The European Social Charter, the human rights treaty on social and economic rights, guarantees the right to be protected against poverty and social exclusion through its Article 30, as it is considered that living in a situation of poverty and social exclusion violates the dignity of human beings. Article 30 of the Charter is the first binding human rights provision in Europe for the protection against poverty and social exclusion. The primary obligation for States Parties under Article 30 of the Charter is the adoption of a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach which explicitly aims at combating poverty and social exclusion by adopting measures aimed at preventing and removing obstacles to access to fundamental social rights, in particular employment, housing, training, education, culture and social and medical assistance.

The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) monitors the implementation of the Charter, not only in law, but also in practice.

In its Conclusions 2023, the ECSR highlighted the issue of child poverty under Article 17 of the European Social Charter. The ECSR pointed out that the prevalence of child poverty in a State Party, whether defined or measured in either monetary or multidimensional terms, is an important indicator of the effectiveness of state efforts to ensure the right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection. Consistent with its approach in relation to the conceptualisation and measurement of poverty adopted by the ECSR in terms of Article 30, the ECSR’s consideration of child poverty for the purposes of Article 17 reflects an understanding of both income and multi-dimensional understandings of poverty (Statement of interpretation, 2013, Article 30). This understanding is reflected in the indicators and elements the ECSR takes into account when assessing State Party compliance with Article 17. For the States that have not accepted Article 17, child poverty will be addressed under Article 30. The EUROSTAT data and the EU-27 rate of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion is used as key point of reference and indicator of state compliance with Charter rights by the ECSR. The ECSR will also have regard to disimprovement in terms of the rate of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in a State Party.

Furthermore, the ECSR also takes into account non-monetary measures adopted at reducing child poverty and social exclusion such as ensuring access to quality and affordable services in the areas of health, education and housing. When assessing State conformity with Article 17, the ECSR will also take into account the extent to which child participation is ensured in work directed towards combatting child poverty and social exclusion.Regarding the detection of child labour and illegally working children (Article 7 of the Charter), the ECSR has observed in a number of State Parties an inadequate prohibition of employment under the age of 15 and insufficient monitoring of child labour (Conclusions 2023). The ECSR recalled that exceptions concern children employed in prescribed light work, which does not entail any risk to the health, moral welfare, development or education of children (Conclusions 2023). Furthermore, the ECSR emphasises the very close link between the effectiveness of the right recognised by Article 30 of the Charter and the enjoyment of the rights recognised by other provisions, such as the right to work (Article 1), access to health care (Article 11), social security allowances (Article 12), social and medical assistance (Article 13), the benefit from social welfare services (Article 14), the rights of persons with disabilities (Article 15), the social, legal and economic protection of the family (Article 16) as well as of children and young persons (Article 17), the right to equal opportunities and equal treatment in employment and occupation without sex discrimination (Article 20), the rights of older persons (Article 23) or the right to housing (Article 31), without forgetting the important impact of the non-discrimination clause (Article E) which obviously includes non-discrimination on grounds of poverty.

In 2025 the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) published a review focused on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on social rights across Europe. The review provides a detailed overview of the challenges faced by states in safeguarding the rights enshrined in the European Social Charter. It sets out recommendations to governments on how to ensure that those rights are guaranteed in situations where the cost of essentials rises much faster than average household incomes.

In the review, the Committee provides a general overview of states’ responses to the crisis. It sets out guidance and a series of recommendations focusing on social protection, the real value of the minimum wage, the housing costs, the high prices of energy and food.

The ECSR focuses on the situation regarding the groups most affected by the cost-of-living crisis: low-income households, children, persons with disabilities and older persons. It urges States Parties to adopt rights-based medium- and long-term measures to address the long-term effects of the cost-of-living crises – not just short-term ones (such as ad hoc or one-off cash allowances or temporary benefit increases).

The ECSR makes clear that addressing a cost-of-living crisis in a Charter rights-consistent way is essential if states are to give effect to their international law obligations under European human rights law. Economic hardship should not lead to the erosion of fundamental social rights, and governments must ensure that policies uphold the principles of social justice and solidarity.

