ABOUT EUFASA European Union Foreign Affairs Spouses, Partners and Families Association
The purpose of EUFASA is to exchange information and ideas among its member associations in order to identify effective family support practices, to raise awareness, and to gain support for family-friendly policies within EU Ministries of Foreign Affairs.
MEMBERS
The current members of EUFASA are the spouses/partners’ associations of:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
Associate Members-Observers
The spouses/partners’ associations of Iceland and Switzerland are associate members, having the same rights than members. The EU Member States without spouses/partners’ associations as well as the EU Accession and Candidate states have observer status.
EUFASA’s concerns
Topics of interest to EUFASA include
- spouse/partner employment
- pension provisions
- education, especially children with special needs
- separation and divorce
- foreign born spouses
- security/safety
- voluntary work
- health/insurance
- legal status
These themes recur in different forms, along with topics pertaining to the structure and mechanisms of EUFASA itself, in the working groups and the Conference presentations. Some topics merit EUFASA-wide surveys where information is often elicited both from the associations and their Ministries.
How EUFASA works
EUFASA’s delegates meet at an annual conference, and during the year the preparatory work is done on a members’ intranet platform. The intranet stores all information and files and serves as an exchange platform for the virtually collaborating working groups. With this tool, working groups prepare and work together on their topics for the next conference.
The association hosting the conference is Chair of EUFASA from the 1st of July until the 30th of June of the following year. The Chair is assisted by the previous and the next Chair (the “Troika”) and by other delegates forming the Steering Committee.
At the end of each EUFASA Conference a letter is usually drafted summarizing the conference and outlining any recommendations arising from the conference, and each association is requested to present it to its own Ministry of Foreign Affairs.delegates meet at an annual conference, and during the year the preparatory work is done on a members’ website. The website houses a members’ notice board, information, a discussion forum and online working groups where topics are prepared for the next Conference.The Association hosting the Conference is Chair of EUFASA from the 1st of July until the 30th of June of the following year. The Chair is assisted by the previous and the next Chair ( the “Troika”) and by other delegates forming the “Steering Committee”. At the end of each EUFASA Conference a letter is usually drafted summarizing the Conference and outlining any recommendations arising from the Conference, and each association is requested to present it to its own Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
More information about EUFASA can be found at www.eufasa.org
