social inclusion

EU Money for Poverty Reduction NOW! new campaign and petition

European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) campaign EU Money for Poverty Reduction NOW! calls on Presidents and Prime Ministers of EU Member States to respect the EU poverty and social exclusion reduction target committment they made in a framework of the Europe 2020 strategy and the Cohesion Policy, and urges them to invest EU money to reduce poverty now. Want to join the campaign? Sign the petition now! In October 2011, the European Commission proposed the draft regulation for the next Round (...)

EPHA Secretary General at OECD Forum May 22-23 2012

On 22nd May EPHA’s Secretary General will be in Paris to take part in OECD Forum, a three-day event that brings together around 2000 business leaders, academia and government representatives to discuss pressing issues on the international agenda. The five key themes for the 2012 OECD forum are: Indignation, Inequality, Inclusion, Integrity and Inspiration. The Forum will host a number of high-profile speakers, such as Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, /Robert Johnson, (...)

European Commission employment package confirms health as growth area

The European Commission has released a comprehensive employment package which includes a policy communication, "Towards a job-rich recovery," and nine Commission Staff Working Documents. The package contains concrete measures to combat mass unemployment and mitigate the effects of the crisis. The green economy, health services and ICT are recognised as high potential employment areas. The policy communication underlines the need for a stronger employment and a social dimension to EU (...)

European Court of Auditors condemns the legislative proposals for the CAP reform unsatisfactory

The European Court of Auditors, in its latest opinion on the Commissions’ four legislative proposals for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), although recognising the efforts made to better this key policy, condemns the recommendations as unsatisfactory and ineffective. European Court of Auditors’ full opinion on the CAP legislative proposals The European Court of Auditors (ECA) states that the legislative framework of this policy still remains too complex and (...)

Why healthy ageing starts with a childhood free of inequality

EPHA contributed to the Public Service Review Journal with an article on children’s health, analysing the current approach to children’s health and why healthy ageing starts with a childhood free of inequality. Policymakers have not paid enough attention in recent decades to the child population. Whilst due attention given to such initiatives like Heathy and Active Ageing, one seems to forget that healthy and disability-free ageing starts with inequality and disability-free (...)

Extraordinary meeting of the EU platform for Roma Inclusion on the national Roma integration strategies

On 22 March 2012, the Extraordinary European Platform on Roma inclusion took place in order to give all stakeholders involved an opportunity to express their views on the national efforts and to pave the way for the successful implementation of national Roma integration strategies. Among four priority areas for Roma inclusion, health (especially disease prevention and health promotion) and related determinants, such as living conditions still lag behind. The representatives of the EU (...)

Call for papers for FEANTSA 7th European Research Conference on Homelessness

The European Federation of National Organisations Working With the Homeless (FEANTSA) - an EPHA member - has announced the 7th Annual Research Conference on Homelessness in Europe entitled “Access to Housing for Homeless People in Europe”, which will take place in York in the UK on the 21st September 2012. Deadline for the call for papers: 6 April 2012 FEANTSA’s European Observatory on Homelessness, the European Network for Housing Research Working Group on Welfare (...)

EPHA Report on Beyond GDP

2012 is the year the European Commission will conduct an assessment of its roadmap on “GDP and beyond: Measuring progress in a changing world.” With this in mind, EPHA undertook an assessment of progress made at the EU level since 2008, and how progress is measured as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Social Platform: 2012 dates/topics of SGI Working Group

EPHA is a member of the Social Platform’s Working Group on Services of General Interest (SGI). This Working Group meets at least four times a year in Brussels to discuss issues related to public procurement, state aid, the social business initiative, access to basic financial services, and related topics of interest to the social and health policy community. Members that are interested in participating should contact the EPHA secretariat. This year’s first meeting of the (...)

Social Platform Recommendations on Care

In December 2011, the Social Platform presented its recommendations on care, based on the stance that care is a human right given that everyone will be a care giver or receiver at some point in their life. The four main recommendations contain a number of proposed actions, thereby serving as tool for EU decision-makers and Member States. The policy paper ’’Recommendations on Care’’, originally released in October, was presented at the Social Platform’s annual (...)