Philippe <http://www.eutrio.be/pressrelease/philippe-courard-calls-eu-commit-itself-f ight-against-child-poverty> Courard calls on the EU to commit itself to the fight against child poverty News - 03/09/2010 <http://www.eutrio.be/files/bveu/imagecache/node_main_img/media/images/pauvr ete_infantile.jpg>
This 2 and 3 September in Marche-en-Famenne, the Belgian Presidency of the European Union, the European Commission and partners (King Baudouin Foundation, UNICEF Belgium and Eurochild) held a European conference on child poverty. "A European first in the history of the fight against child poverty," declared Philippe Courard. Around 300 participants coming from national administrations, the European institutions, universities and a variety of Belgian and European associations working in the struggle against poverty were brought together, with extensive support from Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde and Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid, in order to contribute to and speed up the development of a European Recommendation with the objective of countering child poverty and ensuring the well-being of children. The European Union has more than 100 million children, of whom at least 20 million run the risk of living in poverty. At the end of this European conference, the Trio of the European Presidency consisting of Spain, Belgium and Hungary declared itself unanimously in favour of the adoption of a Recommendation on child poverty by the European Commission. Within the framework of this conference organised by the Belgian Presidency, the European Commissioner in charge of Social Affairs, Laszlo Andor, undertook to support this initiative for a Recommendation in favour of a voluntaristic, consistent and coordinated European policy based on the rights of the child. Secretary of State for Social Integration and the Fight against Poverty Philippe Courard called for a clear and concrete commitment of all the Member States for the materialisation, tomorrow, of this Recommendation, so that child poverty will be a priority of the European platform against poverty. The background: the target approved in the "Europe 2020" programme is to reduce the number of poor people by 20 million by the year 2020. "Today is an important day for all those who devote their time and their energy to combating poverty. Eradicating poverty in Europe is no longer a utopian idea and it must now be expressed in deeds," stressed Philippe Courard, in the conclusion of this European conference on the fight against child poverty. Secretary of State Philippe Courard hopes finally that at the end of 2010, this year for combating poverty, Belgium will arrive at a strong declaration and concrete commitments of the Heads of State in favour of the eradication of poverty in Europe. Copyright C 2010 The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union Vali --------------------------- Romania-news <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Romania-News/> societatea_civila <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/societatea_civila/> ngo_list <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ngo_list/> Consiliul-Cetatenilor <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Consiliul-Cetatenilor/>
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