Editorial
Dear all,
I hope you coped ok with the September rush. Did I ruffle your feathers in August when I said that “time is opportunity for social change”? Did you feel under pressure? Well the pressure is still on my friends, and our members in Greece reminded us of this at the reflection seminar we hosted on 27th September in Brussels about the proposed European Pillar of Social Rights. No time for another empty box with no real links to the grassroots and the tough realities on the ground. The European Commission has to understand this, and we as European civil society have a role to play in shaping this future Pillar so that it can genuinely guide current and future rights-based EU policy and law-making. But the discussion is still ongoing, and we all have until end of December to contribute to the debate.
While we are under pressure, I would call on all to strive for work-life balance as much as possible –COFACE Families Europe wouldn’t have it any other way! Find it challenging? Well, we’re hoping that the European Commission will publish a Reconciliation package soon. A package of legislative and non-legislative measures covering various fields: childcare, long-term care, flexible work arrangements, different leave arrangements. They all form essential pillars of work-life reconciliation for families, not just parents with children but all family types. Reconciliation should be one of the buzzwords of the 2030 strategy should it not? COFACE members believe reconciliation policies have the potential to reshape our societies and economies to help families achieve a real balance between their personal and professional lives.
Another buzzword for 2030 is surely digitalisation. It is already here and present in our lives as families, workers, consumers. How many of you out there are already smart working? Can we bring social and health services into the 21stcentury, with the support of technology? Your youngest children/grandchildren are part of generation C - in 2020 these children will have been connected all their life, and they probably spend more time on new media (online video sharing platforms, using gaming apps, etc) than traditional media like TV. As adults, how is the digital economy changing the way we work, the way we consume? Do you know your digital rights? Are families ready for digital changes? These are the key questions we will discuss with 100 stakeholders in Berlin on 7-8th November. Do join us, reflect with us, try to find answers, and prepare for the future together.
Many COFACE members and COFACE friends will be in Berlin with us, to discuss current/future challenges and put forward some inspiring practices. As always, you can see such practices and actions in our members section of the newsletter, including improving digital literacy (Belgium and France), conscientious parenting support courses (Czech Republic), supporting family-friendly places (Latvia), providing a voice for families at the UN migration summit in New York (Spain) and the upcoming launch of a new Erasmus+ project (Greece). It’s a privilege for COFACE to count such diverse and forward-thinking members.
Best greetings from Brussels,
Liz Gosme
Director of COFACE-Families Europe
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Register to the conference “The impact of digitalisation on 21st century families”, 7-8 Nov, Berlin #DigitalFamiliesEU
COFACE Families Europe has tackled the challenges and opportunities raised by digitalisation through a variety of portfolios: work-life balance and telework, access to services, employment, data protection, and online safety for children.
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Through a series of workshops and networking sessions, we will aim at exploring these topics, better understand the impact of digitalisation on families and formulate "family-friendly” policies to harness the opportunities of digitalisation while minimising the risks. More information here
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Reflection seminar on the European Pillar of Social Rights
COFACE Families Europe is participating actively in shaping the future Pillar, starting with the organisation of a reflection seminar held in Brussels on 27th September with a wide-range of speakers providing different perspectives from EU to the local level. On this occasion, we launched the discussion paper “Laying the foundations for a European Pillar of Social Rights”. More information
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Slovak Presidency conference on Work-Life Balance - COFACE Families Europe invited
The conference “Work-Life balance in a changing society” was built around three main areas: childcare, care for the elderly and other dependants, leaves and flexible working arrangements. We delivered a keynote speech on the need for a policy mix that could encompass all these elements to achieve effective positive change for families... read more
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Providing a family perspective at EU conference on Protection of Minors Online
COFACE Families Europe spoke at a conference on effective protection of minors in the digital world, highlighting key challenges from a family perspective. The conference was organised by the Slovak Presidency to debate the proposed revision of the Audio-Visual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which aims inter alia to create a level playing field for traditional media and new media... read more
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Participation at the ENABLE final event on bullying in the context of child’s play
The ENABLE (European Network Against Bullying in Learning and Leisure Environments) partnership held the final event of the European Project in Croatia. COFACE has been involved since the beginning of the project as a member of the Think Tank, bringing some of the expertise gathered from the #DeleteCyberbullying project and promoting the ENABLE deliverables... read more
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COFACE-Disability members advocate for inclusive education for all children
COFACE-Disability members advocate for inclusive education for all children as they often experience segregation in special schools. We know from their experiences that children with intellectual disability and multiple disability are often among those who are rejected to take part in mainstream schools and the teachers are unfortunately unable to accommodate their special needs... read more
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Reflection on the Fintechs: Milking the poor
Every week or so, new articles pop up all around the Internet, lauding a new Fintech/Unicorn which will transform financial services in wonderful ways, facilitating payments, allowing for better money management, investment decisions or instant access to credit. While some of these undoubtedly carry the potential of serving consumer interests, others are closer to a scam... read more
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“Webetic”, or how to handle the daily use of Internet in family, by Ligue des Familles, Belgium
The Ligue des Familles, in partnership with Child Focus, has designed a project to raise awareness of parents and grandparents on online safety: Webetic, or how to handle the daily use of Internet within the family. This programme provides support to parents and grandparents willing to monitor in a positive and constructive way how children learn to use Internet safely... read more
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The PédaGoJeux Youtube channel already available, by UNAF, France
The PédaGoJeux project recently opened a Youtube channel to broaden its reach and to provide an overview of videogames main issues. These videos give the floor to professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists…) for their expertise, and also to parents and children expressing their feelings and experiences about video games… read more
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COFACE member Salud y Familia, Spain, attends UN migration summit in New York
The United Nations nominated Vice President Mr. Eduard Sagarra from Salud y Familia to attend the UN Summit on Migrants and Refugees which was held at the UN headquarters on 19 September. This Summit is a key global reference on immigration and asylum. We are proud to have a COFACE member present for this key event… read more
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Conference "From Family Friendly Municipality to Family Friendly State" by ULLFA, Latvia
The Union of Latvian Large Families Associations (ULLFA) organised the Eight European Large Families Conference "From Family Friendly Municipality to Family Friendly State" in Riga, Latvia on August. Speakers included representatives from NGOs, National Governments, Local and Regional Municipalities from seven European countries… read more
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"Conscientious Parenting" programme, by Women for Women, Czech Republic
Many parents wish for a manual to tell them how to parent, but parenting is a skill that you develop over time. The “Conscientious Parenting” programme helps parents understand not just their children’s thoughts, feelings and motivations, but also their own. The programme gives parents tools for addressing their own behaviours to become better parents... read more
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Juggling Motherhood and Profession (JUMP) project by KMOP, Greece
KMOP (Family and Childcare Centre) is about to start a new innovative international project, following the latest evaluation results of the Erasmus+ Programme. The “Juggling Motherhood and Profession (JUMP)” project aims at working on a cultural and pedagogical approach focusing on women’s capacity to manage their parental aptitudes and build a support network… read more
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The European Parliament votes in favour of the Work-Life Balance report!
