Social Platform held an annual conference on care
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Social Platform is a group of organisations
that work to make sure that
all European citizens are included in the society.
On 9 December, they did a conference to discuss how
the European Union can give good care to its citizens.
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On 9 December 2011, the Social Platform organised its annual conference on Care gathering EU and national decision makers, representatives from European bodies and organisations, researchers and other people involved in care issues and policies. Together, they explored the EU approaches to care, sharing their vision of accessible care services which respect the rights of individuals and promote social inclusion.
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The conference opened with EU and national stakeholders’ statements on the Social Platform recommendations in the fields of quality and accessible care for all European citizens. They also tackled the issues of fundamental rights, employment, reconciliation of care, work, family and private life as well as the organisation and funding of quality care services.
Children in need, elderly and people with disabilities were addressed by almost all of the speakers as they constitute vulnerable groups of citizens, who are often deprived of the good care services they need. Especially in times of the economic crisis, quality and accessibility of care is highly at risk.
What was underlined throughout the conference is that providing good care services should not be seen by European countries as worsening the already difficult financial situation; instead they should consider good care services as a long-term investment, which would contribute to the European Union’ s getting out of the crisis.
“We need to see care as an opportunity for the European economy, as it creates remarkably many employment opportunities”, stated László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, calling the participants to work together to support all people with special needs to continue taking active part in the society.
In agreement with the Commissioner, Luca Jahier, from the European Economic and Social Committee, underlined that “all measures of European countries to create good care should be seen as an investment rather than as expenses, as it is a great potential for Europe to create more jobs for its citizens”. Characterising the recommendation paper of the Social Platform as a valuable tool for decision-making, he also clarified the close relation between care and human rights.
The discussion was also concentrated on how to guarantee that the fundamental rights of care users are respected, fighting against discrimination and ensuring social inclusion for all citizens. The Acting Director of the European Disability Forum, Javier Guemes, focused on how to ensure that thae fundamental rights of people with disabilities are respected and social inclusion is promoted when using care services. Mr Guemes highlighted the general principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as the basis on which we can build quality and accessibility care services.
Ensuring an adequate balance between care, work, family and private life for men and women and among generations was a key element in the discussion on care, since the number of informal carers is remarkably high. Referring to a recent research, the director of the Confederation of Family Organisations in the EU, William Lay, said that there were 90 millions of informal carers in Europe; the majority of them were women who often have to leave their jobs to provide care for their child. Therefore, support of informal carers should be taken into consideration when EU policies on care are discussed.
The conference concluded with the Vice-President of Social Platform, Heather Roy, summarizing the key conclusions derived from the dialogue with the stake holders: “Care is not a burden. It is not an expense. It’s an investment. We should stop thinking about what it will cost. We should think of what it will cost if we do not invest on care”, she stated calling on the all the participants to share the recommendations of Social Platform through their networks and contribute to make them action.
The conference concluded with the Vice-President of Social Platform, Heather Roy, summarizing the key conclusions derived from the dialogue with the stake holders: “Care is not a burden. It is not an expense. It’s an investment. We should stop thinking about what it will cost. We should think of what it will cost if we do not invest on care”, she stated calling on the all the participants to share the recommendations of Social Platform through their networks and contribute to make them action.
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