FEANTSA Flash
February 2009

	ETHOS leaflets now available in more than a dozen EU languages!
	European Parliament Elections
	European Research Conference – Call for Papers!
	FEANTSA contributes to the Fundamental Rights Agency 2010 annual work programme
	FEANTSA launches new thematic newsletter on ‘Employability and Homelessness’
	FEANTSA seminar: ‘The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Tackling Homelessness at Local Level’, 28 May 2009, Brussels
	Homeless in Europe - Housing and Homelessness: models and practices from across Europe
	Latest ENHW Newsletter now online
	Conference on MPHASIS Project in Paris: Save the Date - 17 September 2009!
	European Commission launches public consultation on having a basic bank account
	European Parliament adopts mental health report
	Council for the Homeless created in Poland
	Emmaus celebrates its 60 years with a 660 km organised walk
	FNARS campaigns for end to police arrests in homeless shelters
	Focus Ireland submits proposed amendments to Child Care Act
	Klimaka: Organises a ‘sleep out’ and meets with government
	Polish FEANTSA members visit Focus Ireland for information exchange
	Belgium: 1,771 homeless people counted in Brussels
	Germany: Over one million people rely on food banks and food handouts
	Italy’s draft security law adopted by first chamber of the Parliament
	Japan: Unemployment soars and will increase numbers on the streets
	Russia: New bulletin on homelessness is launched
	Spain: Journalist spends 21 days on the streets of Madrid
	Spain: Many migrants facing unemployment and homelessness
	UK: Children still in poverty, despite having at least one parent in work
	UK: London Mayor promises to end rough sleeping by 2012
	Website to help medical staff treat patients who don’t speak their language
	47th session of the Commission for Social Development focuses on social integration
	France – FAPIL publishes manual on working with undocumented migrants
	France - Report on inadequate housing
	Germany – Federal government’s 3rd report on poverty and wealth
	UK – ‘Central and Eastern European Rough Sleepers in London: Repeat Survey’
	UK – New study on youth homelessness in Northern Ireland For upcoming events and conferences, do not forget to visit the FEANTSA Calendar of events!

	ETHOS leaflets now available in more than a dozen EU languages! [26/02/2009]
	Thanks to the hard work of our members, FEANTSA’s ETHOS leaflets are now available in 13 languages.  Setting out the European Typology of homelessness and housing exclusion, the ETHOS leaflets are an important tool for helping decision makers understand the complexity and scope of homelessness.  Previously only available in English and French, they are now available in Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish and Romanian.    To access them, please go to the bottom of the ETHOS page on the FEANTSA website: http://www.feantsa.org/code/en/pg.asp?Page=484
	European Parliament Elections [26/02/2009]
	The European Parliament elections will take place this year from 4-7 June across Europe.  736 Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s) will be elected by proportional representation to represent some 515 million EU citizens.  The European Parliament website on the 2009 elections is now up and running, and provides useful country specific information: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2009/default.htm?language=EN   A study has also recently been issued by the European Parliament which gives a good overview of electoral systems and provisions, with information by member state.  Download: The European Elections: EU legislation, national provisions and civic participation.   Now is the ideal time to lobby future MEP’s to ensure that they will give priority to housing and homelessness issues.  Candidate lists should be available in the coming weeks from the European Political Group websites.  The FEANTSA office has prepared a toolkit for FEANTSA members on the European Parliament elections.   EP Toolkit (members only) Forgotten your password?  Contact Ruth Owen (ruth.owen@feantsa.org)   For more information on the elections, please contact Stefania Del Zotto (Stefania.delzotto@feantsa.org) or Charlotta Odlind (Charlotta.odlind@feantsa.org)
	European Research Conference – Call for Papers! [26/02/2009]
	FEANTSA's European Observatory on Homelessness in collaboration with the European Network of Housing Research Working Group on Welfare Policy, Homelessness and Social Exclusion are pleased to announce the 4th Annual Research Conference on Homelessness in Europe. The theme for this year's Conference is 'Homelessness and Poverty' and it will take place in Paris on the 18th of September 2009.   Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words and submitted by the 18th of April 2009.  Submissions and further enquiries should be directed to feantsaconference@busch-geertsema.eu.   See here for more information on the conference and the call for papers.
	FEANTSA contributes to the Fundamental Rights Agency 2010 annual work programme  [26/02/2009]
	FEANTSA contributed to the consultation on the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights Draft annual work programme for 2010. FEANTSA welcomed many proposed activities and made several suggestions in areas relating to freedoms, equality, citizens’ rights, the 2010 European Year of combating poverty and social exclusion, and housing rights.   Click here to read FEANTSA's contribution.   Click here to visit the new EU Fundamental Rights Agency website.
