About Us

The European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (the European Centre) is an intergovernmental organisation affiliated to the United Nations. Its purpose is to foster the collaboration in social welfare between governments and organisations by

  • providing applied social science and comparative empirical research
  • forging the evidence-base for social policy making and mutual learning
  • initiating future-oriented public policy debates by networking

The European Centre’s unique features

  • Bridge-building within the UN-European region, namely European Union Member States and Accession Countries, the Eastern Partnership, and including Israel and North America
  • UN-affiliation and independence: intergovernmental status, but not a UN-agency
  • Policy expertise focused on integrated policies and inter-sectoral action in overlapping areas between welfare, health, care, labour, ageing and social inclusion

The European Centre is supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals