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MOSCOW MAY 2003
Reports from: England - Finland - Hungary - Romania - Russia - Scotland Reports from Vice Presidents - Martti Kemppainen - Anton Tobé - David Lane The State of Business in South Eastern Europe, 4th quarter, 2002 CARING
for CHILDREN
Much of the energy of the CfC Council has gone into new developments connected with Children Webmag, which since 1st January 2003 has been owned and managed by CfC, having been funded by Social Education Trust for the first three years of its life. Thanks to the strenuous efforts which have been made by the Editor, David Lane, the Production Manager Bill Stevenson, and the great generosity of the Hesley Foundation, sponsorship has been found to enable the magazine to continue and develop. Over the coming months CfC will continue to explore ways of realising the full potential of the magazine as a ground breaking method of communicating with care workers in all kinds of dispersed locations. 2. PEP We have continued to support a one way traffic of placements to England and Wales from Continental Europe and Scandinavia, which have been reported on in Children Webmag once they have reached successful conclusions. We were very sorry when Wofgang Trede left IGfH, since he had been such an efficient co-ordinator. However in his absence and given the lack of any information from FICE Europe about a replacement I have continued to co-operate with other national co-ordinators who contact me. At present we are processing one application from Germany and one from Finland, but I expect that these will be my last contributions to PEP. 3. The wider context Colleagues may remember my last report when I wrote about the tragic deaths of two little girls during the summer holidays from school, in a quiet village in Cambridgeshire. The man accused of their murder is only now appearing in the Crown Court in London. Of course this will renew all kinds of traumas for their families and friends and their personal tragedies will no doubt take many years to fade. Meanwhile after a brief frenzy, we can expect that the media will pass on quickly to the next sensation. Meanwhile Lord Laming finally produced his report into the death of Victoria Climbie, who had suffered untold misery at the hands of her aunt, whom her Nigerian parents had thought could offer her better opportunities in England. In fact the aunt and her partner beat and starved Victoria. The comprehensive report has made the expected set of recommendations about how agencies should work together in a more co-ordinated way to offer better protection to children and young people. In my experience systems are only as good as or as bad as the people who operate them. Until we start to recognise that children are our future and that they are not objects for adult gratification or convenient targets for exercising violent frustration, it is only a matter of time until the next child’s name is added to the role of dishonour. 4. Educateurs sans Fronti?res As we see the distressing coverage of the aftermath of the recent armed conflict in Iraq, at a time when we cannot yet have forgotten the plight of children in Afghanistan, I can only urge that in 2003 FICE will make a reality of the Educateurs sans Fronti?res concept. If ever a force, able to understand and meet the needs young people battered and brutalised by the outcomes of the greed and aggression of adults, was needed, it is needed now. 5. Footnote On a personal note I expect that this will be my last report to the FICE CF. I would like to thank colleagues for the friendship and co-operation which we have shared over many years.
Central
Union for Child Welfare Activity Report 2002 FICE-Finland,
Consultative Committee on Extrafamilial Care
Other
activities of the CUCW: Advocacy,
Publicing and Lobbying activities Education
and training International
activities • CUCW was represented in the organising committee of IFCO conference: Living in a home. Feeling at Home. Conference was held in Tampere in August 2002 Information for members and extrafamilial care units FICE-Finland
informs of its activities mainly trough CUCW’s periodical Lapsen
Maailma (the Child’s World) and information letters. All member
organisations get Lapsen Maailma as members’ benefit and in practice
all residental homes are its subscribers. Lapsen Maailma appears 12
times a year. Newsletters are sent when needed; that is 2-4 times a
year. Report on the activity of FICE HUNGARY Our association is a civil organisation pursuing an activity of public utility. The main objective is to aim the development, the education and the social and labour’s market integration of those children who haven’t any family, or who – because of any other causes, for example on account of social, of health and of pedagogical problems – have to live out of their family, in the frame of the child’s care systeme. The association’s activity seizes almost the whole area of the child’s care, and of the children’s representation of interests, of the talent’s care and of the assuring of their chance’s equity. In the last year FICE Hungary’s main activities were •
Development the Draft of FICE Hungary’s deontology; We assured also a lot of services, programmes for the children, as •
Season-opening ball for the 15 years olds; Our
professional publications were Economy: membership fees, financial support of ministries and other budgetary organisations, donations etc. In this
year we continue all our traditional activities, of course, but we have
some new initiatives, too; Dr.
Júlia Blumenfeld 2003.
