This was the message from Anne Marie Chavanon to her successors

 
End of mandate meeting at AGORA - G03 from 14:30 to 18:00
​
1.     2014-2017
Three years in which our countries have been marked by terrorism, the shockwave of conflicts followed by migratory chaos, the Paris Climate Agreements, Brexit and hesitant steps of our democracies. 
 
How can we efficiently mobilise and join forces today?
 
=>> To rebuild our societies facing violence

• Luminita PETRESCU (FITRAM), Former Secretary of State at the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civil Dialogue in Romania, President of Foundation for Pluralism
• Abdel BELMOKADEM, Founder of Nes et Cité, Former Deputy Mayor of Vaux-en-Velin (France)

         Exchange of views 

=>> To address  the migratory cycle

• Nicoletta GIORDANO, Head of the Division of International Partnership at the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM)
• Jean-Claude GONON (AEDE), Coordinator of the working group Europe Mediterranean

          Discussion

=>> To consolidate the Paris Agreements and the place of human rights in COP23 (Bonn 6-17 November 2017)

• Karl DONERT (EUROGEO), Vice-President of the Committee,
• Edith WENGER (BEE) initiator of the working group on Climate and Human Rights

          Discussion
 
=>> To improve territorial governance promoting tools of cohesion and democracy

• Annick de MONTGOLFIER, Vice-President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of the Grand-Est Region, President of the Social Cohesion Committee
• Gerhard ERMISCHER, Vice-President of CIVILSCAPE, Coordinator of the Working Group on Social Cohesion and Shared Territories

Democracy is losing its reference status

In many Member states of the Council of Europe, representative democracy is undermined, paradoxically weakened, during the electoral process which should, on the contrary, strengthen it. From day to day, democracy seems to lose its reference status, its stabilizing power, remarked Anne-Marie CHAVANON, President of the Committee, during her intervention during the opening session of the 9th Conference of the European Landscape Convention of the Council of Europe 'Europe.

Believing that the responsibility of the Council of Europe is heightened, she reminded the Assembly of the work of the various pillars of the Organization: the annual organization of the World Democracy Forum, the adoption of the Code of Civil Society Participation in Decision-making by the Conference of INGOs in 2009, the Additional Protocol to the European Charter of Local Self-Government for the Participation of Citizens in Local Government Affairs, supported by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities on the same year, the adoption of a declaration by the CEMAT (European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning), on 17 June 2014, in Nafplion (Greece), on the promotion of democracy in territorial planning. She highlighted the current mandate of the Committee of Ministers to the CDDG (Steering Committee for Democracy and Governance) for the elaboration of Guidelines for the Participation of Citizens in Political Decision-making.

We all know, continued Anne-Marie CHAVANON, that territory is a privileged entry into democratic practice and reality. It is so in its material and immaterial dimension. It is so because it represents for each of us a vital public good. We all know that the active participation of the public in the design and implementation of landscape policies, as defined by the European Landscape Convention, is a key factor in safeguarding human rights and respect for democracy!

Karl DONERT, President of EUROGEO, Vice-Chair of the Committee and Coordinator of the Working Group on Climate and Human Rights, presented the follow-up to the Paris Climate Agreement, highlighting the political will of the States on the positive side and, on the negative one, the rise in temperatures for the third year in a row, including the oceans' one  and the increase in climatic migrations
 
Link to Karl DONERT's presentation

Committee on Democracy, Social Cohesion and Global Challenges
Council od Europe - 25 January 2017

Maguelonne DEJEANT-PONS, Head of Division, Executive Secretary of the European Landscape Convention of the Council of Europe, made clear through fifty-two examples from the Alliance of the Landscape Award of the Council of Europe that land and  landscape sharing,  build people's rights, democracy and Peace,

Link to the Council of Europe website

Ageing and Health - follow up of the side event held on 23 June 2016

Lord Foulkes  Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (United Kingdom), Rapporteur on « A European social commitment guaranteeing the rights of older people and their comprehensive care », and President of the Charity AGE Scotland , stressed that  "because it is the Council of Europe, that is producing the report, we are looking at it from human rights point of view. That doesn’t mean to say, he added, that we are not concerned with compassion for the elderly and how we have got responsibility to look after our older people but we are looking at it not from a compassion point of view but from human rights of older people.  So, it is important to think in terms of the rights of people."

