REMINDER: MHE capacity building seminar - Vienna, 30 May 2007
For more information: MHE Secretariat, Tel +32 2 280 04 68, E-mail info@mhe-sme.org, or visit the MHE website, http://www.mhe-sme.org/en.html
REMINDER: MHE conference "No Health without Mental Health - From Slogan to Reality", Vienna (Austria), 31 May - 2 June 2007
The focus of the conference will be on the connection and the coherence between the different European policies and the impact they have on the mental health of the population. Lectures, roundtable discussions and workshops will give opportunity for sharing information and deepening knowledge but also for exchange of good practice.
Participants coming from all European countries will be encouraged to discuss the possibilities of implementing strategies on mental health throughout the whole life-span and to initiate co-operation between the different organisations and institutions working on mental health issues at the national and European level.
MHE General Assembly will take place at the end of the conference, on Saturday 2 June 2007.
For more information: MHE Secretariat, Tel +32 2 280 04 68, E-mail info@mhe-sme.org, or visit the MHE website, http://www.mhe-sme.org/en.html
MHE responds to FRA questionnaire on consultation with civil society
The objective of the Agency is to provide the relevant institutions and authorities of the Community and its Member States when implementing Community law with assistance and expertise relating to fundamental rights in order to support them when they take measures or formulate courses of action within their respective spheres of competence to fully respect fundamental rights.
Last month, FRA launched a public consultation on the Agency's civil society cooperation. The consultation was conducted through a questionnaire that could be accessed on FRA website.
During last meeting of the Social Platform Working Group on Fundamental Rights and Non Discrimination (FRAND), which took place on 15 May, participants - MHE was represented by Fanny Muller, Information Officer, and Mélanie Mazier, intern - agreed to send a common answer to two questions of the questionnaire which concerned the future Fundamental Rights Platform to be established by the Agency and which will be an instrument of dialogue between the FRA and civil society.
The common answer concerned, on the one hand, the selection criteria that would be used for participation in the Fundamental Rights Platform. Members of the FRAND Working Group insisted on the need to make sure that the selection process of organisations was clear and transparent and that the Platform would dispose of a good balance between organisations of European, national or local level, as well as organisations covering the different topical areas of Fundamental Rights in the EU. MHE particularly stressed the importance of ensuring that organisations from the mental health field would be represented in the Platform. MHE added that attention be paid to the regulations for membership of the Fundamental Rights Platform in terms of finding a formula for staging the periods of membership. A good continuity of experience in the members and balanced terms of membership should be sought to guarantee the necessary vitality and energy of the membership.
The common answer also contained suggestions of working methods for the Platform.
It was sent by the Social Platform to the Fundamental Rights Agency in the end of May.
For more information: visit FRA website, www.fra.europa.eu, or the Social Platform website, http://www.socialplatform.org/, or contact Fanny Muller at the MHE Secretariat, Tel +32 2 280 04 68, E-mail fmuller@mhe-sme.org
MHE welcomes new intern
MHE representation at various meetings
On 2 May, Mari Fresu and Mélanie Mazier, participated in the EPHA Policy Coordination meeting in Brussels.
On 3 May, Allyson Mc Collam, Chief Executive of the Scottish Development Centre, and Chris O'Sullivan, SUPPORT Project Officer, came to the MHE office to exchange information with the MHE staff both on the SUPPORT Project and the work carried out by the Scottish Development Centre and MHE.
On 8 May, Mary Van Dievel, Mari Fresu and Mélanie Mazier attended the conference " Closing the Gap: Strategies for Action to Tackle Health Inequalities in Europe ", organised in Brussels by EuroHealthNet and the German Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA).
On 10 May, Mary Van Dievel, Sogol Noorani and Mari Fresu represented MHE at the round table on "Health in the EU Open Method of Coordination", which took place at the Madariaga Foundation in Brussels.
On 15 May, Fanny Muller and Mélanie Mazier participated in the Social Platform FRAND Working Group in Brussels.
On 16 May, Mélanie Mazier represented MHE at the EDF Roundtable Discussion on the Integration of People with Disabilities in Brussels.
On 17-20 May, Peter Kinderman, Chair of the MHE Committee on Human Rights and Mental Health, attended and gave a presentation in CEDEP - European Committee on Law, Ethics and Psychiatry 16th Seminar "Democracy and Mental Health" in Bucarest (Romania).
On 22 May, Josée Van Remoortel, Senior Policy Advisor, had a meeting with Ines Bulic, ECCL Coordinator, and Wallis Goelen, Head of the Integration of People with Disabilities Unit at the European Commission.
On 23 May, Mari Fresu participated in the DG SANCO Stakeholder Involvement Conference in Brussels.
On 29 May, Mari Fresu attended a breakfast meeting dedicated to the Portuguese EU Presidency at the Weber Shandwick offices in Brussels.
On 30 May, the MHE Capacity-Building Seminar took place in Vienna (Austria).
From 31 May - 2 June, the MHE Annual Conference, "No Health without Mental health - From Slogan to Reality" was held in Vienna.