A political declaration adopted in Vilnius at the high-level conference on the European Social Charter reinforces the commitment of Council of Europe member states to social justice and the protection of social rights. The declaration reaffirms the incompatibility of military aggression with human rights obligations, expresses solidarity with displaced Ukrainians, and highlights the need to undertake further commitments to social rights in line with the Reykjavik Declaration.
In his opening remarks, Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge underlined that “The European Social Charter guarantees our rights to health and education, to work, housing and social security among so many other things. These rights are designed to ensure that we can all live decent and dignified lives and participate fully in our democratic societies.”
For her part, Ingrida Šimonytė, Prime Minister of Lithuania highlighted that “The European Social Charter is comprised of principles and aims that define us - as Europeans and as democracies - and through its ideals, the Charter offers us a roadmap to social justice, inclusion, prosperity and progress. However, these are unattainable without peace, security, and freedom. And whenever peaceful order collapses, attention is inevitably diverted to threats that are existential, and the weak suffer the most. Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, and brutal war is a reminder that freedom – and everything that thrives thanks to it – cannot be taken for granted. And today, by helping to defend Ukraine’s freedom, we defend our own. We defend the values of the European Social Charter.”
Held under the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, the conference was also an occasion to mark the 25th anniversary of the Revised European Social Charter and the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe. It brought together ministers and high-level officials, Council of Europe leaders, representatives of the European Union, the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, civil society, social partners, academia, and national human rights and equality bodies.
During his visit to Lithuania, the Deputy Secretary General had bilateral meetings with the Minister of Social Security and Labour, Vytautas Šilinskas, and the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Egidijus Meilūnas.
