Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, published today a memorandum on child poverty in Italy.

The Commissioner appreciates that child poverty is recognised as a serious issue by the Italian authorities and that considerable efforts have been made over the years to address it. However, he observes that measures should be considerably strengthened through a coherent nationwide approach that is human rights based and child centred.

He calls on the authorities at all levels to prioritise the eradication of child poverty in their public expenditure.

The Commissioner observes that structural reforms, coordinated action and sustained funding are required to safeguard the rights of the country’s children.

Children are now the most poverty-stricken age group in Italy, with13,8% of them – roughly 1 in 7 children – living in absolute poverty. This figure has risen in recent years, driven by unadjusted salaries and the mounting cost-of-living, which has particularly affected families.

“To ensure that the next generation can live without fear or want, regardless of the family they are born into or the region they live in, Italy should develop a comprehensive approach that is implemented in a well-coordinated manner, backed by sustained funding,” said Commissioner O'Flaherty.

The child poverty situation in Italy is marked by significant disparities along geographic lines, with poverty particularly concentrated in the south, in the periphery, and in disadvantaged urban areas. Absolute poverty is more prevalent in single parent families and those with three or more children, as well as in households where adults have low levels of education, are from minority background or are foreigners.

Child poverty impacts every aspect of a child’s life and wellbeing, restricting access to health, education, adequate nutrition, housing, and social relations. It is compounded by limited social mobility, which traps disadvantaged groups and perpetuates inequalities across generations.

The Commissioner further observes that efforts must be coherently designed to assist children living in poverty and their families, paying particular attention to the needs of children in situations of specific disadvantage. While welcoming initiatives such as the Assegno Unico e Universale (Single and Universal Allowance) introduced in 2021, he notes that overall, funding for key poverty-alleviation programmes is insufficient and decreasing, including in areas identified as particularly crucial such as educational poverty. In view of the expiration of EU funds linked to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), sustained funding should be ensured for the operation of school and nursery facilities and for initiatives that guarantee free meals for children in need and those that counter school dropouts.

The Commissioner observes that safeguards should be introduced to ensure that children and households living in poverty are not excluded from relevant allowances and services as a result of residency or citizenship requirements, technological or bureaucratic barriers.

Key recommendations

To launch a renewed push against child poverty, the Commissioner encourages Italian authorities at all levels, to:

• Coordinate all child poverty initiatives under a single, human rights-based national plan.
• Introduce legislative measures to define and fund minimum levels of public social services (“Livelli Essenziali delle Prestazioni”, or LEPs) that every region and municipality should provide, to reduce regional disparities.
• Ensure that income-support allowances are sufficient to provide an adequate standard of living and do not exclude people who cannot support themselves, regardless of the household composition.
• Ensure coordination of social services to provide comprehensive care to children, addressing the multiple manifestations of child poverty and eliminating any legal and administrative barriers that may exclude children from accessing adequate housing, nutrition, social assistance and psychological care.
• Secure sustained budgetary allocations to enable the implementation of relevant measures – including after the expiration of EU funds linked to the NRRP – as well as of specific programmes for children living with disadvantages.

The Mediterranean remains one of the world's deadliest sea migration routes. During the first six months of 2026, at least 1,410 people died or went missing while attempting to reach Europe by sea, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since 2014, more than 35,000 people have lost their lives or gone missing while seeking safety, protection or a better life in Europe. To save migrants in distress at sea, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) deploy search and rescue (SAR) vessels in the Central Mediterranean but continue to face legal and administrative obstacles.

FRA’s latest update of search and rescue operations at sea provides an overview of the administrative and criminal proceedings affecting NGOs engaged in SAR activities: 

• At the end of June 2026, 26 NGO-operated rescue vessels and reconnaissance aircraft were deployed in the Central Mediterranean. 
• Since 2017, national authorities in EU Member States have initiated 105 administrative or criminal proceedings affecting NGO search and rescue operations. Since June 2025, 19 new cases have been opened, all in Italy.
• Many NGOs have faced fines and the temporary detention of their vessels in Italian ports. Port authorities have imposed administrative measures based on strict rules regulating NGO search and rescue activities. In one case, Italian authorities opened a criminal investigation into the captain of a deployed vessel for allegedly aiding and abetting unauthorised immigration.

