The partners of the HDSE Project

When the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe took the decision in 1993 to launch the Project on "Human Dignity and Social Exclusion", it recognised that the Council of Europe did not have sufficient budgetary resources to complete the project.

It was also acknowledged that the very subject-matter of the project called for a partnership between the different sectors of society working to combat poverty and social exclusion and the active participation of excluded people themselves.

Thus, right from the start, the HDSE Project was designed with a view to partnership. This approach was intended to facilitate the inclusion of a considerable number of groups working to combat poverty and social exclusion and foster improved co-operation among them.

The project involved a considerable number of partners, encompassing a wide range of specific approaches to social exclusion :

European Union : DG V of the European Commission and the European Parliament;

UNESCO through its MOST programme;

Non-governmental organisations : the "Extreme poverty and human dignity" grouping of NGOs enjoying observer status with the Council of Europe (ATD - Fourth World, FEANTSA, etc.), the European Anti-Poverty Network (REALPES/EAPN), European Business Against Exclusion;

Management and labour : the European Trade Union Confederation (CES/ETUC), the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE);

Foundations : Joseph Rowntree Foundation (United Kingdom), Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (United States), Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Germany);

Bank : Caisse de dépôts et de consignations (France).

Financial support from a number of partners ensured the smooth running of the HDSE Project, including the publication of two key studies: "Opportunity and Risk : Social Exclusion Trends in Europe" by Katherine Duffy, which builds on research undertaken by 17 research correspondents, and "Contributions to the Debate on Social Exclusion : a Multidisciplinary Approach", the report of the four thematic groups that were set up.

The Council of Europe wishes to acknowledge major contributions from :
· the Joseph Rowntree Foundation,
· the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation,
· the Friedrich Ebert Foundation,
· the Caisse de Dépôts et de Consignations

The governments of the Czech Republic, Finland and France also provided considerable assistance.

The work undertaken by the research correspondents was supplemented by the organisation of "thematic days". The Finnish and French governments supported one-day conferences on employment and health respectively, and the German working group of federal and regional welfare institutions supported the conference on housing. The conference on education was supported by the Nikos Poulantzas Society (Greece), and the conference on social welfare was organised in conjunction with the European Social Security Committee (CDSS) of the Council of Europe.

Cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary co-operation was established within the Council of Europe itself, in particular through the involvement of the Parliamentary Assembly (through its Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee), the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, the European Social Charter Section (in the Directorate of Human Rights) and a dozen other steering committees (European Committee on Migration (CDMG), European Population Committee (CDPO), Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG), European Social Security Committee (CDSS), Steering Committee on Social Policy (CDPS), Steering Committee for Employment and Labour (CDEM), Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), Council for Cultural Co-operation (CDCC), Culture Committee (CC-Cult), European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), European Health Committee (CDSP), European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC), European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ)).