A huge demographic change versus austerity programs
Lord Foulkes pointed out the huge demographic change taking place. Soon in Europe, he said, 25% of our population will be over  65; And in the world as a whole there will be 40 million people over the age of 85, particularly vulnerable older people. And meanwhile, the working population is reducing. The income and the wealth of the countries is going down. And we are also going through a time when governments around Europe are talking about making cuts. They have programs of austerity. They do in the UK and in many other European countries.

A guarantee of charter for older people
So it is even more important. It is now absolutely the right time that we should get an agreement through the Council of Europe to get a guarantee or charter for older people. 

The rapporteur calls for a Charter at Council of Europe level to

1.  make sure that there is no discrimination against any person in any service as a result of their age whether it be health service or insurance 
2. garantee a minimum level of income
3. provide an appropriate housing (comfort, security). 
4. foster active ageing because the more active a person is, the more likely he or she will not need the services of society, social services and health services. 
5. Getting health and social care working together providing  adequate services 
6. regular monitoring and inspection in services for the elderly to make sure that older people are not being abused since no one admits that older people are being abused in their country. In some cases by their own relatives, in other cases in institutions.

Laurence LWOFF  reported to the Committee on the work of the Committee on Bioethics in progress, in particular issues arising from the work of the Democracy, Social Cohesion and Global Challenges Committee and PACE on the theme of older people, which will be highlighted during the Next celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Oviedo Convention

The Human Rights and Bioethics Convention: an international reference instrument
After recalling that the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine is the responsibility of the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee of the Council of Europe, Mrs Lwoff, who is its Executive Secretariat, underlines that this Convention is a reference Human rights at European level but also at international level. So the Inter-American Court of Human Rights uses the Oviedo Convention as a reference tool.

The celebration of the 20th anniversary of this convention will be an opportunity to adopt a forward-looking vision on the place of the principles established by the Council of Europe in the field of bio-medical development.

Many think that "development" means scientific and technological development, says Lwolff, but it is also about how practices evolve and the thinking of the Commission and Lord Foulkes seems to him to be important in this respect.

The recommendation adopted by the Committee in June 2016 has been distributed to all Member States. It reinforced the idea that it was necessary not only to look at new developments of modernity but also to look at whether things that seemed obvious were always so, such as respect for consent, equity of access to care, how people particularly the most vulnerable ones  are cared for. 

Evolution of practices or erosion of principles?

Considering that the work of reflection on the issue of older people is particularly relevant, Laurence Lwoff said that it has aroused great interest among the delegations, many of whom are committed to these issues

Laurence Lwoff indicated that priority areas of reflection have been chosen in order to discern

• •what is the result either of changes in practices or  erosion of  principles or their implementation
•  technological development - implying change in practices - and respect for the principles

To identify areas of work for a medium-term strategic action plan to address these various development challenges in the field of medical biotechnology, again not only related to the field of new technologies even though they have an impact on the way in which older people are taken care of

"Democracy : transparency and sustainable partnership through Open Governement Partnership (OGP)" - 25 January 2017

Former Secretary of State at the Ministry in charge of Public consultation and civil dialogue in Romania, Ms PETRESCU advocated for access to information, transparency, institutional capacity and support for NGOs to build sustainable partnership

She insisted on the government will to create a coherent framework for public participation in the decision making process and to enhance the level of transparency and access to public information in the Romanian administration. The "Your right to know campaign" was a key process, the first time when a public institution from central administration speaks to citizens about their right to know and active citizenship !​
​
She underlined the 5 Government priorities :