The update emphasises two pressing fundamental rights issues requiring continued attention:

• Protecting humanitarian search and rescue activities: Member States should ensure that measures to combat migrant smuggling do not criminalise humanitarian assistance or undermine life-saving operations. A clear legal distinction must be maintained between humanitarian assistance and migrant smuggling.
• Strengthening search and rescue efforts and ensuring fundamental rights: Search and rescue capacity at sea needs to increase further to prevent deaths. Rescue operations should fully respect the principle of non-refoulement and ensure that rescued people are disembarked in places where their fundamental rights are protected.

This latest update provides an overview of developments up to 30 June 2026. It includes a map of NGO rescue vessels and reconnaissance aircraft, including those no longer in service. It also provides an overview of ongoing and concluded administrative and criminal proceedings affecting search and rescue organisations. 

As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the continued loss of life in the Mediterranean highlights the need to ensure effective protection pathways and respect for the fundamental rights of people seeking safety.

In taking a brief overview the year 2025, the Ombudsman oversaw all Joint European Return Operations (JRO) in which the Hellenic Police took part and were coordinated by Frontex to Pakistan, Georgia and Bangladesh, as well as most national forced return operations on commercial flights to Egypt, India and Côte d’Ivoire. Meanwhile, inspections continued at detention facilities for third country nationals awaiting return, pre-removal detention centres (PROKEKA), at migration management departments, police stations, border protection departments and police directorates, whilst all individual files of third country nationals awaiting return were reviewed.

Many of us will face the moment when someone we love needs end of life care - whether in a care home, at home with support, or in a council-funded placement. How that care is delivered does not just affect the person who is dying: it shapes how their family grieves, and how they remember those final days, for years to come.

Mistakes made at the end of a loved one’s life cannot be corrected. But unlike almost any other public service failure, there is one chance to get it right, and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is today calling on councils and care providers to take that opportunity, every time.

The report, No Second Chances: What Complaints Teach Us About End of Life Care, sets out the most common failures seen in the complaints it receives: poor communication with families, inadequate care plans, services not working together, insensitive handling of death notifications, difficulties around visiting, and unfair charges after death.

Real cases drawn from the ombudsman’s work illustrate the human cost of these failings - families not called in time to say goodbye, a daughter learning of her mother's death before anyone offered condolences, and a woman who discovered her cousin had died over a year earlier, her grave unmarked and overgrown.

The report sets out what families have a right to expect: to be kept informed as a loved one's condition changes; to be treated with warmth and honesty; to have the person they love cared for as an individual, with their own wishes and preferences respected. And when the worst happens, to receive the news with the sensitivity and compassion it deserves.

These things do not require significant extra resources or investment. They simply need more compassion and a human touch. These are acts of basic humanity, and they shape how families grieve for years to come.

Amerdeep Clarke, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

"Most of us will face the death of someone we love. How that experience unfolds – whether we feel informed, included and treated with kindness, or left confused and shut out – becomes part of how we remember that person and how we grieve them. Those memories do not fade.

"We know that the people working in care homes and councils want to do their best for the people they look after. This report is for them. It is a practical guide to help them ask honestly: could every family we work with look back on this time with as much comfort as possible?

"The changes we are asking for do not require significant new investment. They require compassion, good planning, and a genuine commitment to treating every dying person as a human being with people who love them. There is only one chance to get this right. We want to help the sector take it."

The report includes practical guidance and self-review questions for councils and care providers on end of life care.

The Ombudsman also has a free toolkit, to help care providers strengthen their complaints handling more generally. The toolkit can be downloaded from asctoolkit.lgo.org.uk.