 

In the Declaration by the Committee of Ministers on addressing child poverty (Decl(11/12/2019), it is noted that children incur a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than the adult population and the elderly. There are more children living in extreme poverty than adults. Poverty affects the rights of children in many ways. It can have a deleterious impact on both the lives of children at the moment and on their future chances in life. Children living in poverty are often subject to discrimination. Their rights to education and health care, proper housing and living conditions are often not respected. To address child poverty and remedy its lifelong grave consequences, the Committee of Ministers encourages states inter alia to target and improve child welfare services, to consider child-impact assessments, child budgeting and other relevant tools, when developing policies and practices on child welfare, social services and social protection programmes, and to ensure, as far as possible, the participation of children when developing such policies.

In addition within the co-operation project Strengthening the social dimension in Ukraine, implemented by the Department of Social Rights, a targeted support is provided to reduce poverty in Ukraine, by facilitating the reform of the Ukrainian social model towards a more targeted, needs-based and financially sustainable one and by providing expert assistance in reforming the subsistence minimum and developing the Social Code.

Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)3 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights recommends measures to member States to prevent and eradicate the poverty, discrimination, violence and exclusion faced by young people. A human-rights based approach is the basis for the social and youth work interventions being implemented in co-operation with local authorities and youth organisations. The recommendation is available  in English, French, Czech, Dutch, Georgian, Hungarian, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian. The second review of the recommendation is currently ongoing. Various focus groups and thematic workshops within the framework of the Review took place during the Human Rights Education Forum, which was held in Budapest on 9–11 December 2025. The survey on young people's social rights is currently open to public authorities and civil society organisations.

The European Youth Foundation partners with youth organisations to drive  positive change by providing financial support for youth led projects and offering educational guidance. EYF supports local, national, and international youth organisations that share the Council of Europe’s commitment to human rights, peace, and democratic participation. In 2025, EYF awarded 130 grants, bringing together young people from Council of Europe member states to learn from each other, build lasting connections, and collaborate on issues that matter to them and their communities. In connection to this SDG, the EYF has funded projects that tackle social rights of young people. Notable contributions were achieved through the international meeting “Being broke isn't woke: Tackling Youth Poverty” implemented by the Ecumenical Youth Council Europe (EYCE) where young people engaged in a structured dialogue and exchange of practices concerning the challenges and solutions related to youth poverty and developed an advocacy campaign to this respect.

The member states’ governments having joined the Council of Europe Partial Agreement on Youth Mobility work together with the PA’s main partner, the European Youth Card Association (EYCA), to promote mobility solutions for young people. In 2025, a working breakfast “Partial Agreement on Youth Mobility through the youth card: looking ahead to new horizons” was organised as a side event of the 10th Ministerial Conference for Youth, in Valetta, Malta (10th October 2025).  

The Steering Committee on Anti-discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI) developed the comprehensive Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)1 on equality for Roma and Traveller women and girls, which was adopted by the Committee of Ministers  in April 2024. The recommendation provides guidance to member states for effective action in thematic areas including protecting Roma and Traveller women and girls from extreme poverty and ensuring their access to economic and social protection.

The Committee of Experts on Roma and Traveller Issues (ADI-ROM) Thematic Report on legislation and policies related to begging, with a special focus on children analyses the socio-economic context as opposed to the socio-cultural. It focuses on the situation of children who occasionally or systematically resort to begging or are forced to beg, which is far more likely a consequence of their extreme poverty and marginalisation. The criminalisation and stigmatisation of Roma because of their culture is based on a false narrative that needs to be deconstructed and replaced by a more general, normalised and humane approach to combating extreme poverty. The approach advocated in this report is in line with the reasoning followed in 2021 by the European Court of Human Rights in the Lacatus v Switzerland judgment, where begging was considered as the applicant’s means of survival. The Court found the applicant in a clearly vulnerable situation, thereby having the right, inherent in human dignity, to be able to convey her plight and attempt to meet her basic needs by begging. 

The supervision by the Committee of Ministers of the execution of this judgment was closed in October 2025 with a view to the measures taken by the respondent state (cf. Resolution CM/ResDH(2025)299).

