Terms of reference - approved by the General Assembly on 16 October 2024

  Co-Chairs - Pierre Klein (ATD Fourth World) and Peter Verhaeghe (Caritas Europa) 

  Contact 

The Committee for the European Social Charter and its monitoring mechanisms (CoESC) has been formally created and approved by the members of the Conference of INGO (CINGO) at the plenary meeting of October 2024.

The CoESC has developed its mandate and its programme of work in line with previous Committees dedicated to the promotion and defence of social rights and the Council of Europe Social Charter Mechanisms.

Around 20 member INGOs contribute to the work of the Committee which plans to meet around 5 times a year in plenary coordination meeting (twice in person during the biannual CINGO plenary meetings). All CoESC member organisations champion a human rights-based approach to social policy.  The current list of members is presented here below.

The Committee is co-chaired in 2025 by representants of Caritas Europa and of the International Movement All Together in Dignity – ATD Fourth World.

CoESC contributes to the implementation of the CINGO strategy 2024-2027, and in particular to:

• priority 3 - Fighting inequalities and actively promoting the European Social Charter;
• priority 4 - Promoting equality, anti-discrimination and protection of marginalized and at-risk groups
• priority 6: Reinforcing the role of CINGO as the Council of Europe (CoE) civil society pillar; through further developing the CINGO members’ systematic contribution to the CoE bodies; and
• priority 7: Developing CINGO’s internal and external communications and participatory approaches.

Some activities planned in 2025:

•Promote awareness and knowledge of the Revised European Social Charter (RESC) and of the importance of a robust social rights framework in CoE Member States;
•Encourage (I)NGOs to advocate for full ratification of the RESC as well as the 1991 ‘Turin’ Protocol and the 1995 Collective Complaints Procedure Protocol by all CoE Member States and to participate in the monitoring and complaints processes for the implementation of the RESC;
•Support the CINGO in the organisation of events marking the International day for the eradication of poverty and its Human Rights pledge (on a date close to 17 October each year);
•Promote accession by the EU to the RESC and inclusion of the RESC provisions in the preparation of the 2026-2030 EU Anti-Poverty Strategy;
•Promote and develop the use of the online platform of the “Social Rights Tracker”.
Contact : CoESC

Organisations currently involved in the work of the Committee
Andante, All Together in Dignity ATD Fourth World (ATD), Caritas Europa, European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW), European Prison Litigation Network (EPLN), ESAN European Social Action Network (ESAN), European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), le Comité européen d'action spécialisée pour l'enfant et la famille dans leur milieu de vie (EUROCEF), European Network Church on the Move, la Fédération Internationale des Associations des Personnes Âgées (FIAPA), World Committee For Lifelong Learning – Comité Mondial pour l'Apprentissage (CMA), Mouvement International d'Apostolat des Milieux Sociaux Indépendants, MIAMSI, Parents International, Pax Romana, Religious in Europe Networking Against Trafficking and Exploitation (RENATE Europe) Soroptimist International of Europe, Volonteurope – associated INGO : European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA)
 

Interim report of the Committee presented at the General Assembly of the Conference of INGOs (April 2026)

Statement on the occasion of the High-Level Conference on Social Rights and the European Social Charter held under the Moldovan Presidency of the Committee of Ministers (Chișinău, March 18–19, 2026)

  Link to the abridged statement

 Link to the full statement

Webinar marking the 30th Anniversary of the Revised European Social Charter and celebrating the opening to Member States Signature on 3rd May 1996 - 5 May 2026 from 10:30am to 12:00pm CET
 Programme

 Registration link