COFACE members and allies came together in Vilnius in mid-September for a number of events. On the first day we had our autumn Meet & Connect networking session with a special spotlight on Baltic family organisations. We followed presentations of our colleagues from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The meeting provided a forum for an exchange of ideas and foster collaboration across the region and beyond.

The European expert meeting on families and mental health Work-Life Balance Strategies in Family Policy co-organised by COFACE Families Europe and the National Assembly of Active Mothers Lithuania took place at the Parliament of Lithuania. It was opened by the Lithuanian Minister for social affairs and brought together some 80 European participants joining from 25 countries, and around 40 Lithuanian participants.  Balancing work and family care responsibilities is essential for maintaining well-being. We had expertise from the different sectors: employers, policymakers from ministries, researchers, families and civil society organisations. Thanks to the speakers we took a deep dive into the intersection of work-life balance, mental health, and family care across Europe. We also explored key factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity, and how they shape work-life balance. The idea is to work together with partners and allies to build more supportive and inclusive workplaces for all. A delegation of family ministry representatives from Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, ortugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden joint us for the discussions.

A working meeting of newly elected Administrative Council also took place and a new Executive Buro was elected.