feantsa presentation
TRANSCRIPT
FEANTSA
Presentation
Membership
Fédération européenne des associations nationales travaillant avec les sans-abri (European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless)
More than 100 member organisations in 25 EU Member States and other European countries
National and regional umbrella organisations of service providers for homeless people
Full/associate/corresponding members
Objectives FEANTSA works closely with the EU institutions, and has
consultative status at the Council of Europe and the United Nations. It receives financial support from the European Commission.
FEANTSA is committed to: Engaging in constant dialogue with the European institutions and
national and regional governments to promote the development and implementation of effective measures to fight homelessness.
Conducting and disseminating research and data collection to promote better understanding of the nature, extent, causes of, and solutions to, homelessness.
Promoting and facilitating the exchange of information, experience and good practice between FEANTSA’s member organisations and relevant stakeholders with a view to improve policies and practices addressing homelessness.
Raising public awareness about the complexity of homelessness and the multidimensional nature of the problems faced by homeless people
Decision-Making structure
Democratically organised General Assembly (GA) Administrative Council (AC) Executive Committee (EC) Finance Committee (President, treasurer,
director and finance officer) Secretariat (implements the work
programme)
General Assembly Is composed of all full members; other members may assist in
a consultative capacity. Has the following responsibilities:
To decide the basic policy (work programmes) To approve the budget and accounts. To elect and dismiss members of the Administrative Council. To amend the statutes. To exclude members. To dissolve the association.
Decisions are taken by a simple majority. The votes are distributed on the basis of 10 votes per Member State.
Meets 1 x per year (usually in connection with the annual conference)
Administrative Council One representative from each EU Member State with a full
member, Meets 3 x / year Elected by the General Assembly for 2 years (renewable) Elects Executive Committee Reduced responsibilities (see AC document):
Membership applications Adopts and develops the annual work programme and the
annual budget Adopts policy statements Establishes working groups Decides on personnel structure and organisation of work of
the Secretariat, dismissal of director Decides on internal regulations of the secretariat
Decisions by simple majority. Consensus is strived for.
Executive Committee Elected by and of the Administrative Council for 2 years
(renewable) Maximum 7 members, including the President, the 2
vice-presidents, the treasurer and the secretary. Increased responsibilities (see AC document)
Prepares and implements longer term strategies Prepares decisions of the Administrative Council Monitors and implements the annual work programme Supervises staff management Monitors the research of the Observatory
Decisions are taken by majority voting, strives for consensus
Meets 4 x per year
Working Groups I
Appointed by the AC Aim: Develop thematic expertise and
facilitate exchanges of good practices Prepare policy documents, background
documents, toolkits, databases… Prepare conferences Meet 2 x per year
Working Groups II
Housing (8 members) Data Collection (5 members, 2 observers) Employment (8 members) Housing Rights (4 members, 2 observers) Health and Social Protection (8 members,
2 observers) Participation (9 members) Migration (4 members, 1-year mandate)
Transnational Exchange Initiatives
Thematic Fora •Health
•Housing Rights•Employment
Knowledge Forum •Research Observatory
•Data Collection
Public Fora •Local authorities
•(HABITACT)•Ministries Forum
FEANTSA
Transnational Exchange Initiatives
European Network of Homeless Health Workers (ENHW)
Housing Rights Watch HABITACT Informal Ministries Forum Employability and Homelessness Forum
Set up shortly after the 2006 conference devoted to health.
Virtual network of about 350 contacts across Europe, mainly health professionals working with homeless people.
LinkedIn Group Newsletter three/four times a year :1. Exchange and mutual learning, 2. Information about available resources and
relevant events.
Launched in November 2008 Links together interdisciplinary groups of voluntary organisations,
lawyers and academics from different countries, who are committed to promoting the right to housing for all.
Amongst other, aims at: sharing information on relevant legislation and case-law at different levels, monitoring the development of the housing situation from a rights-based perspective, and supporting change in national and European public policies with the aim of better implementing of the right to housing.
Currently composed of 15 national correspondents, most of them members of Housing Rights Expert group.
Received funding for 2010 – a person will start part-time in March. Conference on the right to housing in Barcelona in May 2010.
HABITACT
European exchange forum on local homeless strategies
8 founding cities: Amsterdam, Athens, Esch-sur-Alzette, Dublin, Ghent, Madrid, Odense, Vitoria-Gasteiz
12 partner cities 5 project streams: policy exchange,
communications, project development, partnership development, promotion
HABITACT
Policy exchange: Peer Reviews Policy Bank
Communications: e-bulletin Website www.habitact.eu
Project development: Research proposal on local welfare systems and homelessness under the Seventh
Framework Programme of the European Commission Life Long Learning
Partnership development: Extending network Funding opportunities
Promotion
European Observatory on Homelessness
The European Observatory on Homelessness (EOH), set up by FEANTSA, carries out transnational research on homelessness and housing exclusion.
Policy-focused and academic research are an integral part of FEANTSA’s work, a good understanding of homelessness and critical appraisal of homelessness services are key to developing effective homelessness strategies, preventing homelessness and promoting good practice in homelessness services.
FEANTSA’s statutory bodies decide on the research strategy, the annual research programmes, and the research themes.
Recent work by the EOH has included:• a review on the state of knowledge on homelessness to inform the 2010 Consensus Conference on Homelessness, • the 2011 exploration of barriers to social housing for homeless people in the EU and • a 2012 study exploring the enumeration of homelessness in the 2011 censuses conducted across the EU
Once a year, the EOH organises a European Research Conference. The EOH produces two issues of the European Journal of Homelessness and one Comparative Study per year.
FEANTSA History
September 1985 – 12 countries participated in the first European Seminar on Poverty and Homlessness – Cork, Ireland. The seminar ended with a resolution titled
Homelessness in the European Community. 8 main recommendations including European funding
for an association of organisations working with homeless people in the member states
April 1989 – FEANTSA legally recognised
Annual Themes
1997 – Services for Homeless People 1998 – Support and Housing in Europe 1999 – Women and Homelessness in Europe 2001 – Access to Housing 2002 – Immigration and Homelessness in
Europe 2003 – Co-operation and Networking to fight
Homelessness 2004 – Prevention of Homelessness
Annual Themes Cont’d 2005 – Social Emergency and Crisis Intervention
in large European Cities 2006 – Health and Homelessness 2007 – Employment and Homelessness 2008 – Housing and Homelessness 2009 – Participation and Homelessness 2010 – European Consensus Conference on
Homelessness 2011 – Quality in Social Services from the
Perspective of Services Working with Homeless People
Funding
FEANTSA receives partial funding from the European Commission
The rest of the funding is made up of membership fees, conference fees and grants
Communication ToolsFEANTSA website• Public section• Members’ only section• Observatory Site
Publications• Homeless in Europe Magazine• Flash Newsletter• LINK (internal members’ newsletter)
Social Media
http://www.facebook.com/FEANTSA
http://www.twitter.com/feantsa http://www.linkedin.com/company/feantsa
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCduBLTqCvXo_sgbLvq37wyQ