1. Increase transparency of public administration by creating
    =>>  a Memorandum on increasing transparency and standardizing public interest information and  public institutions ‘ websites, in which contents and quality are consistent
   =>> a Unique Transparency Interests Register at Government level, providing information on interaction between  high government officials and specialized groups (companies and NGOs) to adopt/modify public policies (30 specialized groups and 80 high government officials out of 170 registered gathered during the first week)
   
   
2. Open and effective dialogue with civil society through actions such as 
   =>>  The "Your right to know"  campaign launched by the Ministry for Public consultation and  Civil Dialogue encouraged all ministries to publish public interest data.  In September 2016: 98% of Government projects were on public consultation
    =>>  E-Debate:  a calendar of all public debates organized by central authorities in which Citizens are able to provide their opinions on Government's projects
    =>>   EU-Consultation:  a warning bulletin to inform and educate Romanian citizens  on  EU Commission legislative decisions and their deadlines
    =>>  28 live broadcast public debates
    =>>  "Talking to your Minister ": for the first time in 26 years, insisted Ms Petrescu,  11 ministers communicated on line with citizens, answering in real time citizens’ question
3. Enhance institutional capacity of ministries and government  agencies to
   practice transparency
   An Experts Forum gathered 180 representatives of central administration with responsibilities in implementing transparency legislation to discuss and exchange experience with NGOs
   A Study on Jurisprudence concerning exceptions of free access to public interest information was settled on data base including 600 Court final decisions from 2014 and 2015  on litigations concerning the implementation of free access to public interest information
   A Central Administration Handbook for Transparent and Effective Public Consultation
   was created Including recommendations  to facilitate each stage of public consultation process
   
   
4. Support nongovernmental organizations to enhance their skills for building a sustainable partnership with the State
   A  Study was undertaken on “Public sources NGOs funding”. it was the first in-depth analysis on increasing the impact of NGOs funded from public money and simplified administrative proceedings, said Ms PETRESCU-
   A Study on “NGOs representation in central administration public structures” permitted for the first time an evaluation done by a public institution on 10 public structures which include NGOs in their decisional bodies
   Ms PETRESCU stressed that  90 experts (public authorities representatives, architects, NGOs) took part in integrated public policies consultations 
   
   
5. Organize  innovative active citizenship campaigns
   Such as
   - participation in NGO Fest. The Festival of Non-Governmental Organizations
    - set up 10 “Public institutions serving citizens” booths where public servants explained to citizens which type of services they are providing

Adopted by the Conference of INGOs 24 June 2016

• Considering the prominent role of the Council of Europe in the development and dissemination of international standards for the protection of human rights
• Recalling the recommendation CM/Rec (2014) 2 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the promotion of the rights of the elderly, adopted on February 19, 2014
•  reaffirming that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and their full enjoyment, without any discrimination, by older persons needs to be guaranteed
• recalling that respect for the dignity of older persons should be guaranteed in all circumstances
• Recalling the European Social Charter (ETS n ° 35), in particular its article 23 on the right of the elderly to social protection
• Considering the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (ETS No. 164), including the provisions relating to equitable access to appropriate quality health care and the free and informed consent of the patient or authorisation of his/her legal representative
• Regarding the texts adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, notably Resolution 1793 (2011) on “Promoting active ageing – capitalising on older people’s working potential”, Recommendation 1796 (2007) on “The situation of elderly persons in Europe”, Recommendation 1749 (2006) and Resolution 1502 (2006) on “Demographic challenges for social cohesion”, Recommendation 1591 (2003) on “Challenges of social policy in Europe’s ageing societies”, and the text in preparation, “A European social commitment guaranteeing the rights of the elderly and their comprehensive care”.
• Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) as well as the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the work undertaken by the UN to develop an international convention relating to the rights of old people.
• Noting that discrimination against the elderly is a form of discrimination (ageism) such as sexism or racism
• Noting that the impact of demographic evolution is largely considered a challenge for health budgets  and  needs to be integrated into all public and social protection policies
• Emphasizing the fact that this demographic evolution is widely seen as a challenge for health budgets and considering that the medical and medico social budget dedicated to the elderly must not be an adjustment variable
• Bearing in mind the lack of skills and professionals in the field of Geriatrics and Gerontology to meet the specific needs of the elderly, especially regarding drug prescriptions and maintaining functional and cognitive abilities
• Aware that this situation can lead to elder maltreatment sometimes even institutionalised 

