Cohesion must start with the vulnerable: children, people with disabilities, migrants, says Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Speech by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Paris Symposium: Social Cohesion, A Condition for Growth?
13 November 2006

Roundtable 2: Social Cohesion in Europe: which priorities for tomorrow?

Mr Governor,
Presidents,
Ministers,
Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

When speaking about social cohesion, I like using the image of carbon. Of all the chemical elements, carbon has the greatest capacity to bond. This ability makes it the building block of life as we know it.

The importance of Social Cohesion is explained by the term itself. It describes a society which is pulling together not falling apart. Cohesion must start with the vulnerable segments of society. At the Council of Europe, we have developed specific programmes for children, people with disabilities, migrants and many other potentially vulnerable target groups.

We have recently launched a new three-year programme called “Building a Europe for and with children” to help ensure respect for children’s rights throughout Europe and to eradicate all forms of violence against children. The programme pays special attention to particularly vulnerable children, such as children living in poverty and children being raised without parental care. We do not do this for our future but because children are entitled to full protection and are not mini human beings with mini human rights.

A cohesive society also requires full dignity and enjoyment of human rights by people with disabilities. The Council of Europe is conducting a Disability Action Plan 2006-2015, which covers all key areas of the life of people with disabilities. The Action Plan pays particular attention to people with disabilities who may experience two-fold discrimination, such as children and young people with disabilities or people with disabilities from minorities and migrant communities. They have a higher risk of exclusion and generally have lower levels of participation in society than other disabled people.

Social cohesion in Europe is based on European social model, which balances economic growth and social justice. Despite considerable variations from country to country, the European approach remains distinctive when compared with other world regions. However, this approach now faces a series of questions and strains. A priority for Europe in the twenty-first century is to find ways of adapting these social policy achievements to changing needs and changing circumstances without losing their essential character.

We should also talk about how we can translate social cohesion priorities into practice, including with the help of development banks.

Social cohesion is based on solidarity and trust and these qualities cannot be produced on demand. We all know how difficult it is to build trust. However, there are two essential building blocks that we can and should provide.

A cohesive society is a society with many bonds, or cross-links, where people can relate to each other, in terms of how they live, how they are educated, where they go to work, receive healthcare and spend their spare time. This brings me to the first building block which is infrastructure – we need to create concrete platforms and facilities for social cohesion, where the social trust and capital can take root and flourish. This is precisely what development banks and agencies and especially the Council of Europe Development Bank are set to do.

However, infrastructure or economic progress is not enough to build social capital. The second building block is the development of human capital. Social capital can only be built through the development of human capital, and in particular education, culture and healthcare.

This capital must also reflect the contribution of the elderly who are too often pushed aside and who deserve much more attention from the Council of Europe.

We therefore need specific action for social cohesion based on infrastructure and human capital which favours the most vulnerable and marginalised people in society.

Let me mention some recent examples which could serve as an inspiration.

• Last year Hungary took out a loan to finance its programme for the social integration of Roma, a part of the Hungarian contribution to the Decade for Roma Inclusion, in particular through housing and education, two key spheres of life.
• This year the Romanian government has taken out a substantial credit to upgrade kindergardens throughout the country, a bold step with potentially huge yields in the sphere of education. It should also serve to minimise differences between pre-school education opportunities in urban and rural areas.
• Healthcare is also essential. As a part of its health system enhancement programme, Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently taken out a loan to equip 800 small family medicine facilities, across the country, while Slovakia recently has invested in the development of 25 social centres for disabled persons.

In addition to achieving their main goal, all these projects also create or maintain employment opportunities.

Responding to the decisions of the Council of Europe Third Summit the CEB recently added a third building block in the development of sustainable social cohesion. It’s decision to finance projects aiming at the consolidation of democracy, the promotion of the rule of law and respect for human rights is bringing an additional dimension to its activities. Typical projects include financing of infrastructure for administrative and judicial public services and the training of magistrates, administrators, civil servants and government officials. This is of an essential importance. Human rights and the rule of law are a precondition for an effective implementation of social cohesion policies. Moreover, they are also a precondition for economic development and especially investment policies: a country where human rights and rule of law are respected is a country in which investors will be ready to invest.

Before I conclude please let me provide the panel with one more idea. A few days ago I attended in Helsinki an international conference on “The process towards Integrating a Gender Perspective in the Budgetary process (Gender Budgeting), - the Nordic Experience” which was organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Finnish Ministry of Finance. Why should we not in the Council of Europe and in the Council of Europe Development Bank embark as the Finnish ministry of finance in a process of gender impact assessment and gender budgeting as an integral part of gender mainstreaming, instrumental to achieve gender equality and hence social justice.

The Council of Europe has a vision of Europe based on freedom, social justice and respect for human dignity and human rights. The Council of Europe is helping to translate this vision into reality. I cannot stress enough the importance of this endeavour, because people like visions – but only those which have a meaningful and positive influence on their daily lives.

Building and consolidating social cohesion is neither simple, nor easy and it does not come for free. The stakes are huge and and we are working under pressure - but after all - so is Mother Earth in transforming carbon into diamonds.

Further information

• Council of Europe's programme on social cohesion