04. 08. Budapest. REPORT CONCERNING THE ACTIVITY THAT TOOK PLACE IN 2002
Russian Section Report Van:
ELF-LANCO [leadered@online.ru] Association
of Experts on the problems of children Report of the activities April 2002 vApril 2003 The
Association of Experts on the problems of children during 1. We
used all the possibilities to speak about FICE at all the FICE
Federal Council Meeting: Moscow March 2003 1. Membership Andrew
Hosie Federal
Council Meeting: April 2003 Moscow Visit
to Moscow, Russia (October 14-17, 2002)
Proposal for discussion at the CE meeting in Moscow As has
been announced at the CE meeting in Paris I would like to propose to
establish a FICE support fund (FICE Foundation). Please discuss the above proposal. The Notary will then be able to draft a concept for the other paragraphs. (candidate)
members, new initiatives and others reporting themselves to FICE with
requests for support could be referred to this foundation. Besides it
is a good thing to separate the financial dealings of this foundation
from the normal exploitation of FICE. April,
2003, Anton Tobé 1 Since the Federal Council meeting in Berlin in September 2002, my input to FICE has been limited, because of other commitments. I have been involved in the following activities. FICE Congress 2004 2 I have been a member of the Planning Group which is preparing for the Congress in Glasgow in 2004, and have contributed to a number of meetings in Glasgow. Andrew Hosie and his team appear to have the planning well in hand, and it promises to be an interesting Congress. It would be more accurate to describe the event as a pair of Congresses, as it is intended to hold a Congress for young people in parallel with the usual FICE event, with some shared sessions to allow for the young people to make an input to the FICE Congress. The only major problem is the possible cost, but the Group is looking at ways of reducing costs without compromising the quality of the event. Andrew Hosie will presumably be reporting as part of FICE-Scotland’s report. FICE-Inter Website 3 Thanks to Christine Karner’s work, the website is now in the three FICE languages. Placing the French and German versions on the site incurred some costs, but otherwise there has been no expenditure on the website and no further payments need be made by FICE-International for the present. 4 Some further material has been put on the site. In particular there were full reports and records of the Berlin Congress, which should be able to act as FICE’s archive of the event. A full report prepared by Anton Tob? of his activities in eastern Europe has been added, and publicity can also be given in this way to the work of other FICE officers. The gallery of photographs of FICE members has been expanded. A history of FICE is also being built up, and any contributions will be welcomed. 5 There has been virtually no use of the website for the debate of current issues, and no contributions have been sent in by members concerning professional policies which they wish to put forward as models for FICE-International to adopt. We have not yet received the Glossary, which we plan to put on the website when it is available. AIEJI 6 I am one of the two members of AIEJI in the United Kingdom, and in that capacity I receive information about their programmes, though the Association’s activities in the United Kingdom are non-existent. Toni Julia of Spain, as President of AIEJI-Europe, has developed a full programme of activities. Some of these cover the same subjects as FICE’s activities (e.g. placements in services in other countries) and if possible I believe the two organisations should collaborate rather than compete. If so, this means that FICE should support AIEJI’s activities where possible, as well as vice versa. 7 Emmanuel Grupper has chaired a working group on ethics and has produced a Code of Ethics which AIEJI wants people working with children and young people to sign up to. The contents of the Code understandably bear similarities to the core Code agreed by FICE some years ago. FICE may wish to decide whether it will support the AIEJI Code to encourage wider interest in the subject worldwide. 8 AIEJI will be holding a Special General Meeting in Denmark in May at which it hopes to amend its constitution. This meeting will coincide with the meeting planned for representatives of a number of international childcare organisations. EFCW 9 For the present it appears that this organisation has gone into abeyance. www.childrenwebmag.com 10 The webmag continues to develop. We now have about 150,000 hits per month with a regular readership in over 50 countries. We had a problem when all .uk.co websites went down without warning, so that we could not let readers who used that address know of the alternative addresses, but readership is picking up again. The webmag offers FICE an opportunity to become well known throughout the world, and for members to use its pages to communicate (in addition to the FICE-Inter website). I am grateful to FICE members who have provided material and would wish to encourage other contributors to provide articles. It should be noted that we can carry contributions in any language, as long as a responsible person can vouch for the quality of the material. Visit by FICE-Denmark 11 At the invitation of Soeren Hegstrup and Ole Rasmussen, I am assisting in the preparation of a study trip to youth justice facilities in England in September 2003. Executive Committee 12 I also participated in the Executive Committee meeting in Paris in January 2003. David
C. Lane 3rd
April 2003 The State of Business in South Eastern Europe, 4th quarter, 2002 A
Progress Report by Anton Tobé, Developments in Former Yugoslavia The
developments in the youth care field in the previous Yugoslav republic
we described in our last report have continued in the same direction.
