Last 5th June, AGE Platform Europe organised a workshop in Brussels jointly with UNI Europa service trade unions, the European Commission and ENNHRI (European Network of National Human Rights Institutions).
Under the title “Working conditions in care: Implications for labour rights, quality of services and the dignity of older people”, it explored the links between working conditions of care professionals and the ability of older people in need of care to live in dignity. It marked the 2018 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, 15th June.
The workshop was well-attended with around 40 participants, including AGE members, UNI Europa’s affiliate trade unions, representatives of the European Commission and ENNHRI, as well as NGOs, service providers and researchers.
The workshop brought together, for the first time at European level, organisations of older persons from AGE network and workers’ representatives from UNI Europa. The aim was to establish a dialogue and explore joint narratives that both older people and workers can share to advocate for better working conditions to deliver better care both at European and at national levels.
Frédéric Favraud, president of UNICARE – care workers’ section of UNI Global – and Anne-Sophie Parent, Secretary-General of AGE Platform Europe, highlighted the shared interests and narratives and the mutually beneficial actions that can now be put in place. As a first step, AGE and UNI Europa published, on the occasion of the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a joint press release.
This workshop is a further building block in AGE’s work on elder abuse:
- In 2015, an event organised jointly by AGE, the Council of Europe, the European Commission and ENNHRI, took stock of existing tools at European and international level to fight elder abuse.
- In 2016, the event looked into abusive situations in care and obstacles in access to quality services.
- In 2017, the workshop organised between AGE, Victim Support Europe, the European Commission and the Council of Europe, looked into the situations faced by older people who have suffered abuse, and the obstacles to report and to seek protection.
These events have deepened AGE’s and stakeholders’ awareness and understanding of elder abuse and have helped identify policies needed to tackle it. 2018 workshop with UNI Europa will be the basis for further cooperation between older people and care workers, to be developed in the coming months through concrete actions. This may include raising awareness of the relevance of working conditions in ensuring the right to quality long-term care as part of the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The report of the workshop will be available soon in this article.
You can read the joint AGE-UNI Europa-ENNHRI press release here
For further information, you can contact Borja Arrue Astrain, borja.arrue@age-platform.eu
