very concerned that this has become a pattern of practice at EU events on racism, youth and democracy, which go without meaningful accountability or adequate response to protect those affected by it and protect the EU spaces in their diversity. We are also concerned that this is a tactic that is used to redirect the needed attention to addressing structural and institutional racism and maintaining zero sum arguments for political gain. 

We point the attention to the European Parliament resolution of 8 March 2022 on the shrinking space for civil society in Europe, which takes note of the effect of such practices on shrinking the civic space and threats to human rights defenders in Europe, and the continued scapegoating of organisations working for equality, including racial equality. 

We expect that the European Commission and the European Parliament will continue to provide ambitious leadership in the fight against racism, defamation and scapegoating civil society by taking the following measures: 

• Publicly denounce MEPs for using Parliamentary premises to defame and slander civil society organisations. As Members of the European Parliament will soon enter the election campaign 2024, standards on ethics practices in the European Parliament must be maintained. Current MEPs and those running for the new parliamentary term should express the highest commitment to promote a better culture of inclusivity in the European institutions. 
• Provide assurances that no MEP will show hate or indulge in defamation during the discussions at Anti-Racism and Diversity Week. Following the Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambazki’s fascist salute during a rule-of-law debate in Strasbourg in 2022, we are fearful that MEPs will undermine the discussions in Anti-Racism Week in Europe’s house of democracy. The EC and EP can lead by example by ensuring that the civil society spaces they provide are free from harassment, intimidation and stigmatisation, which requires timely and effective follow-up action. 
• Participate in Anti-Racism and Diversity Week following the invitation sent to open the session. Anti-Racism Week is envisioned to be a shared platform for institutions, civil society organisations, anti-racist actors, activists to come together and lead on solution-based discussions on the systemic gaps that are necessary to address structural and specific forms of racism in their visible and invisible impacts. 
• We are living in a time of considerable rising hatred, and we are proud that we have developed an inclusive agenda for this week. These attacks show that our activities are even more necessary. It is critical that EU institutions take action to counter the poison stirring in many of our European democracies and show citizens of the Union that there is no place in Europe or our parliament for racism or neo-fascism. 

We express our gratitude for your attention to this matter and extend our warmest regards to you. 

Yours sincerely, 

Ojeaku Nwabuzo
ENAR Director (Policy, Advocacy and Network Development)
European Network Against Racism 

Signatories 

#DiasporaVote! 

Advancing Together 

Africa Centre Ireland 

Agora Association 

Alliance Citoyenne 

Àltera APS 

Anti-Racist Forum (ARF) 

Apna Haq 

ASOCIACIÓN NACIONAL PRESENCIA GITANA 

Association for Integration and Migration 

Association for Monitoring Equal Rights (Eşit Haklar İçin İzleme Derneği) 

Associazione Ayiti Chery 

Associazione La Rosa Roja International – A.RO.RO. 

Associazione Oltre il Pregiudiìzio – OilP 

CCIE 

Centre for Equality Advancement 

Coexister France 

Coordinamento Diaspore In Sardegna – Co.D.I.Sard 

Czech Helsinki Committee 

DARE network – Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe 

Dokustelle Antimuslimischer Rassismus und Islamfeindlichkeit 

ENORB — European Network On Religion and Belief 

ENWAD 

European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) 

European Forum of Muslim Women, EFOMW 

European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance (ESWA) 

Europia 

Friends of the Earth Europe 

Generation for Change CY 

Giolli cooperativa sociale 

Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) 

Greek Forum of Migrants 

IDPAD Coalition UK 

Instituto de Asuntos Culturales, España 

Irish Network Against Racism 

Ivorian Community of Greece 

Kif Kif 

Lallab 

LE CRAN 

Lëtz Rise Up 

Lifelong Learning Platform 

Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights 

Migrant Tales 

Migrant Women Assocition Malta 

Muslim Association for Human Rights (AMDEH) 

Newwomenconnectors 

NICRE 

Nosotras Onlus 

Open Republic Association against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia – OTWARTA RZECZPOSPOLITA 

PICUM 

Protection International 

SOS Malta 

Stichting Ocan 

Subjective Values Foundation 

The Ligali Organisation / IDPAD (Hackney) 

VOIS Cyprus 

Waterford Integration Services, Ireland 

FEMYSO 

Zavod KROG/Institute CIRCLE 

More information here. 

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Finland is known around the world as a champion of sexual and reproductive health and rights. As the anti-sexual rights movement gains momentum around the world, COFACE Member Väestöliitto (the Family Federation of Finland) calls on the Finnish government to strengthen its role and put sexual rights at the forefront of its development policy. 

Sexual and reproductive health and rights, or sexual rights for short, are human rights for everyone. These rights include sexual education, sexual health services, safe abortion, contraception, maternal health, consent and the right to express one’s sexual orientation and gender. 

Sexual rights around the world 

There are major challenges to realising sexual rights, particularly in developing countries. For example, the right to one’s own sexuality, information, contraceptive decisions or bodily autonomy are far from being realised for everyone:  

• One in three girls is forced to drop out of school because of child marriage or pregnancy. 257 million women would like to use contraception but have no access to it. 
• One in three women experience physical or sexual violence. 
• An estimated 25.1 million unsafe abortions are performed each year, 97% of which take place in developing countries. 
• One in four people in the world live in a country where homosexuality is prohibited by law. 

Realising sexual rights contributes to sustainable development 

Väestöliitto believes primary health care must include sexual and reproductive health services, including safe abortion and post-abortion care, in order to achieve the goal of universal health coverage. Good sexual health and the realisation of sexual rights are a cornerstone of education and social participation, especially for women and girls. Women’s right to decide about their own bodies is a necessary starting point for achieving gender equality. The realisation of sexual rights enables girls and women in particular to participate in social decision-making, conflict prevention and peace-building. The greatest challenges to the realisation of sexual rights are faced by the most vulnerable. Promoting sexual rights supports everyone’s well-being and their ability to influence their own lives and society. 

Why Finland? 

The conservative movement against women’s rights and sexual rights is gaining strength globally. There are also initiatives in the EU to undermine sexual rights. Sexual rights defenders are needed more than ever. The realisation of sexual rights must be safeguarded in the midst of conflicts and the climate crisis. In crisis situations, sexual health services are at risk of being undermined and gender-based violence is on the rise. At the same time, climate change threatens the sexual rights and services of the world’s most vulnerable.  

Finland is a recognised and respected promoter of gender equality and sexual rights in international cooperation. Väestöliitto believes now is the time for Finland to boldly put sexual rights at the forefront of its development policy. 

See more information and the recommendations of Väestöliitto here. 

The post Calls from Väestöliitto to put sexual rights at the forefront of Finnish development policy appeared first on COFACE Families Europe.