There is ever more co-operation between various organisations and official
borders are becoming less of a hindrance. Friendship Camp Alongside this conference, a so-called “Freundschaftscamp” (Friendship Camp) was arranged to enable youngsters living in children’s homes to share their experiences and to talk to the grown-ups about their expectations. De Oude Beuk (“The Old Beech”, a charitable foundation in the Netherlands), financially backed this youth meeting in 2002 by a grant of € 5,000. Following several unsuccessful trials in past years we shall try again to get the financial support of the EC in order to safeguard the continuity of these activities. In 2001, four countries established FICE South-eastern Europe, which has in the meantime become accepted as a full member of FICE International. At this moment our main concern is to extend our network. Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland (Dutch Children’s Benefit Stamps Fund) have contributed a grant toward this end (€ 13,500 for 2002 and 2003). The main problem is the vast distances and, therefore, substantial travel expenses. The Board of FICE South-eastern Europe are very enthusiastic and are trying to be as active as possible, showing considerable creative effort in doing as much as possible with limited means. Hairdressing in Novi Sad At the end of November, the hairdressers at Novi Sad (Serbia) mentioned in our last report has been opened. The opening ceremony was a marvellous and well-organised event. Even regional news television was present. The chairman of FICE South-eastern Europe had to make a ten-hour bus trip in order to witness this event! The barbershop offers 4 female hairdresser’s apprentices the opportunity to work under professional supervision. They are aged 18 and therefore have to leave the children’s home. Since they have no family left, they must fend for themselves, which is very hard in this country with an excessive number of unemployed. Thanks to this hairdressing project these young ladies may possibly be able to open their own businesses in the future. In order to purchase the premises, De Oude Beuk have provided a loan without interest, amounting to € 30,000. Everything has been drawn up in a legally sound contract. The first evaluation will take place in six months’ time, when it will be seen whether the project can be extended or must be adjusted. Services for Children in Belgrade Meanwhile there are other projects about to start in the region. In Belgrade I have been kept fully informed about youth care in this city. Over the last three years, I have found a number of reliable contacts. They are usually Board members of FICE. They have given me a good picture of the situation. In Belgrade there is one large institution for childcare, which houses some 700 children at six children’s homes. At one of these, the state of the construction in several of the children’s quarters is unsafe. Although intervention in this field might seem out of our way, I feel that in view of the progress to be made in the content support we give to this home, some necessary repairs/ reconstructions are warranted. Presently a contact, initiated by myself, between this children’s home and an institution for slightly mentally disabled youths at Oldenzaal will be set up. Belgrade Buddies At Belgrade I also met the enthusiastic professor Ivan Vidanovic, who has been working for the underprivileged children of Yugoslavia. He is a champion of the so-called Big Brother Big Sister programme, which in the Netherlands has been called a buddy or fellows project. He has gained some fine results with this work. The method boils down to assigning an older companion/ buddy to a child, in order to help him or her to get acquainted with society, build a social network, pay attention, and trust in people. For more details please go to www.bbbsi.org This is a volunteer project, carried out by students under professional supervision. The target group at Belgrade consists of 60 so-called Roma children who are staying in children’s homes, and are discriminated against or not assimilated because of their ethnic background. Like the professor, who is a kingpin of youth care, in particular in Serbia, I am very enthusiastic about this proposal, and I feel it is sound to support this project with financial aid, alongside with other partners. This will be thoroughly evaluated in December, 2003. Babies Need Stimulation Another difficult issue is the situation of babies that have been given up, rejected or must be cared for due to other circumstances. I have visited a centre where 300(!) babies and toddlers are being cared for. Although they are in general well looked after, the children spend their days basically doing nothing and the outlook is not good. There is insufficient knowledge of how to enlist and guide foster families. I will contact an NGO named IFCO, a sister organisation of FICE active in the field of care for foster children, to determine the possibilities for a joint training project. At Novi Sad there is an initiative to set up a temporary care system for babies and toddlers. In the longer term it can be a pool from which the babies can be allocated to families. The premises have already been secured, but support to fit them out properly is still needed. Employment Possibilities for Young People We have already observed that unemployment is a major problem among youths in South-eastern Europe. Many talented youngsters leave the region to try their luck in the west. The manager of a youth care institution in Belgrade would like to start up an internet café for young people