09/09/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE’s Social Affairs Committee is urging an ambitious new legal framework, both at national and European level, to “anchor the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment” – and has presented a draft of an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights which would...
09/09/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Europe’s prosperity has been seemingly growing for decades but disparities have kept widening between and within countries. These inequalities not only negatively affect individuals and communities, but “also restrain overall economic development, undermine social justice, and hurt the...
25/06/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The climate emergency has awakened consciences across the world, thanks to the perseverance of scientists and their words, but also and above all thanks to the action of young people,” said Jennifer De Temmerman (France, ALDE), at the opening of a parliamentary hearing on “Inaction on climate...
11/06/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Child labour is not a thing of the past, but a reality for millions of children. Child labour harms children’s health, development, and education. It deprives children of their childhood and of equal opportunities in future life. On the eve of the World Day Against Child Labour (12 June) we call...
20/05/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Social Affairs Committee, meeting by videoconference, expressed deep shock at the loss of human life and disrespect for humanitarian law in the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, in particular with regard to children. “Children have fallen victim to killings, injuries, destruction...
20/05/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on children has been devastating, according to a PACE committee, and “Generation Covid” – as they are sometimes referred to – will face the consequences for many years to come, unless European governments take adequate measures. Unanimously approving a report today...
20/05/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Social Affairs Committee today expressed its deep concern about the situation of the vulnerable population that has been harshly affected by the socio-economic crisis sparked by the pandemic. “The recession caused by the Covid-19 has resulted in deep shortfalls in resources for enterprises...
07/05/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
On Thursday 6 May, the Biden Administration expressed its support for the lifting of patents protecting the production of Covid-19 vaccines. “This is an act of true leadership which at last meets the expectations of countries severely affected by the pandemic, humanity’s worst health crisis in a...
15/04/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The 2021 Europe Prize – the highest level of the Prize which is awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to the town most active in promoting the European ideal – has been awarded to Khmelnytskyi in Ukraine. Khmelnytskyi is a city of 290 000 inhabitants...
16/03/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
More than a year after the adoption of Resolution 2321 (2020) and Recommendation 2169 (2020) on “International obligations concerning the repatriation of children from war and conflict zones”, the Social Affairs Committee is deeply concerned about the plight of children in Syria whose parents...
16/03/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Council of Europe must help develop “climate resilience” to deal with global warming by promoting the rule of law – meaning the supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, separation of powers, participation in decision making, and transparency, according to the...
16/03/2021 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
High-level officials from the United Nations, European Union, World Health Organisation and Council of Europe came together for a parliamentary hearing on the deinstitutionalisation of people with disabilities, focusing also on the emerging consensus on how to end coercion in mental health, and...