EU Urban Agenda Marks Real Opportunity to End Homelessness in our Cities

The EU Urban Agenda has opened the Urban Poverty Partnership’s Action Plan for public consultation. The partnership has prioritised homelessness among four policy areas. FEANTSA has welcomed the inclusion of 3 specific actions which can empower cities and service providers, with the support of national and European policy makers, to end homelessness in our cities.

The Urban Poverty Partnership was established under the Pact of Amsterdam in 2016. For the past seven months, FEANTSA has coordinated the partnership’s working group on homelessness, working with cities and ministries to draft actions to combat homelessness. The partnership is calling for i) full recognition and re-affirmation of SDG1: to eradicate poverty in all its forms by 2030; ii) capacity building for more effective use of EU funds in investing in housing-led solutions and iii) enhanced data collection and monitoring of homelessness.

Homelessness is growing across the EU, and has reached crisis point in many EU cities. In Paris, nearly 13,000 people were denied emergency shelter due to over-capacity in 2015, and in Dublin, over 1,000 families are currently homeless. In Athens, 71% of the 9,000 rough sleepers have become homeless in the past five years.

FEANTSA strongly endorses the Urban Poverty Partnership’s actions on homelessness and invites all relevant stakeholders to respond positively to the consultation process, and comment on the homeless actions.

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