14.10.19
Riga - September 2019 - workshop on children with disabilities. Representing Make Mothers Matter, Laura Fiquet made it clear that mothers with disabled children are frontline to face many obstacles and problems daily, in France and elsewhere. There has to be some solutions, inclusive of their family environment. Families are the major support of children with disabilities and we must listen to what they have to say.
Our network member Laura Julia Fiquet, founder and president of Union des Mamans d’Enfants Handicapés – UMEH participated in a recent EU fact-finding workshop on children with disabilities. Held in Riga, the event was part of the European Commission’s feasibility study on a potential Child Guarantee.
An expert on the topic (Laura herself is a mother of a child with a disability), she underlined the many problems she and other mothers in France and elsewhere in Europe face on a daily basis.
They go from job loss, loss of financial autonomy or total financial dependence on the spouse – to loss of social rights (unemployment, retirement, sickness) with the precarious social minima that this implies. Here are some examples:
Family cohesiveness is also compromised, such as separation from the spouse or the renunciation of having another child.
In many cases these mothers also encounter social isolation and a high mental burden, to the point of exhaustion.
Laura also highlighted the lack of competent social interlocutors who could accompany mothers.
Laura proposed the following:
Laura welcomed the Commission’s endeavors and hoped that the situation facing many mothers like her would improve.
She urged for solutions at policy and societal level throughout Europe as an important step towards the recognition of the obstacles. She is positive that this feasibility study will bring clarity and firmly present changes needed to tackle problems. Financial and logistical tools must be provided to properly involve these families and their children in society. Laura also hopes that more family associations will be included in the study, primarily because families are the major carers and often fragilized by these situations. Not taking what they have to say into account could lead to artificial or temporary solutions.
Laura’s concluding message was that if we want a child guarantee initiative to fight poverty and social exclusion, we need to hear the voices of parents and to address these social policies to the family as a whole. A child is embedded in a family environment and context and it is by working hand in hand with families, and mothers in particular, (many children living in precarious situations live only with their mothers) that effective solutions to support vulnerable children will be found.
03.07.21
UN New York / HLPF - Register now to join us virtually at this year’s High Level Political Forum side-event.
21.09.21
August 15th saw the collapse of the Afghan government and a return to power by the Taliban. At MMM, like much of the rest of the world, we were shocked
19.07.21
UN New York / HLPF - A look back at our side-event to the UN High Level Political Forum
21.06.22
The ongoing conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the mental and physical health of mothers and their children, on both those who have fled and those who have sta
18.05.22
In these unprecedented times, when Europe is navigating a global pandemic, when political tensions are boiling over threatening to destabilize the global order, it is vital to reflect on the people who hold the
08.12.21
This autumn, EIGE (European Institute for Gender Equality) released its Gender Equality Index Report. This year’s Index focuses on the links between health and gender equality.
30.06.21
Make Mothers Matter welcomes the newly adopted Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee that aims at reducing the number of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion within the Unio
28.05.21
The resulting Public Consultation initiative aims at gathering feedback from stakeholders on the challenges and opportunities of demographic ageing, taking a life-cycle approach based on intergenerational solid
21.05.21
The 2020 Made in Social Europe exhibition aims to give an overview of many organizations and projects in the European Union that are fighting for a fairer and more equitable society for all. By looking at each