FICE The Netherlands Bi-annual report 2001/2002

During the last years youth-care in The Netherlands is changing in different points of view. Not only concerning its methods and systems but also concerning its organisation. By the influence of politics and clients ("Participation"!) youth-care is obliged to work more transparantly and the enlargement of the scale of organisation is still going on. All these mean too that the organisations as such have more independence to build up their own structure. They work more and more as a kind of "social enterprises" with their own budget and business-like manner of operating. Changes in the society have consequences in youth-care too, not only concerning the type of clients and the help they need, but also in how to build up the organisation. More and more the organisations of youth-care have their own strategy. Within that there is a great difference about how they maintain foreign relations. The globalisation and the unification of Europe have their influence too on youth-care.

During the past half year the board of FICE-NL considered how to react on these developments and it looked to its own structure and way of working to react to these developments in the right way. One of the consequences is that the Dutch FICE-section will do not longer pay attention to matters that only concern national youth-care. In the future FICE-NL will only conform to international exchange. Also activities for their own (Dutch) members must aim to the enlargement of international exchange and co-operation or aim to the enlargement of knowledge of youth-care in other countries and cultures.
FICE-NL co-operated in organising a "Festival of youth-care", particularly for young people (students) to show what going on in that field and to invite them to look for a career in youth-care. We promoted the international aspects of that work, including P.E.P. The first Festival was a very big success with thousands of visitors! FICE-NL still is a pioneer in helping Minor Asylants in The Netherlands.

More and more FICE-NL will build up bilateral contacts with FICE-sections in other countries and so far as it can FICE-NL will assist new members to enable them to have international contacts and support. By prefer that assistance will be given in accordance with FICE-International.
From this point of view FICE-NL has continued its assistance to the new Bulgarian section of FICE. We shared the second conference in Südosteuropa that resulted in its associated membership of FICE International. We offered that section financial support (from a private foundation) to build up the section, but we demanded a work-scheme for the next two years as a guarantee that things remain going on. FICE-NL is organising bilateral contacts between institutions of youth-care in The Netherlands and in Südosteuropa. That direct contacts between people (staff and young people) give the best contribution to exchange and understanding.
New for FICE-NL is its partnership with the "Association Experts on the Problems of Children" in Russia. FICE-NL helps that new Russian institute that aims to upgrade people in youth-care and to introduce new methods in helping children in need, starting with the big problem of street-children in Moscow. We offered our network (experts, trainers etc.) and out experience and linked it to FICE International. The quick result is the invitation of the Executive Committee of FICE International to the new Russian organisation to share the club. By this way FICE-NL invites other sections that are interested to deal with this co-operation.
Study-tours are being prepared to Bulgaria and to The Antillen and next May a Hungarian group comes to Holland to visit youth-care. The Hungarians are asked to tell about the developments in their country to the members of FICE-NL during our annual meeting.
From this Spring FICE-NL has finally its own web-site: WWW.FICE.NL; we are building up our site still and we like to have links to all the FICE-members that have a web-site too. Please give us your web-address and we link to you.

Reactions can be given to: wjjm.kok@hccnet.nl