Inaugural speech by Séamus Boland on the role of civil society organisations in ensuring the health security of children and young people within the EU

Joint Conference of the Minister for Civil Society of the Republic of Poland and the EESC Civil Society Organisations' Group

Dear Undersecretary of State, esteemed speakers, ladies and gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that we are here at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland for this joint event with the Minister of Civil Society, on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in ensuring the health security of children and young people within the EU;

We are very privileged to be welcomed in this beautiful building and to enjoy Polish hospitality!

This conference follows the visit to our Group in December by Mr Krawczyk, who presented the priorities of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU;

Very good to see you again and a personal thank you for working so closely with our Civil Society Organisations' Group;

I would like to take this opportunity to also thank our Polish delegation of Members and notably Ms Malgorzata Bogusz and Mr Krzysztof Pater;

They have both played an essential role in organising this two-day mission and in liaising with the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU;

Today we will be focussing our attention on children and young people, which complements work done previously by our Civil Society Organisations' Group on the topics of loneliness, older persons and inter-generational solidarity;

Together, these topics strive to promote social cohesion and integration, as well as reducing poverty and inequalities.

Turning now to the specifics of our joint event - I would like to begin by recalling that in all human and indeed animal societies, children and the young, are the most precious possession;

It is not only the instinct of the parents, but of the entire community to protect and defend the next generation, which by its very existence, will ensure the survival of the species;

Today, security and survival are measured as much by mental well-being, as they are by physical;

Our awareness of the fragility of mental health developed during the First World War, when thousands of young men were severely traumatised by the horrors of trench warfare;

100 years later, we are facing another wave of mental health fragility;

What is described by some as the 'silent crisis', is an alarming scale of loneliness, depression and sense of exclusion, felt by both children and young people and aggravated for those in vulnerable situations;

Indeed, a recent EU study found that almost 50% of 15- to 30-year-olds, declared experiencing depression or repeated anxieties over the last 12 months.

Without doubt, it was the Covid-19 pandemic, which exposed this 'silent crisis';

But as many studies have revealed, other factors accelerated the scale and scope of this health problem;

Causes include the war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine, the climate and 'cost of living' crises and of course, digital disinformation and digital security;

For a substantial number of children and young people, the ensuing high levels of stress and anxiety, cyber-bullying, feelings of low self-esteem and sleep disturbances are very real and dangerous during these formative years;

Of interest is a Eurobarometer study released in February this year, which found that 42% of young people rely on social media as their principal source of political and social information;

Crucially, 76% of respondents stated that they believed they had been exposed to disinformation and fake news in the 7 days prior to the survey.

This brings me to my first recommendation, which is that health, including mental health security, should be placed at the top of European and national political agendas;

We must learn from the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic and agree on health as a key strategic priority in the form of a fully-fledged European Health Union;

This means valuing health and well-being as measurable social investments, rather than as socio-economic costs for European societies;

In this context, we need sustainable and reliable investments into health, in the next EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework;

These investments should focus on prevention, resilience, innovation and preparedness;

And they should enable universal access of all Europeans to quality and affordable care;

In previous events that we have organised as a Group, we have called for a new architecture for health, which places the patient at the centre and which breaks down silos between health and social policy, climate change, changing demographics etc;

Crucially, this new architecture would render healthcare and health security more predictable, preventive, personalised and participatory.

This brings me to my second recommendation, which is that CSOs must be supported, in their pivotal role in protecting and strengthening the health and well-being of the youngest generations;

Today's conference will showcase positive examples of concrete programmes and activities by CSOs, be they parent or patient associations, foundations or scouting volunteers;

Let us remember that next year will be the International Year of Volunteers and we are very grateful to the many scouts who are here today helping with this event!

We also have with us in the audience our colleague Alain Coheur, who represents the Belgian mutuals sector;

I know that your organisation has created an innovative model for suicide prevention and mental distress support, based on affordable psychological care, educational outreach and sentinel networks, which work within communities, including in disadvantaged and rural areas;

Such bottom-up actions are of paramount importance, providing decentralised mental health services, supporting critical thinking, helping to raise awareness and prevention through education;

I call upon both the EU and national governments to explicitly support such civil society-driven innovative actions in mental health, through predictable and sustainable funding;

This will require transparent, regular and structured dialogue with relevant CSOs, including patient associations and youth organisations;

Clearly, we cannot discuss the well-being of young people, without directly involving youth organisations in the dialogue.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will bring my introductory remarks to a close by reminding my non-Polish colleagues that Poland is a country that borders both with Ukraine and Russia;

Over the last few years, many European countries welcomed Ukrainian refugees and some of those counties have now increased their defence budgets, with the aim of maintaining peace on the European continent;

Throughout the day we will discuss the health security of children and young people and in that context, I believe that we should pay homage to the Polish volunteers and CSOs;

All of them played a crucial role in mitigating the human catastrophe of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine;

Without your energy, dedication and humanity, the physical and mental health security of many more individuals would have been endangered!

Thank you for your attention.