News and truth
05 February 2016

Both the US election campaign and the rise of populism and right wing extremism have highlighted a new trend. It seems that “I only believe what I want to believe” has become the motto for those who pretend to understand the motives of the traditional press in presenting ambiguous facts and figures. Biased news items have become the rule rather than the exception, threatening even trustworthy journalists’ and officials’ credibility. Although the “Aufklärung” or enlightenment trend hasn’t reached everybody, we are spotting developments that show it is on the increase. As we find ourselves in not exactly another cold war, but another ice-age in the EU-Russia relationship, disinformation has returned as a political weapon. The same is true of Syria, where a dictatorship is responsible for continuous violations of human rights. Even those who were convinced social media would counteract such tendencies are less certain of that now, as even 140 characters can be used for spreading disinformation.

A rights-based approach, freedom of speech and freedom of association have always been in the DNA of many of our organisations. Critical thinking has allowed us to analyse who or which motives are behind campaigns or promotions, whose interests they really promote. Some steps have been made on the EU level to increase transparency, such as the famous register, the proactive role of the European Ombudsman, different specialised NGOs, etc., though we remain far away from having a European public place and space. Press has become a business, and competition and cost pressures on the media are increasing, with the consequence that the quality of journalism and journalistic work is not always at its best. As a result, people are turning away from the democratic consensus and become receptive to demagoguery and hate speech. Thus we urgently need more debate to ensure real “Aufklàrung”. It’s up to us as civil society organisations, representing millions of citizens, to make better use of our networks, not only to provide social and cultural services in an internal market, but also returning to the roots of workers and popular education in the larger sense. SOLIDAR’s oldest member organisation, La Ligue Française de l’enseignement is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. They are still gathering citizens, still contributing to societal progress and still committed to Europe. And this is not the only example we have of promoting active citizenship.

Together for Social Europe
Social Progress Watch on poverty and social inclusion
03 February 2016

The Social Progress Watch (SPW) initiative is a tool implemented by members and partners of SOLIDAR to monitor the commitment and progress made by national governments towards a more social and cohesive Europe. Through the SPW, SOLIDAR collects country reports on a yearly basis providing recommendations for upward social convergence as well as case studies presenting innovative and sustainable models to promote social inclusion, the social economy and quality job creation.

Supporting long-term integration of refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia

SOLIDAR member Initiative for Development Cooperation (IDC) has a long experience in promoting the social and economic capacities of refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia and facilitating their integration in societies and access to justice.

What are the local realities?

Following the dissolution of the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia experienced a huge influx of refugees in the early nineties. The situation was exacerbated by the arrival of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) from Kosovo, which greatly increased the numbers of people without acceptable housing and living conditions and decent employment. Even though the war ended in 1995, according to official data from 2014, there are around 50,000 registered refugees and IDPs residing in Serbia, which is the highest number in Europe. For this reason many CSOs providing social services are involved in programmes to support the integration of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Read the full version of the newsletter here.

Investment in the integration of migrants and refugees is key for a truly inclusive EU
04 February 2016

More than 1 million people reached the EU last year in search of asylum. The EU is facing an unprecedented flow of migration which shows no sign of abating in the coming months. Against this background, two important debates are going on in the EU: one is about finding political solutions to tackle the refugee crisis; the other one is about how to better integrate refugees and migrants already present on EU territory.

On the first issue, the debate is focused on the future of Schengen, the relations between the EU and Turkey and the further implementation of the EC Agenda on Migration. On Tuesday, at the European Parliament’s plenary session, progressive MEPs urged the Commission and Member States to respect the Schengen agreements and to ensure full respect of the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers. SOLIDAR strongly supports this position, especially against the background of the latest proposal of the Dutch presidency to push back migrants arriving in Greece to Turkey. This kind of solution aimed at stemming the flow is unfortunately winning support among politicians and in public opinion, although such measures seriously undermine fundamental rights. The issue is also linked to the ongoing debate to include Turkey in the list of safe countries, about which SOLIDAR has already expressed its concerns (see article).
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Building Learning Societies
Dutch Education Minister outlined key educational priorities to CULT committee at the European Parliament
04 February 2016

On 25 January the Dutch Minister for Education, Ms Jet Bussemaker, presented the Dutch Presidency priorities for education to the MEPs of the CULT committee at the European Parliament. Their key priorities are three-fold: building cognitive, non-cognitive and social skills, combating radicalisation and coping with migration. More attention will be paid to developing the skills needed to link society and the labour market. She also recognised that in order to combat the current challenge we need people who are not just creative and pragmatic, but people who are also flexible and critical, who can work together and who have a broader notion of citizenship and social skills.

With regards to skills, the Council will explore the link between education, the labour market and society and how to explore these links the best, in line with the New Skills Agenda (to be launched by the European Commission in May 2016).
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Organising International Solidarity
The quest for dignity: towards universal social protection coverage
05 February 2016

On the occasion of the 54th session of the Commission for Social Development, a side event by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors – lead by ICSW, ILO, IASSW, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung – will take place on 8 February in New York.

The side–event will highlight the role of National Social Protection Floors in implementing existing international human rights instruments, in contributing to the progressive realisation of Economic Social and Cultural Rights and implementing the Agenda 2030 on sustainable development where decent work and social protection for all figure in a prominent way (find the social protection related SDG targets here.

As a member of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, SOLIDAR – together with its member organisations – works in the field to promote the right to health, the right to education, and the right to decent work for the most vulnerable groups of workers.
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