which can be run by some computer wizards now in his institution. Following some training and guidance this could provide excellent working experience with opportunities for jobs in the ICT field. Appliances could be lent out by De Oude Beuk. I have already discussed these matters with Wim Wijting and he asked me some technical questions that I put to the people taking the initiative. In the spring of 2003 we would like to visit the spot to work out these matters. We are co-operating with a Swiss organisation to set up an employment scheme for young people living at an institution in Bihac (Bosnia). They want to found a sort of education and conference centre which (the same applies here) is run by the youths themselves. It is located at an old large manor which first has to be overhauled (by the youngsters themselves) and where about 15 young people could live and work to prepare themselves for jobs in the region. Several employers in the region participate in this project. The plan will be discussed in more detail in March. Technical Education We have worked together with FERM, a company from Genemuiden who are electrical power tool dealers, to provide some institutions in Yugoslavia with the tools necessary for the technical education of youngsters. FERM has taken care of shippings of materials to a Polytechnic school at Novi Sad, and to a technical education centre linked to an institution for physically and mentally disabled young people at Podgorica in Montenegro. It is important to FERM that staff employed by De Oude Beuk are seeing to it in person that the tools reach their destination in good order. Exchanges and Twinning between the Netherlands and Bulgaria Over recent months, important progress has been made in exchange projects. This concerns Dutch institutions which have entered into twinning arrangements with institutions in South-eastern Europe. In June, 2002, managers of youth care institutions visited Bulgaria. FICE Bulgaria conducted a tour of Bulgarian children’s homes including those of Russe and Isperih, in the northeast. The Bulgarians paid us a return visit in November, when they were shown round in Zwolle, Kampen and Hellendoorn. New appointments were made, and in the future more exchanges with a content emphasis will take place. FICE NL and FICE BUL will keep an eye on it from a distance. Experience has taught us that this type of contact must be built step by step in order to prevent disillusionment. We are trying to attract financial backing from external sources, e.g. the Foreign Office (Matra). Other Links In Yugoslavia there is much interest in co-operation as well. In March an institution from Oldenzaal will visit a children’s home at Belgrade with a view to entering into a long-term partnership. The preparatory work done for this sort of project is important. We must have support and enthusiasm from the Dutch institution and be assured of the match between the partners to be (target group, personality, etc.). In Amsterdam one primary school has announced they would like to set up a friendly relationship with a primary school in South-eastern Europe. The school selected for this, through mediation by liaison persons, is a school at Tuzla, in Bosnia. This school is attended by many refugee children from Srebrenica. Before starting up the twinning, we shall first visit this school. As we have observed already, it is important to have liaison persons/ reliable contacts on the spot. For me the FICE network is instrumental in this. One of the factors enabling us to set up a FICE support point in Bulgaria was the financial backing by De Oude Beuk. At this moment the youth care network is developing well. Support for New FICE Members In other candidate countries the opportunity given to Bulgaria is at times viewed with some jealousy. It may be possible for FICE-Inter to set up a fund to offer financial backing for new members/ support points on a temporary basis. Meanwhile, India has applied with a scheme to set up a youth care network in the surrounding countries in Asia, and I feel that this should be taken seriously. At the same time we have started a process, in the Bulgarian case, to share our views with the Government about continuing support from the Foreign Office. Hungary Finally, a word on Hungary. In this country people are busy setting up small businesses where children from institutions take a major part. Following a German and, I think, also Dutch example, a shop is being founded where girls will repair clothes and where boys can mend furniture. We will presently report in more detail. In Conclusion This is a somewhat lengthy report about the 4th quarter, but at the same time it is a start-up report as well. The short term emphasis, in my opinion – and I feel the same applies to De Oude Beuk – is on : - stimulating
the employment of underprivileged children, In a nutshell, we have much work to do. It is
therefore a good development that the Board of the Vereniging Kinderzorg,
my employer, has made it possible for me to invest more time in foreign
activities, effective from January 1, 2003. So to speak, I am being
lent to FICE, De Oude Beuk, etc. for 50% of my working hours under the
heading of ‘further development of a foreign policy’ supported
by Vereniging Kinderzorg of Zwolle, on a joint basis with a sister Christian
organisation, Vereniging Jeugdzorg PCK of Maarsbergen. In this way I
can organise the work and use the opportunities and means of all organisations
mentioned, for the benefit of underprivileged children in South-eastern
Europe. “Let’s do it!”
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