 

In its decision on collective complaint No. 62/2010 (International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) v. Belgium), the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) reaffirmed that housing is a key policy area in combating poverty and social exclusion (para. 200). Finding that Roma and Travellers, as a vulnerable group, did not benefit from a coordinated policy to address their poverty and exclusion, the Committee held that Belgium had violated Article E (non-discrimination) in conjunction with Article 30 (the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion) of the European Social Charter (ESC). More than ten years later, in its fifth follow-up assessment, the Committee concluded that the situation had still not been brought into conformity with the Charter.

In autumn 2025, the ECSR decided on another collective complaint by the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) and FIDH against France (No. 224/2023). The complainants alleged violations of Article 30 and Article E, arguing that the prohibition and criminalisation of poverty-related behaviours such as begging is rooted in prejudice and has disproportionate effects on homeless people, Roma, migrants, and persons with disabilities. The decision will be made public in March 2026.

 

The ADI-ROM thematic report on How to stimulate governments to employ Roma and Travellers in governmental institutions and public administration, adopted in November 2022,  puts forward recommendations to contribute to reducing inequality in employment opportunities. The report examines existing national policies and laws, employment agencies and recruitment bodies policies, special measures and employment policies for Roma, and presents good practices. It compares general employment data and Roma employment data, identifies gaps and offers solutions on how to fill them including targeted measures to enhance the recruitment of Roma outside of the regular recruiting processes.

The Joint Programme ROMACT: building capacity for Roma inclusion at local level, (as was also the case with  the ROMACTED Programme which ended in 2024) directly addresses poverty and marginalisation of Roma and other vulnerable populations through building political will and developing capacities for the design and implementation of actions improving access to employment, healthcare, education, social-protection, housing and other areas. These actions aim to break the poverty cycle and promote socio-economic inclusion of vulnerable populations in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania.

Similarly, the Project "Supporting Development of Capacities and Participatory Approaches to Implementing Integrated Services in Disadvantaged Urban Communities, Including Roma in Romania" (Social Inclusion Project) supports capacity development among the relevant Ministerial stakeholders to deliver integrated social services including in education, health, housing, employment and other necessary services. The Project interventions will contribute to poverty reduction of vulnerable groups in Romania, and at the systemic level.

EU/CoE Roma Integration III JP supports poverty reduction and increased access to social protection systems for Roma communities by enabling improvements in policies and Roma-responsive budgeting, and by improving access to formal employment, civil registration, and inclusive public policies.In a Declaration adopted on 11 December 2019, the Committee of Ministers expressed concern about the very high rates of child poverty in Europe and the growing inequalities that particularly affect them. The Committee of Ministers called on member states to: implement the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021); review the objectives and funding of services such as child protection, education, social services and social protection programmes; improve child protection services, taking into account particularly vulnerable situations (e.g. children without parental care, single-parent families, children with disabilities, Roma children, and refugee and migrant children); to take into account the needs of children and encourage their participation in the development of child protection policies.

The Committee of Experts on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (ADI-SOGIESC) will undertake a Thematic Review of the Committee of Ministers Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity on the subject of access to adequate housing for and combating social exclusion of LGBTI persons. This Thematic Review, which will look at issues related to housing and equal access to social services will provide data driven policy recommendations for member States.

With regard to ending poverty, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted Resolution 2197 (2018) on "The case for a basic citizenship income". The Assembly promoted further ratifications and effective implementation of the European Social Charter through Resolution 2180 (2017) and Recommendation 2112 (2017) on The “Turin process: reinforcing social rights in Europe". It also referred to this most comprehensive social rights standard in  recent texts relating to child poverty explicitly, namely Resolution 1995 (2014) on "Ending child poverty in Europe" and Resolution 2442 (2022) on “Eradicating extreme child poverty in Europe: an international obligation and a moral duty”.  In 2021, the Assembly adopted a Resolution 2366 (2021) and a Recommendation 2196 (2021) on the “Impact of labour migration on “left-behind” children”.

Moreover, Resolution 2626 (2025) on “Analysis and guidelines to guarantee the right to housing” and Resolution 2611 (2025) on “Analysis and guidelines for a sustainable and socially fair energy transition”, as well as the parliamentary conference on social rights in times of the cost-of-living crisis (held on 5 December 2025) explored the link between poverty and the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing, including access to stable energy supply.

