Events

21 March, 12:30-14:00 | European Parliament, room PHS 1C47, Brussels B-1047, Belgium

The European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) and the Abbé Pierre Foundation, with the support of Sylvie Guillaume, Vice-President of the European Parliament (S&D), invite the European institutions, national and local representatives, civil society stakeholders, researchers and practitioners to participate to the launch of the ‘Third Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2018’.

The former editions of this report sounded the alarm regarding the current rise in housing exclusion and homelessness in Europe. National and European data on housing exclusion show that whilst housing quality tends to improve around Europe, the continued increase in housing costs is putting more and more pressure on households. The most vulnerable households are those on the front line: housing inequalities have been increasing between 2010 and 2016.

All European energy and efforts need to focus on the other Europe, the growing number of people facing homelessness and housing exclusion, the face of which is changing as it includes a larger and larger section of the population. This report is a call to action for local, national and European authorities. It provides a sound basis on which to proceed, introducing policy orientations and pitfalls to be avoided in developing strategies to reduce and ultimately end homelessness. On the one hand, throughout the years, evidence showing the inadequacy and inefficiency of managing homelessness as an emergency has been building up. On the other hand, expertise, skills and experimentation of other approaches have been developing, for instance on prevention and housing first. This creates scope for the exchange of good practices. Integrated strategies, moving from managing homelessness to progressively ending it, have been proved to work, notably in Finland. An analysis of the implementation of housing rights in Europe in 2017, included in the report, reveals the growing gap between housing rights as guaranteed by European and international treaties and the reality in local and national contexts.

It’s through the mobilisation of a strong legal basis, political will and strategic planning that the objective of ending homelessness and successfully fighting housing exclusion will stop being a fantasy and become a human dignity imperative and proof of the European social project’s credibility.

To register, please send your first and last names, birth date, nationality and identity document number before 12 March to chloe.serme-morin@feantsa.org. Accreditation will open at 12:00 on the day of the event.