Responsible
Territory for Social Cohesion: territory in which all the
players, not least citizens themselves, co-operate and are committed
to meeting expectations regarding well-being and social cohesion.
FIRST COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS
RESPONSIBLE FOR SOCIAL COHESION
"Investing in social cohesion – investing in stability and the
well-being of society"
The First Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Social Cohesion
took place in Moscow (Russian Federation) on 26-27 February 2009
on the theme "Investing in social cohesion – investing in
stability and the well-being of society"
It focused particularly on the High-Level Task Force report as a starting point to transform its recommendations in concrete programmes and actions. The
Conference encouraged renewed political commitment to social cohesion, which is more relevant than ever as a responsibility shared by all. This requires active and integrated policies involving different levels of government, the private sector and civil society in a transversal approach. Relevant measures, including new approaches in line with High-Level Task Force report, should be foreseen to respond to present challenges and strengthen citizens’ confidence in the future.
The Final
Declaration of the Conference stressed and renewed these
commitments:
Recent years have brought a growing realisation that social cohesion is
an essential condition for democratic security and sustainable development.
Divided and unequal societies are not only unjust but also cannot guarantee
stability in the long term. It is now increasingly recognised that governments
need to aim not only at making the economy work but also at making society
work; economic development without accompanying social development will
result in serious problems sooner or later. At present, many people are
excluded in practice from the benefits of the social and economic progress
to which the Council of Europe is committed by its founding Statute.
Since its Second Summit of Heads of State and Government in 1997, the Council
of Europe identified social cohesion as "one of the foremost needs of the
wider Europe and ... essential complement to the promotion of human rights
and dignity".
Social cohesion must be firmly based on human rights (as codified in the
European Convention on Human Rights and the Revised European Social Charter)
as well as an acceptance of shared responsibility for the welfare of all
members of society, especially those who are at risk of poverty or exclusion.
The main lines of the Organisation's work in this field are defined by the
recently revised Strategy for Social Cohesion, as follows:
promoting
ratification of the Council of Europe's legal instruments on social security
and monitoring their implementaion;
drawing
up policy guidelines on access to social rights, covering in particular
access to employment, access to social protection and access to housing;
carrying
out a series of activities on children, families and the elderly;
assisting
member States of Central and Eastern Europe in applying Council of Europe
guidelines in various areas of social policy;
carrying out research and
analytical work in support of the activities included in the Strategy.
The Summit of Heads of states and Governments held in Warsaw in 2005, decided
the creation of a High Level Task Force which would renew the social cohesion
strategy, according to the 21st century challenges namely posed
by ageing and other social and economic developments.
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promoting
ratification of the Council of Europe's legal instruments on social security
and monitoring their implementaion; 