 
We, international NGOs, members of the Conference of INGOS of the Council of Europe,

• call the attention of Member States and their governments on the key issue of social cohesion and respect for human rights for the elderly as well as the public health challenge of healthy ageing,
• affirm the utmost importance to put elderly health and socio-medical care top of health policy action priorities in all Member States of the Council of Europe
• urge governments to involve all stakeholders, public and private, at all levels of mobilization and decision, in order to find the necessary and urgent comprehensive solutions
• call for respect for the right to life and dignity of older people  to be preserved by
  - implementing and enforcing adapted national and international rules and standards
   -  adaptating to the needs and strict protection of the elderly’s budge
  -  improving graduate and postgraduate training of physicians and all healthcare providers
  - raising carers’ awareness to positive treatment of the elderly, particularly the most vulnerable
  - creating independent inspection bodies in all countries
• requesting that be considered by the competent authorities the need to promote healthy and active ageing irrespective of social and financial status by
  -  preparation for ageing and education on preventing disabling chronic diseases
  - adaptating health systems, including social services, to achieve a comprehensive person centered care, taking his/her specificities into account
  - an organisation providing appropriate and differentiated service structures allowing the person to choose his/her place to live in
  - developing, with the help of local authorities, friendly environment and activities suitable to maintain functional and cognitive abilities
  ​-  implementing national and local policies to avoid isolation and promote active participation of the elderly in the life of their communities where they play an important human, social and economic part

Ageing and Health:
A challenge to public health and social cohesion
Council of Europe, Strasbourg, June 23 2016

The 2003 heatwave was a wake-up call for France
 
"During the 2003 heatwave, France suddenly realized it was old and that it was failing its most vulnerable elderly citizens.” This is how Dominique Prédali started her presentation.
 
Contrary to what the government first announced, she said, the majority of these elderly victims did not die at home. Studies proved they died at hospitals and nursing homes, mainly of dehydration and hypothermia. This came as a shock to most people, remarked Mrs. Prédali, and raised the question: How could this possibly happen in a so-called civilized country?
 
She was then asked to investigate on the medical and medico-social care of old people in France and abroad. She found the same shocking and “horrible” situation everywhere.
 
Constants in all countries:
•      ER waiting time longer for old people. Younger people are a priority even though the frail elderly are at higher risk of becoming rapidly dehydrated and dying.
•      Failure to send them to the right hospital ward because of the lack of geriatric beds or a misdiagnosis due to unfavorable conditions on arrival: i.e. dehydration rapidly leading to mental confusion leading to misdiagnosis of dementia.
•      malnutrition: an old person hospitalized for a hip fracture, for example, but with no other health issues, can rapidly end up undernourished after a short stay.
•      Overmedication especially tranquilizers or antidepressants such as benzodiazepines which cause dehydration, even when the patient is given enough to drink. The situation is the same in Australia, Canada or the US.
•      Understaffing, qualified or not. A care assistant can find herself or himself alone at night with 80 dependent residents to look after. A situation that makes it impossible for them to deal with two simultaneous emergencies. Which one should she or her address first?  
•      Industrialization of care which leads to budget cuts in heating, staffing or food resulting in what Mrs. Prédali calls the "top three" causes of preventable deaths which are malnutrition, dehydration and pressure sores, closely followed by overmedication, falls and urinary infections. According to US and Canada studies, the higher the profit of the nursing home, the higher the rate of abuse.
•      The lack of studies on elder abuse in Europe 
 
Abuse or neglect? A well-kept secret
 
Everywhere, says Dominique Prédali, there are double standards when dealing with a child or an old person.
 
For the first one, it is “abuse“, condemned by law, and for the second one it is "neglect" or "structural dysfunction" 
 
Quoting Alexandre KALACHE, former head of the Health and Ageing World Program at the WHO, and John BEARD’s predecessor, Dominique PRÉDALi finishes with these words: "elder abuse is the world’s best kept secret and also the last taboo of the 21st century"!