The Assembly also supports the work of the Council of Europe Development Bank in this field and has adopted Resolution 2566 (2024) and Recommendation 2282 (2024) on “The Council of Europe Development Bank: implementing the Reykjavik Declaration”.

 The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), in the framework of its unique social mandate, co-finances social investment projects in its member countries. The Bank’s activities are fully aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda. The CEB is committed to sustainable social development and inclusion, and has prioritised the SDGs that are closest to its mandate and sectors of operation. In its capacity as a social development financier, the CEB-financed projects support the member States’ populations regarded as vulnerable, such as persons living below the poverty threshold (less than 60% of the national average income).[1]

The report of European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Combating child poverty: an issue of fundamental rights, underlines how combating child poverty is also a matter of realising their fundamental rights. It suggests that the EU and its Member States should tighten existing laws and policies to meet legal standards under the UN’s Child Rights Convention and the European Social Charter. This would enable them to tackle child poverty better.

The Report ‘Protecting the Child from Poverty: The Role of Rights in the Council of Europe’, which was presented at the International Conference on Children’s Rights on 13 November 2019, focuses on the role of children’s rights in addressing child poverty in the Council of Europe. Both, the 1961 European Social Charter and the Revised Charter of 1996 set out a wide range of rights with implications for state efforts to combat child poverty. These include Article 30 on the right to protection from poverty and social exclusion – the only provision under international human rights law that explicitly outlines a right to protection from poverty, but also other child poverty relevant provisions relating to the right to work, the right to protection of health, the right to social security, the right to social and medical assistance, the right to social, legal and economic protection of the family as well as of children and young persons, etc.

In a Declaration adopted on 11 December 2019, the Committee of Ministers expressed concern about the very high rates of child poverty in Europe and the growing inequalities that particularly affect them. The Committee of Ministers called on member states to: implement the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021); review the objectives and funding of services such as child protection, education, social services and social protection programmes; improve child protection services, taking into account particularly vulnerable situations (e.g. children without parental care, single-parent families, children with disabilities, Roma children, and refugee and migrant children); to take into account the needs of children and encourage their participation in the development of child protection policies.

The Thematic report of the Committee of Experts on Roma and Traveller Issues (ADI-ROM) on legislation and policies related to begging, with special focus on children analyses the socio-economic context as opposed to the socio-cultural. It focuses on the situation of children who occasionally or systematically resort to begging or are forced to beg, which is far more likely a consequence of their extreme poverty and marginalisation. The criminalisation and stigmatisation of Roma because of their culture is based on a false narrative that needs to be deconstructed and replaced by a more general, normalised and humane approach to combating extreme poverty. The approach advocated in this report is in line with the reasoning followed in 2021 by the European Court of Human Rights in the Lacatus case, where it was considered that begging could represent a right inherent in human dignity.

The approach of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is based on three key principles: achieving SDGs is the shared responsibility of all levels of government; local and regional authorities must have the necessary competences and financial autonomy to achieve the goals in their respective areas; citizens must always remain at the heart of the action.

For the Congress, the poverty eradication is based on citizen responsibility. Through its local dimension, the Congress battles against poverty by promoting policies ensuring sustainable livelihoods and equality.

In recent years, the Congress has adopted the following texts in relation to SDG 1:

  •  REC 529 (2025) and RES 511 (2025) - Water resources under stress: towards better local and regional governance
  • REC 528 (2025) - The role of local and regional authorities in protecting and promoting social rights and fostering social development

Poverty constitutes a major barrier to the exercise and enjoyment of human rights, both civil and political, and social and economic rights. The work of the Commissioner for Human Rights concerning the eradication of poverty has focused on addressing its root causes, including notably child poverty and the intergenerational transmission of poverty, and the long-term effects of austerity measures on social protection systems. Successive Commissioners have paid special attention to the rights and needs of people disproportionately affected by poverty, such as Roma and Travellers and other minorities, and persons with disabilities.

See the Commissioner’s thematic webpages on social rights and on the human rights of Roma and Travellers for further details and resources, including reports, recommendations and statements, from the current and previous Commissioners.

 

This page reflects recent and ongoing developments in the activities of the Council of Europe towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The Council’s historical activities in this area have been archived.

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[1] Poverty threshold: in European comparisons, this threshold is fixed at 60% of the equivalent average income in the country of residence.