Social Platform develops toolkit for national level advocacy work on the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan
In April 2021, following the publication of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, Social Platform developed and disseminated a toolkit to support its EU level member organisations in supporting their members at national level in advocating for their national governments to endorse certain key aspects of the Action Plan.
Indeed, Heads of State and Government will be expected to endorse the Action Plan at the Social Summit that will take place in Porto, Portugal on 7-8 May 2021.
The toolkit – which Social Platform members were invited to complete by adding advocacy objectives related to their specific fields of work and target groups – gives an introduction to key aspects of the Social Pillar and its Action Plan and highlights why it is important for national civil society organisations (CSOs) to get involved in advocacy work on this topic. It then sets out two key priorities that apply to all civil society organisations: the first priority is the EU targets and the respective and ambitious national targets we want EU Member States to endorse. The second priority relates to the European Commission encouraging Member States to create a coordination mechanism that ensures the engagement of all relevant stakeholders at national level in implementing the Social Pillar. The toolkit then suggests concrete actions that national CSOs can undertake to advocate at national level, including by providing a template letter that they can adapt to their needs and use for their advocacy work towards their Head of State or Government ahead of the Social Summit.
