Library and Media Centre

Brussels, 7 May - The first ever European Citizens Initiative (ECI) – Water is a Human Right! – has collected over 1.5 million signatures across Europe. Eight countries have just passed the minimum number of signatures required. The European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Water is a Human Right!’ is a pan-European initiative calling for the European Union (EU) to guarantee clean drinking water and quality sanitation for everyone living in Europe. EPHA, one of the (...)

On February 10, the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) ‘Water is a Human Right’ campaign made history by becoming the first ECI to have collected over 1 million signatures. Ever since the campaign was started last September by the European Federation of Public Service Unions, EPHA and its member organisations have been one of the leading organisation promoting this campaign across Europe. “Reaching this important milestone, with one Million EU citizens agreeing that water (...)

On the Human Rights Day, mayors from 10 major European cities have appealed to their citizens to support the European Citizens’ Initiative on Water and Sanitation that EPHA and partners support and promote, together with the European Federation of Public Services Unions (EPSU). On the 10 December 2012, mayors from Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Genoa, Ghent, Leicester, Nantes, Naples, Paris, Moita and Vienna have joined forces with civil society and trade union campaigners to call (...)

There is a new short video to promote the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) for the right to water and sanitation- an initiative that sees the promotion of water supply and sanitation as essential public services for all. In the framework of the ECI, the aim of this campaign is to collect one million signatures from all over Europe. Video- Water is a Human Right Take a look, sign if you haven’t done so already, and forward the clip to all people you know and ask them to (...)

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Jean Lambert, Marian Harkin, Edit Bauer and Sylvana Rapti have the pleasure to invite you to the seminar “From Rhetoric to Action - Tackling Child Poverty and Promoting Children’s Health and Well-being in the EU.” The event is organised in collaboration with the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and will take place at the European Parliament on 4 December 2012. Background Poverty and health have a vicious relationship. (...)

Using the growing body of evidence that GDP alone cannot measure the progress of society, EPHA has developed a series of policy recommendations aimed at improving health impact assessment at an EU level. This year the European Commission will conduct an assessment of its roadmap on “GDP and beyond: Measuring progress in a changing world.” In February 2012, EPHA undertook an assessment of progress made at an EU level since 2008, and how progress is measured as part of the Europe (...)

In the article, published on September 7 in the renowned medical journal The Lancet, the authors maintain that Universal health coverage (UHC) is increasingly seen by global civil society as a key component of the framework for sustainable development after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and of shaping the kinds of system that promote equity, access, and human rights. In the article, entitled “Civil Society Organisations and Universal Health Care,” Julia Ravenscroft, (...)

The European citizens’ initiative ‘Water is a Human Right!’ is now collecting signatures online. The campaign is a pan-European initiative calling for the European Union (EU) to guarantee clean drinking water and quality sanitation for everyone living in Europe - a window of opportunity to support a cause worth advocating for… and it only takes your signature. “Water is not a commodity but a public good that must be safeguarded, not opened up to (...)

EPHA joined The European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA), and Housing Rights Watch campaign Poverty is Not a Crime campaign - an European public initiative against the criminalisation of homelessness and social exclusion. The campaign is an answer to certain municipal and national governments’ (e.g. Hungary) illegalisation of homelessness. Poverty, social exclusion and homelessness are consequences of the deep, unfair and growing (...)