The EP recently voted the resolution “Creating labour market conditions favourable for work-life balance” (by 443 votes in favour, 123 against and 100 abstention). The text contains our main lobby points and key areas we identified in the response to the public consultation, including the demand for a paternity leave directive and carers’ leave directive... read more
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ESA Consumer Protection Day
The three European Supervisory Authorities (ESA) for financial services and financial markets held their 2016 edition of the consumer protection day, bringing together regulators, financial service providers, consumer representatives and a variety of other stakeholders to examine the state of play of consumer protection in financial services in the EU… read more
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EP Study on Cyberbullying among Young People
We are glad to inform you that the study on Cyberbullying among Young People has been finalised and published by the European Parliament. This study provides an overview of the extent, scope and forms of cyberbullying in the EU taking into account the age and gender of victims and perpetrators as well as the medium used. Link to the study
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The Lifelong Learning Platform, a milestone in the European education agenda
The Lifelong Learning Platform will be holding its 6th Lifelong Learning Week (LLLWeek) on October the 10th. This event has over time become a milestone in the European education agenda, thanks to the support of civil society actors and of MEPs. More information
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The FEAD Network, an open membership community for people providing assistance to the most deprived in Europe
The FEAD Network provides a space for good practice to be shared and encourages new ideas for how to provide non-financial assistance to the most deprived persons in the EU. Conversations cover themes such as child poverty, issues relating to migration, access to social services, housing and assistance for older people... read more
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Publication: Social Agenda 45 focuses on the recently adopted New Skills Agenda for Europe
The European Commission will take, in the coming months, ten initiatives to implement the New Skills Agenda for Europe which it adopted on 10 June. This publication focuses on the recently adopted New Skills Agenda for Europe which supports training, learning, re-training and upskilling in order to better equip citizens for the labour market... read more
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New Eurobarometer shows how 15 to 45 year olds use the internet to access music, films, TV series, images and news
A new Eurobarometer survey shows that a majority of Europeans, aged 15 to 45, use the internet at least once a week to read the latest news (72%), listen to their favourite music (63%), find pictures (54%) and watch films or TV series (53%). Link to the reports
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New DAPHNE programme calls
COFACE Families-Europe knows that families can be one of the primary environments of violence against women (domestic violence, between the father and the mother, or between siblings). Civil society has definitely a role to play to prevent them from occurring, and to fight against gender stereotypes and gender-based violence. More information
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Joint call to free Europe’s youth from health-harmful marketing
On September 27th, nearly 40 childrens’ rights, family, consumer, public health, alcohol control, and medical organisations launched a joint call to MEPs for ambitious action to free Europe’s children, youth and parents from aggressive marketing of products harmful to health and future well-being. COFACE Families Europe took part in this joint call... read more
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Joint Statement How the European Commission can make a European Pillar of Social Rights fit for children
COFACE Families Europe, as member of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for a European Pillar of Social Rights, and its aspiration to achieve a “social triple-A rating” by re-balancing the EU’s existing prioritisation of financial and economic concerns with social issues... read more
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Civil Society Hearing on the implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities
EDF and the European Economic and Social Committee hosted a public hearing on the progress made in the EU on the rights of persons with disabilities. Magdi Birtha, represented COFACE Families Europe and welcomed the clear focus and strong language of the requests about the implementation of the CRPD by the EU... read more
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4th Annual Stakeholder Seminar of the project FamiliesAndSocieties “Policies for Families. Is there a Best Practice?”
Experts from research, policy, and NGOs discussed on September 29th, the most recent findings of the FamiliesAndSocieties project and, in paticular, on crucial policy issues related to youth, gender equality and childcare arrangements. COFACE President, Annemie Drieskens, provided the perspective of families. More information
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Common Statement “A new Europe for people, planet and prosperity for all”
Too many people across Europe feel remote from its institutions and policies, but hopefully, there are groups of committed professionals across Europe who are ready to take action and work for a renewed Europe. Read the Common statement signed by 177 European and national civil society organisations... read more
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Dare to Share: Germany's Experience Promoting Equal Partnership in Families
This OECD review introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany. It encourages German policy makers to build on the important reforms since the mid-2000s to enable both fathers and mothers to have careers and children, and urges families to “dare to share”... read more
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Eurofound: Measuring peoples’ perception of quality of life in Europe
This pan-European survey examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It looks at a range of issues, such as housing, deprivation, family, health and well-being. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people’s levels of happiness... read more
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