11 more cities pledge to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights during Eurocities Social Affairs Forum in Warsaw

From 23-24 October Eurocities held its annual Social Affairs Forum in Warsaw, Poland. This year’s Forum brought together 120 representatives of cities from all over Europe and was centred on the theme of Inclusive Cities: Ensuring social inclusion & wellbeing for all ages. The Forum focused on groups of people who often find themselves in vulnerable situations in society: children, young people and older people.

During the Forum, 11 more city pledges were introduced under Eurocities’s political initiative Inclusive Cities 4All: Social Rights in My City. The initiative was introduced earlier this year and is aimed at showcasing pledges made by cities across the European Union on implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. The pledges are linked to one or more principles of the Social Pillar and are supported with significant investment. While all pledges can be found under the link above, two examples of newly introduced pledges are:

  1. City of Utrecht: Their pledge links to principle 16 of the Social Pillar on healthcare. The city has drawn up a new strategy consisting of wide and diverse actions across different areas of life, such as growing up healthy, healthy food, healthy living and healthy income.
  2. City of Birmingham: Their pledge links to principle 19 of the Social Pillar on housing and assistance to the homeless. Over the next two years, the city will invest 9.6 million to provide adequate housing solutions coupled with targeted services, such as health care services or counselling to overcome addiction.

The Forum was also a good opportunity to display Social Platform’s ‘Made in Social Europe’ exhibition of inspiring practices (pictured above), showcasing how social projects, some of which are funded by the EU, give life to the principles of the Social Pillar and have a real positive impact on people.