18/09/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Today we mark the first ever International Equal Pay Day, a welcome UN initiative. Although the gender pay gap is now smaller than it has ever been, we still have a long way to go,” said Selin Sayek Böke (Turkey, SOC), PACE’s rapporteur on socio-economic inequalities. “The pay gap exacerbates...
07/07/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Climate change caused by human activity is “already well present” in Europe, driving extreme heat waves, droughts, heavy precipitation, floods and rising sea-levels, and is set to get worse in the decades to come, PACE parliamentarians were warned this week. Speaking at a virtual public hearing...
18/06/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Participants at a PACE online webinar today looked at lessons from the COVID-19 crisis on child safeguarding and protection, concluding that the pandemic had had a “devastating” impact on children’s mental health, with a special impact on young people unable to take part in sport. The event...
04/06/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE’s rapporteur on Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, Selin Sayek Böke (Turkey, SOC), has again urged a “strong regulatory and ethical framework” for AI in health to ensure public trust, underlining the need for robust data governance, clear consent procedures, and a healthy balance between...
02/06/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The lessons from the suffering of the past few months must be that we need to act fast to contain outbreaks, using tried and tested, effective measures, implemented in a rights-compliant way, to avoid a disastrous outcome in terms of lives lost and burden of sickness, as well as knock-on effects...
20/05/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The member States' health systems will have to strive to adapt in order to be able to better cope in the future with a health emergency such as COVID-19, while respecting fundamental rights and freedoms,” said Andrej Hunko (Germany, UEL) who was appointed yesterday as rapporteur on the lessons...
19/05/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE Committee on Social Affairs has called on Council of Europe member States “to make addressing sexual violence against children a political priority, to make full use of the available resources and to step up their action and increase co-operation”.During a virtual meeting held today, the...
18/05/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
With COVID-19 raising fears of increased surveillance, PACE’s rapporteur on Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, Selin Sayek Böke (Turkey, SOC), has issued a strong call for a new framework to regulate AI in this area, urging “a new era of citizen empowerment” for health data which will protect...
15/05/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic which has spread to all continents –resulting in more than 4 million cases of infection and 280,000 deaths worldwide to date – what conclusive lessons can be drawn and used in the event of future health crises, while giving priority to human rights? The...
07/05/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Two PACE rapporteurs have called on national policy-makers and international institutions to “act in a concerted manner now in order to beat both the virus and the crisis”, urging a strong political response which stabilises economies while protecting the vulnerable. In a joint statement...
20/04/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“I call on all member States of the Council of Europe and all relevant partners to step up and support the World Health Organization, both morally and financially, in a spirit of global solidarity,” declared Luís Leite Ramos.
01/04/2020 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“European citizens are on their balconies and at their windows every evening to pay tribute to health workers, but Europe should not be content with applause and thanks,” said Luís Leite Ramos, Chair of the Committee on Social Affairs.