In 2000, investigative journalist and writer Markus Breitscheidel decided to scrutinize the way nursing homes in Germany look after their residents and their employees. Unlike news journalists, Markus Breitscheidel focuses on a single topic over three years and self-funds all his research for total independence.

Recruitment without training
« On Monday, I went to the job centre in Munich to look for my first job. Two hours later I got a call for my first interview. The following day, I started as carer in charge of 12 heavily dependent residents without any training whatsoever in this field, coming from the world of business and journalism into this.”

Strict task timing leading to personnel burnout and elder abuse, an industrial business model totally unsuited to caring for and sharing with human beings
“I never thought”, said Markus, “that Fordism, which I studied at college – i.e. a set time allocated to each task – would be used in the care sector. Yet this is exactly how people work: I have one minute to give a glass of water to an old man or an old lady. I have a minute and a half to take a person to the toilet, clean them and put them back in their wheelchair or their bed. “
Markus reminds us that, in Henry Ford’s era, this system already created relationship problems between men and machines. The car workers suffered en masse from burnout and became aggressive with the machines. “This has been adapted step by step to the care sector”, deplores Markus “and it is not surprising that in a man to man relationship, this also leads to high numbers of burnout cases or to violence.
Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that time devoted to care cannot be programmed. A lady I was looking after could, with my help when she was feeling well, go to the toilet in a minute or a minute and a half, but the following day, if she was not feeling well, she was less mobile and I needed three minutes. Spending this extra time with her meant spending less time with the next person.”

Constantly running after time drives staff mad
“No wonder carers, changed into robots, cannot hold their job for more than 5 years and that, recruiting people to work in such conditions – whether in hospitals or nursing homes – is extremely difficult in Europe. In such working conditions, no human being, wishing to look after people, can do it without breaking down at some point.
I am sure that each country has a certain number of people able and willing to work in health and care, but thanks to this system, they have been put off. They have been turned into care robots, who have to obey the system and obey their bosses’ orders.”

Investors regard it as a profit making sector
From his two-year experience in five different areas in Germany, Markus Breitscheidel concludes that the care sector is a major economic issue. And, says Markus, because of the growing demand, this is where the biggest investments will be made. With expected profits of 10 to 15%, Markus Breitscheidel tried to identify profitability elements in a country like Germany, where care needs can be classified into 5 groups and where the higher the need for care, the more time and most of all, the more money you need.

“Adverse effects linked to patient’s health”
From a strictly economic point of view according to Markus Breitscheidel, this means that the more dependent a patient is, the more money they can make for the nursing home. It is hardly surprising then, as far as he is concerned, that improving patients’ health is not a priority.
"When I saw this, he said, I decided to try, after my working hours, to give some of my time to one or two residents in my care. I did this for two or three days before being summoned to see the management because what I was doing had been noticed. Later, they threatened to sack me because improving patients’ health was not profitable: if they got better, they would go down to the lower health care bracket (where they needed less care) and the nursing home would get less money."

What improvements can we recommend?

1. A high priority need: improve staff work conditions

So, when we talk about what needs to be done to improve the situation, I think the first step would be to create more humane work conditions for the staff by making care less “industrial”.

1. Avoid speculation
   Secondly, we need to think about a democratic way to finance this sector in the next 20 years, because I am convinced that we cannot allow commercial companies to carry on making money on people’s back. It does not work. We must make sure that every euro invested in care goes to the care personnel or to building a future for this sector.
2. A voluntary credit

It is generally accepted that the answer to demographic evolution won’t be found in money alone. We must start by building a system not entirely dependent on money: young or retired people could be asked to do voluntary work to help caring for old people, reading to them or helping them with their shopping. The time they invest could be credited to them for later use, when they need help. It is an avenue to explore if we want to set a system that is not exclusively finance-led.

