02/03/2026 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Joseph O’Reilly (Ireland, EPP/CD), PACE General Rapporteur on the situation of women and children in the Palestinian territories, made the following statement today: “The decision by the Israeli government to ban 37 reliable international NGOs – including Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council...
28/01/2026 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), following up on her report “The absolute and urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis for women, children and the hostages in Gaza”, made the following statement today: “Just one year after the adoption of the Assembly resolution based on my report, Palestinians...
09/12/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The parliamentary conference on the cost-of-living crisis and the role of the European Social Charter took place on Friday, 5 December 2025 at the Assemblée Nationale in Paris. The event was organised by the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development in cooperation with...
08/12/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A PACE committee has unanimously said it is against a new draft protocol on the involuntary placement and involuntary treatment of persons in mental healthcare services, pointing out it would “make it more difficult to abolish coercive practices” in such settings. The Assembly must give its...
17/11/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Marking End Child Sexual Abuse Day (18 November), the Chair of PACE’s Social Affairs Committee Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC) and the Chairperson of the Lanzarote Committee Maria José Castello-Branco (Portugal) made the following joint statement: “One in five girls and one in seven boys globally...
21/10/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Lord Michael German (United Kingdom, ALDE), PACE rapporteur on ending the devastating humanitarian catastrophe and the killing of journalists in Gaza, and Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), PACE rapporteur on ending the humanitarian crisis for women, children and the hostages in Gaza, made the...
25/09/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on “The absolute and urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis for women, children and the hostages in Gaza", Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), made the following statement today: "I am appalled by last night’s...
05/09/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and budgetary constraints, and in the face of worsening inequalities in access to healthcare, the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development today emphasised the importance of promoting universal health coverage (UHC), based on the...
05/09/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development notes with grave concern that Europe has entered an era in which climate-related disasters are becoming structural: persistent droughts, unprecedented wildfires, and heatwaves that strike the most vulnerable and already...
05/09/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Committee on social affairs, health and sustainable development has expressed s its profound sorrow over the tragic accident on the Elevador da Glória in Lisbon, which claimed the lives of 16 people (including foreign nationals) and left many others injured. "We extend our deepest condolences...
05/09/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The right to adequate housing is a universal human right and a cornerstone of social justice, human development and democratic stability,” underlined the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development. Yet this right “remains a broken promise” for more than 1.3 million people...
12/08/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“I am appalled by the killings of five Al Jazeera journalists, including prominent reporter Anas al-Sharif, in a targeted Israeli strike near Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital last Sunday,” said Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE...