The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all our lives and brought incredible suffering and challenges, especially to our most vulnerable communities. At the same time, it has provided us with a chance to re-discover our fundamental values and reflect on how far we’ve come – and what still needs to be done. Eurodiaconia’s primary role has not changed. We still exist to serve those who are most in need.
Now more than ever, it is of the utmost importance to continue with our yearly practice of checking the progress on country-specific recommendations (CSRs). Therefore, between March and June 2021, we have reached out to our members that provide services to the most at-risk population in the different EU member states. We have asked them how much progress they had been able to report relating to the previous CSRs.
This year have involved our members in Austria (Diakonie Austria), Czechia (Diakonie ČCE), Denmark (Kirkens Korshær), Finland (Deaconess Foundation), Greece (the Evangelical Church of Greece), Italy (Diaconia Valdese), and Germany (Diakonie Germany).
Through learning from their experiences and listening to the challenges they’ve faced, we’ve been able to highlight four primary areas of general concern amongst our members: the situation of the care sector, the difficulties experienced by migrants, the experienced issues concerning the access to the labour market, and the state of inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Our Report aims to share our members’ experiences with EU-level policy and decision-makers in order to inform and influence discourse – always with the aim of achieving a truly social Europe that leaves no one behind.
You can read our full report here and access the executive summary here.