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News

European Platform on Combating Homelessness is “a giant leap”

21 Jun · 21h45

Ana Mendes Godinho, Portuguese Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security © Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2021 - António Pedro Santos/LUSA

The European Platform on Combating Homelessness, launched today by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union is “a giant leap”, the Portuguese Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security pointed out, and the beginning of a long road for the 27 to travel by 2030.



This Monday, during a High-Level Conference in Lisbon, the Member States, European institutions, social partners and civil society signed the Lisbon Declaration on the European Platform on Combating Homelessness, undertaking to adopt a set of principles to combat this phenomenon, so that:

  • no one sleeps rough for lack of accessible, safe and appropriate emergency accommodation;
  • no one lives in emergency or transitional accommodation longer than is required for successful move-on to a permanent housing solution;
  • no one is discharged from any institution (e.g. prison, hospital, care facility) without an offer of appropriate housing;
  • evictions should be prevented whenever possible and no one is evicted without assistance for an appropriate housing solution, when needed;
  • no one is discriminated against due to their homelessness status.
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Signing of the Lisbon Declaration © Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2021 - António Pedro Santos/LUSA

Minister Ana Mendes Godinho stressed her “pride” in the fact that the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU had succeeded in making this platform a reality, a concrete deliverable of the Action Plan for the European Pillar of Social Rights.

“ This is a giant leap, but it is also the beginning of a long, constant, responsible and consistent journey we will make together, putting homeless people in the centre of our policies and giving them real hope, giving them an effective voice and listening to them and acting on what they say. ”

Ana Mendes Godinho, Portuguese Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security

More than a goal, the platform is in itself a “starting point” so that all can be assured of the right of access to housing, healthcare or basic services and real social inclusion.



Ana Mendes Godinho argued that “it is time to deliver and to make history” to “ensure a fair economic and social recovery”, so that all can live in dignity, in equality and without discrimination.

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The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, the European Commissioner, Nicolas Schmit, and the UN Goodwill Ambassador, Yves Leterme, at the press conference at the end of the Conference © Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2021 / Pedro Sá da Bandeira