The COFACE Seminar on “Active inclusion, a tool for fighting poverty and social exclusion” drew together European Commission officials with representatives of civil society, the social partners, and many COFACE member organisations. (Report)

The event followed on from the European Commission’s publication on 3 October 2008 of a Recommendation on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market. The Commission recommends that Member States should design and implement an integrated comprehensive strategy for the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market. That strategy is based on an integrated mix of three strands: adequate income support, inclusive labour markets and access to quality services.

As a comprehensive strategy for social inclusion, the active inclusion strategy clearly has a key role to play in tackling poverty within families. Income, good jobs and quality services are all vital to families. The seminar therefore set out to look more closely at how each ingredient in the mix and their coordinated implementation can promote social inclusion for families.

See COFACE's recommendations on active inclusion, a tool for fighting family poverty hereafter.