1. Regarding his book:

• over 85 000 copies sold in two weeks
  After a year and a half of rejections from various publishers claiming that the subject matter would not interest anyone, Markus Breitscheidel said that he finally found a publisher brave enough to publish his book. Eighty-five thousand copies sold within a fortnight, making it the number one bestseller book in Germany.
• Political pressure and over a hundred court cases won
  ​"I wanted to talk about this subject in public but politicians were not happy about it. I noticed that I attracted attention whenever I was invited on television. But I was subjected to increasing pressure regarding these television programs, to the point that a government representative would contact me before each of my TV appearances. He would tell me what I could say and what I couldn’t. And if he thought I was taking too much liberty, he would take me to court. They took me to court over a hundred times and I won every time.
  
  
• My top priority is to propose ways to improve this sector for the future. ​

"Lobbying is needed to influence politicians
because I see that, in Germany, those who sit on the board of directors of the big public corporations, including health and care companies, are often people who held or still hold political office. There is a lot of lobbying work to be done to change things and prepare a better future. In Brussels, the professional care unions spend a lot of money to lobby massively. They besiege every single influential politician to stop those who try to interfere with the future of their activity. I would like to say that I feel personally involved in my future needs for care that will be dispensed by business men. I would like, later in life, to be free until the end, and for this reason, I am starting my fight now and I hope to be strong enough in the next twenty years to see my propositions accepted."

Professor Finbarr MARTIN, President-elect of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society  ,is a clinician and academic working with frail older people in the English National Health Service.

Professor MARTIN drew attention to 3 key areas for action in the WHO report and the work planned for its implementation.

• make the places we live in much more friendly to older people. (Good examples can be found in WHO’s Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities)
• Realigning health systems to the needs of older people  which means a shift from systems that are designed around curing acute disease, to systems for the chronic conditions
• Develop long-term care systems so as to reduce inappropriate use of acute health services and ensure people live their last years with dignity.

This has to be done considering older people frailty which requires a holistic response at every stage of the lifespan

Health of older people is a result of genetics and experience from even before conception to old age.  Although we are now recognizing that evolution has enabled us to develop plenty of reserve capacity, our repair mechanisms are finite. Cells, tissues and physiological systems lose reserve as we age so that in old age, many are at a stage when small additional stresses (falls etc) may produce disproportionate  failure, particularly in functional abilities. . So we need a holistic response, he insists : diagnosis, treatment and enablement. Every stage of the lifespan is important.

Make healthcare systems suitable for older people from any socio economic background

Differences in socioeconomic factors lead to large differences in health and disability by the time people reach old age. Our challenge is to make healthcare systems suitable for modern older people. This involves society, policy, patients, most staff and most medical specialties says Pr MARTIN.

He raises the issue of cases of abuse revealed in the UK press, showing poor quality care for older people in hospitals. and  care homes providing some research findings in the UK which explains some of this and the response in the hospital in which Professor MARTIN is working.

No empathy or compassion, just the right to human rights for people, particularty for older people.

Of course, we provide health care for older people out of sympathy, out of compassion but I believe not in terms of sympathy and compassion but in the rights of people and in this case of older people !

And the Council of Europe is the right body to deal with it !We are the human rights body and therefore thet is our prominent purpose. And we should be looking at the older people situation in those terms.

How more can be done at the Council of Europe ?

The challenge is great. A lot has already been done at the Council of Europe but the important is to know what can be done. According to WHO, 4 millions of elderly people are abused each year. It is not acceptable ! We also read that older people are being exploited by commercial organisations, particularly insurance companies. We know of the growing constraints on health care budget We know of the lack of clinical guidelines whereas older people contributed to build up the wealth of our society

The report we are drafting aims to produce a recommendation of what we are describing as a garantee of rights for oder people in care

There is a principal respponsibility of statutoriy bodies
Both health care and social care bodies must provide the basic needs and probably work more closely together as in Scotland.

A call to NGOS to

• make sure that Council of Europe recommendations are implemented
• raise good practices to be recommended  to other countries
• give information about negligence or other abuse on older people
• put the pressure on governments of the Member States to address the challenge
  
  

"The need for common action has never been greater as it is now !" stresses Lord Foulkes

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues and Friends,

We are getting older.

