social protection

[Save the date] EPHA 4th Annual Conference 4-5 September 2013, Brussels

On 4 and 5 September 2013 the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) will celebrate 20 years of helping shape Europe’s public health. EPHA is using this milestone as an opportunity to look at how we can foster an EU that is coherent in its decisions, in terms of fostering the health and well-being of people living in Europe. Brave New World: Inclusive Growth and Well-Being or Vested Interests and Lost Generations? SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Lithuanian (...)

[Médecins du monde] Access to healthcare in Europe in times of crisis and rising xenophobia

On the 9th of April 2013, Doctors of the World International Network (Médecins du monde) presented its latest report, with some of the results of comparative data collected in 2012 in 14 cities across seven European countries. This report covers a sample of 8,412 patients, 19,302 consultations (including 10,968 medical consultations) and 11,921 diagnoses reported by their volunteer health professionals. In order to capture the context in which this data collection took place, a concise (...)

Children’s well-being: investing in a healthy future - a silent emergency in Europe

On 27 March, the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Daciana Octavia SÂRBU (S & D, RO) hosted a seminar on child health, nutrition and education policies. In her speech, EPHA Secretary General Monika Kosińska highlighted why is it important to put child well-being at the heart of EU policies. In her speech, MEP Daciana Octavia SÂRBU (S&D, RO) stressed that good and healthy nutrition have a crucial impact on children life expectancy and that the role of the parents in (...)

[Save the date] FEANTSA Seminar - Housing Rights in Hungary

For the past few years, the Hungarian government has been systematically targeting homeless people (even criminalising them), while failing to ensure sufficient support services and appropriate accommodation. EPHA Member FEANTSA (the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless) and Housing Rights Watch (HRW), along with partners in Hungary, will hold a seminar to bring allies together to consider legal and political strategies to combat this alarming trend in (...)

“Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage” recommends EU’s Social Investment Package

The European Commission has recently proposed a Social Investment Package - a framework that sets up a number of recommendations to promote social protection and investments in people skills and capability. One of the elements of the package is to ”Invest in Children and Break the cycle of Disadvantages” which encourages regional and local authorities to follow EU guidelines on reducing child poverty and social exclusion, and promote well-being. Reducing the risk of poverty (...)

No Place Called Home in Hungary for Homeless People

An unjustifiable persecution of homeless people is one of the outcomes of a controversial modification of the Hungarian Constitution earlier this month. The amendment allows municipalities to ban homeless people from public spaces which will not only create further legal and social conflicts, but will worsen the situation of thousands of homeless people in Hungary. © Photo source: A város mindenkié blog As EPHA recently reported, Hungary has been hit hard by the economic crisis. Among (...)

Hungary accused of persecution of the poor

In Autumn 2010, the Hungarian Law on Constructions was amended to allow municipalities to ban homeless people from public spaces. The Hungarian Parliament imposed a $700 fine or jail upon those who repeatedly broke municipal laws regarding “residential habitation in public spaces.” Although this law was ruled unconstitutional by the Hungarian Constitutional Court, the Hungarian Prime Minister has announced that the government intends to prohibit street homelessness in the (...)

Council conclusions on the Annual Growth Survey 2013

The council has presented the conclusions on the Annual Growth Survey 2013. The Conclusions’ first part focuses on the 2013 European Semester; the second part analyses fiscal and macroeconomic policy consolidation with special attention on restoring lending to the economy and promoting growth and competitiveness. Finally, the last part shows how to mobilise EU level growth drivers. The Council has stated that the main priorities in the current economic situation should be reviving (...)

A Grassroots Method to Help Eradicate Child Hunger in the Most Deprived Regions of Hungary

The European People’s Party (EPP) held a group hearing on 26 February 2013 on ’A grassroot method to help eradicate child hunger in the most deprived regions of Hungary’. The event was organised by Tamás Deutsch MEP (EPP, HU), and the keynote speaker was the French-Hungarian sociologist Zsuzsa Hegedűs who is the senior advisor to the Hungarian Prime Minister and Chair of the "No Child Should Go Hungry" Foundation ("Minden gyerek lakjon jól" foundation) in Hungary. (...)

[Assessment] Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative: European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion

Within the context of a comprehensive assessment of the state of play of the Europe 2020 strategy and its flagship initiatives, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) has started preparing a survey on the ’European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion’, as seen from a regional perspective. The result of this survey will feed into a Conference on the same topic that the CoR will hold on 29 May 2013 in Brussels. The Conference ’European platform against poverty’ (...)