Both internally and externally – towards our members as well as towards our partners – we try to create links between European and national NGOs to get our messages through. This month, our advocacy work has strongly focused on the refugee crisis, calling on governments to ease access to Europe and increase resources to welcome refugees.
On 10 September, four days before an informal Council meeting gathering EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, Eurodiaconia along with its ecumenical partners* sent them their proposals to respond to the current refugee crisis. In this common letter, Eurodiaconia and its partners stated that “we, along with many people in Europe and the rest of the world, cannot accept the deaths, destitution and dehumanization across our Union, all of which are a direct result of asylum and migration policies that are unrealistic, not focussed on human beings and lacking in solidarity.” To read the full letter, please click here. On the 22nd, the same alliance of ecumenical NGOs addressed their key messages to EU leaders ahead of an extraordinary summit on migration taking place the following day.
On 14-15 September, the Eurodiaconia Marginalisation and Exclusion Network gathered in London, hosted by our member The Free Churches Group. The discussions and workshops focussed on how to tackle households’ over-indebtedness, as more and more people have been forced to take credits to face the social crisis, making them often more vulnerable and poorer. A meeting report will be available soon on our website.
On 15 September, still on the migration challenge which, as you may know, keeps us very busy at the moment, Eurodiaconia sent a letter, together with its Christian migration partner organisations**, to the Civil liberties, Justice and Home affairs’ Committee of the European Parliament to explain the advantages of humanitarian visa in the current refugee crisis situation, as this Committee was gathering to discuss ways to set legal and safe immigration channels to Europe. Please click here to read the letter.
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n 17-18 September, Eurodiaconia’s first Communications Network meeting took place in Brussels, Belgium, under the title “Creating a network to bring about impact”. Nicolas Derobert, the communications officer of Eurodiaconia, together with communications officers from member organisations, exchanged ideas and practices to increase the visibility of our network and make our advocacy work more effective at European and national levels. A meeting report will be available soon on our website.
On 21 September, Eurodiaconia sent a letter to the Ministers of Health of the European Union, ahead of an informal meeting taking place three days later. The letter calls for quality and innovative strategies to deal with persons with dementia more effectively. Many of our members provide support to people with dementia and their families, but they fear that these services are not sufficient to meet a growing demand, against the background of ageing population and cuts in public spending. In April this year, Eurodiaconia published a report titled “Supporting persons with dementia and their families: Good practice from Eurodiaconia members”. You can download it here.
On 22 September, Eurodiaconia launched its new website.
On 23 September, Eurodiaconia organised its 2nd Annual Cross-party Breakfast meeting at the European Parliament. Hosted by the Member of the European Parliament Dennis de Jong (GUE/NGL) and co-hosted by one representative per main European political party, this advocacy event gathered more than fifty participants to discuss what the European Parliament can do to reduce poverty and support social NGOs in Europe. Read a first feedback on this event here. On this occasion, three new policy papers were released.
Eurodiaconia’s secretariat
* Conference of European Churches, Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, Act Alliance EU and EU CORD
** Caritas Europa, Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Europe – International Catholic Migration Commission, Jesuit Refugee Service, Quaker Council for European Affairs and Sant’Egidio