Social services do a great deal to promote social cohesion, and the part they play in increasing our well-being and improving the quality of our lives must not be underestimated. Social service systems in the 44 Council of Europe member states are not equally developped
but they all face similar challenges.
With the aim of making high-quality, comprehensive social services available to everyone in all the member states, the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, in co-operation with the Council of Europe, organised a European Conference on "The Role of Social Services in Sustainable Social Development" which was held on 25 and 26 October 2001 in Berlin. This volume contains the working papers and conclusions of the Conference.