CARING for CHILDREN is the UK National Section of FICE, an International Association for People caring for Children and Young People outside their own Families. FICE has on sultative Status with UNESCO, UNICEF, ECOSOC and the Council of Europe

FICE = Federation Internationale de Communautes Educatives

CARING FOR CHILDREN:

Chair:	Marion Thorpe
Vice Chair:	Keith White
Treasurer:	Vacant
Convenors:
Wales:	Chris Clode
Child Care Practice:	John Blythman
Education:	T.B.A.
Secretary:	Kathleen Lane	ukfice@hotmail.com

What is FICE ? The Federation Internationale des Communautes Educatives is a world-wide organisation for staff working with children and young people in a variety of settings outside their natural family homes. You can visit the FICE web site at www.freeweb.org/associazioni/fice/ The business of the organisation is managed by two Federal Council meetings each year, which are usually held in the spring and autumn in various member countries, and hosted by the National FICE Sections. Within the context of the Federal Council meetings it has become the custom to use the opportunity of having delegates from a wide variety of countries and different disciplines to hold day seminars. These seminars are mainly for the benefit of workers from the host country, who may not otherwise get many opportunities to meet colleagues from abroad and share some of their thinking. READ THE PAPERS HERE Often the host National Section will attempt to gather together the papers and publish them subsequently. But you will probably know that it can be difficult to persuade contributors to send in their written contributions and there can be big time lags before the collection finally appears. In future in children.uk we shall endeavour to bring you some of the papers while they are still are still fresh. In October 1999 the Federal Council met in Hungary. This time the Day Seminar was very special because it was part of the Tenth Birthday Celebrations of the re-founding of FICE Hungary after the fall of communism in 1989. The Minister of Social Affairs and the Family actually addressed members of the Federal Council and formally opened the first session. Another Government representative spoke at the Day Seminar of the contribution made by FICE Hungary in developing services for children and young people in the last ten years. So we were left with the impression of FICE Hungary being a busy, strong and influential force in the country recognised for working actively with and for its children. The Minister's speech and three papers from the Day Seminar which will appear in children.uk, to give some idea of the enrichment which can come from participating in FICE events. It should be noted that the Danish and German contributors gave their papers in English, a feat few of us could perform in the other FICE languages of French and German. All three papers have been reproduced in their original format of 'talks' rather than written papers. My contribution was meant to be light hearted and amusing since it was given in the notorious 'after-lunch spot'. No offence is therefore intended to all those working to high standards in children's services in the UK, nor to those who have been busy forming links and building international partnerships for many years.

NEWS

TREASURER John Hudson has resigned as treasurer of the Association for personal reasons. Nominations for the post of treasurer are being sought from members. There is a small amount of bookkeeping to be undertaken but the Treasurer's main responsibilities will be to help the Association develop its financial strategy. For further information, please contact Kathleen Lane - ukfice@hotmail.com

LETTERS, ISSUES AND IDEAS Letters of all types on any issues to do with child care are welcome for the newssheet. This is not a change of policy - as certain Government Ministers would say - we are simply clarifying what has been policy all along. Seriously though, Council wants to encourage a wider range of discussion about ideas and issues of interest to members and one way of doing this is through a letters page. If you are not a letter writer but would like to put forward an issue or idea on child care, please feel free to write it in an e-mail and send it to ukfice@hotmail.com

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THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF EDUCATIVE COMMUNITIIES (FICE) IS LOOKING FOR volunteers to take part in an International team of professional child-care workers being set up within the framework of the Project Educateurs sans Frontieres to intervene in emergency situations on behalf of children in distress

SCOPE	TRAINING	PROCEDURE
Relief recipients: countries in crisis, due to civil war, natural disasters or social and economic emergencies Team International consisting of 15-20 professionals (care workers, social workers, psychologists, etc) under the leadership of a project co-ordinator Tasks Mobilising local resources in the fields of care and education Promoting communication with government agencies Co-ordinating co-operation with other NGO's Developing projects in the interest of the children concerned Duration Between three and six weeks; the team will not engage in emergency relief activities (food supplies, hygiene, medical care) Logistics FICE will make its team available to international organisations such as UNHCR, UNICEF and other bodies (EU, governments) for specific projects Costs Travel costs and the costs for room and board during an intervention will be covered by the project. The volunteer workers will not receive any remuneration	Target group Members of international teams of care workers Where? Ecole superieurs d'educateurs sociaux in Echyrolles (Grenoble). France When? Monday 24 to Saturday 29 July 2000 Contents The work of international relief organisations (UNHCR, UNICEF, Red Cross) ethics of international co-operation, intervention methods Participants 15-20 professionals, selected by the national FICE members Trainers Experts in international relief co-operation Costs Participants must cover travel expenses and costs of accommodation (€180) themselves. If subsidies are obtained, these costs may be, at least partly, refunded	Candidates All candidates interested in participating in the Project must fulfil the following criteria: Proficiency in the English language (training will be provided in English and English will be the working language in the team) Completed and professionally recognised training in the child care sector A minimum of three years of experience in child care work Applications Applications accompanied by a CV should be submitted by 1 March 2000 to: Schauminkai 101-103 D-60596 Frankfurt, Germany Information meeting Candidates with the required qualifications will be invited to an information meeting Training and Service The selected candidates will take part in the training programme and later on, in service interventions