After the signing of the Lisbon Declaration on the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness in 2021, all EU Member States committed to work together towards the ending of homelessness by 2030 and launched the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness which brings together representatives of Member States, EU Institutions and civil society organisations. Thus, preventing homelessness and rapidly tackling it when it occurs must be a high priority for every country in the next months and years.
Against this backdrop, on December 6, 2022, Eurodiaconia organised a public conference on the topic of Housing First, bringing together civil society representatives, service providers, policy makers and researchers on the development of successful housing-led and Housing First approaches.
During the event, we had discussions around the development of successful housing-led and Housing First approaches, the accessibility of EU funding to tackle homelessness, and the policies needed at the EU and national level to end homelessness. Experts working on the ground in Czech Republic and Belgium shared their experiences and defined clear requirements to be able to reach the 2030 objective, such as more targeted funding opportunities and increased investment in social housing.
Speakers called on the European Commission to propose an integrated strategy on affordable and social housing to ensure that housing rights are put before market interests and effectively end homelessness by 2030. Furthermore, participants agreed that Housing First is an important measure to end homelessness, however, it needs to come within a package that includes prevention and accessible housing for all.
To learn more about what was discussed during our conference, please access the full event report here.
Eurodiaconia, together with its members, has been advocating for many years to tackle homelessness and housing exclusion in Europe. Click here to find out more about our work on the topic of homelessness.