You will hear it many times today; you have probably heard it many times before: across the world, human beings are living longer than ever. And here in Europe the demographic shift is particularly pronounced. In 2014 it is estimated that nearly one in five Western Europeans was 65 years old or older. By 2030, this will have risen to one in four.

What does this mean for our continent?

First, let me say that I do not accept the simplistic caricatures which sometimes present aging populations as nothing but burdensome to younger generations.

Thursday, June 23, our committee will report on health care and medico-social care for the elderly in Europe. The situation is worrying.
 
Although significant efforts have been made during the past few years, respect for human dignity, ethics and human rights are still largely ignored. The cohorts of baby boomers seem as affected as the over eighty.
 
How to prevent the elderly from becoming either a mere economic market or a healthcare budgetary adjustment variable? What projections can be made for the coming decades and what actions taken to promote ageing well in Europe? How to avoid common mistakes in eldercare? What preventive measures can be taken to preserve the most vulnerable ones’ autonomy? How can we bring together all the relevant actors?
 
These are the questions we wish to address
 
And this is what we will do on that day, with the help of high level representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Commission, the WHO and the OECD, with highly experienced geriatricians, sociologists and EHPAD (residential establishments for dependent elderly people in France) director engaged in pilot projects with local authorities. We will also hear journalists who have produced reference books and television reports. NGOs will be very present through many of these stakeholders.


Come and join us ! See registration form below

Let us hope that  the year 2016  will bring the values of the Council of Europe  to the heart of Member states, their peoples and policies, to reach unity and  peace!
In many countries, each day, we offer words of peace as a greeting, this same peace embedded in all true humanist beliefs and all religions.
We wish fervently that  our humanity is expressed as a brotherhood!
We wish you and each of your NGOSs rewarding activities
and many moments of personal happiness
We wish you a very happy new year!

Anne-Marie Chavanon, Karl Donert and Thierry Mathieu

The committee on Democracy, Social Cohesion and Global Challenges is organizing two side-events during the Climate Summit week on 9 and 10 December.

On 9 December 2015
"Citizens and local authorities, a common agenda"
Room 1
Espaces Générations Climat
from 11:00 to 12:30

TO GET THERE : Visitors guide

ALL PROGRAMMES : Conferences/debates program

OUR  EVENT :
SPEAKERS  and AGENDA

Expert of the Division of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Merete BJEREGAARD recalled the growing awareness of a link between environment and human rights in major international texts, particularly those of the Council of Europe in recent years.

The concept of the right to a healthy environment goes back to the Stockholm Conference in 1972, the first UN conference on the environment, she said, followed by a reference to climate in the European Declaration of Human Rights 2009.

However, she adds, any undertaking requires, to be implemented, a "monitoring". But the Council of Europe has a unique monitoring tool, that of the European Court of Human Rights. Despite the lack of explicit reference to the right to a healthy and sustainable environment, the Court uses the clauses relating to environmental causes

In addition, the European Court of Human Rights considers that the European Convention on Human Rights is a "living" tool to be adapted to the times we are in. The case law on the environment is, therefore, constantly changing.

Useful guiding principles for the implementation of environmental policies

It would be possible to highlight the guiding principles for all levels of governance, civil society and all citizens, from

• the Social Charter implementation by the European Committee of Social Rights which deals with the climate in Article 11 ,
  
• the recommendation of PACE 2003 and 2009 on the right to a healthy environment,
  
• the Manual on Environment and Human Rights of 2003 revised in 2010 by the Steering Committee of Human Rights. Such a tool could provide guidance to States in the drafting of policies and environmental measures including climate. It provides relevant principles from case law and requests made under the Social Charter. It refers to good national practice
  

It is urgent to take action on climate Mrs BJERREGAARD ​​said: the Council of Europe has unique tools for this. They can be developed and brought to the attention of all stakeholders, the Manual is one of them!