	FEANTSA launches new thematic newsletter on ‘Employability and Homelessness’ [26/02/2009]
	FEANTSA has launched a new thematic newsletter on employment. ‘Employability and Homelessness’ will provide you with information about interesting employment initiatives for homeless people, latest resources of information as well as events on this topic from across Europe. The newsletter is FEANTSA’s response to the growing interest in approaches that tackle homelessness by combining housing and employment support in a holistic way. While the focus of the newsletter will be on homelessness, the information will also be useful for people working with other disadvantaged groups.   ‘Employability and Homelessness’ is part of FEANTSA’s employment forum which aims to facilitate mutual learning between all relevant stakeholders on issues around employment for people experiencing homelessness.   If you want to receive ‘Employability and Homelessness’ on a regular basis or if you have any questions, please write to Silke Paasche (silke.paasche@feantsa.org)     Read the newsletter here: http://feantsa.horus.be/code/EN/pg.asp?Page=1156   Learn more about FEANTSA’s Employment forum.
	FEANTSA seminar: ‘The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Tackling Homelessness at Local Level’, 28 May 2009, Brussels [26/02/2009]
	FEANTSA and the European Committee of the Regions will host a European seminar on ‘The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Tackling Homelessness at Local Level’ on the 28th of May, in Brussels.  (Please note, the event will NOT be taking place in April, as previously advertised.) Interpretation will be available in English, French and Spanish.   Three seminar sessions will look at: The impact of the economic crisis on profiles of homelessness (with speakers from Spain, the UK and France) The impact on budgets (with speakers from Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands) The impact on strategies (with speakers from Poland and Scotland) For more information visit FEANTSA's website.  To receive a registration form, please contact Ruth Owen (ruth.owen@feantsa.org)
	Homeless in Europe - Housing and Homelessness: models and practices from across Europe [26/02/2009]
	The Winter edition of Homeless in Europe is now available online! Focusing on the Annual Theme of 2008 - Housing and Homelessness - this edition further explores some of the issues that were raised amongst participants at FEANTSA's Annual Conference in Cardiff, and gives more examples of current practices in different European countries. Looking at housing models, the different actors involved in housing homeless people, the prevention of evictions and more, the magazine includes contributions from Scandinavia, Italy, Austria, Flanders, Catalonia, Ireland and Wales. If you would like to receive a paper copy of the magazine, please send your request to Charlotta Odlind (charlotta.odlind@feantsa.org).
	Latest ENHW Newsletter now online [26/02/2009]
	The Winter 2008 Edition of the ENHW newsletter (FEANTSA’s European Network of Homeless Health Workers) is now available online.  Containing experiences from health professionals across the EU, useful health resources and a calendar of events related to health, the aim of the newsletter is to share information among professionals working or involved in the area of health and homelessness, in particular in Europe.   To subscribe to the newsletter, or to find out more, email Stefania Del Zotto (Stefania.delzotto@feantsa.org)   Download the ENHW Winter 2008 newsletter.
	Conference on MPHASIS Project in Paris: Save the Date - 17 September 2009! [26/02/2009]
	The day before the European Research Conference, on the 17th of September 2009, in Paris, a Conference will be held presenting the work of the MPHASIS project - Mutual Progress on Homelessness through Advancing and Strengthening Information Systems:  How to Improve the Information Base on Homelessness, funded under the PROGRESS budget.   For more information, please visit: http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/research/mphasis/
	European Commission launches public consultation on having a basic bank account [26/02/2009]
	The European Commission has launched a public consultation on ‘Financial inclusion: Ensuring access to a basic bank account’. In their package, adopted in November 2007, called ‘Single Market for 21st Century Europe’, the Commission highlighted the need to ensure that nobody is denied access to a basic bank account.   The consultative document contains a description of the levels, causes and consequences of financial exclusion in the EU. Various policy solutions that have proved to be effective in Member States are also included, as well as an invitation to stakeholders to express their views on the possible roles by the private and public sectors in making sure every person has access to a basic bank account.   The Commission encourages all interested stakeholders to participate and invites them to respond to the consultation by 6th April 2009.
	European Parliament adopts mental health report [26/02/2009]
	The European Parliament has adopted a report on mental health drafted by Greek MEP Evangelia Tzampazi. The report welcomes the European Pact on Mental Health and Well-Being adopted last year and encourages the establishment of an EU Platform in this context, while it calls on the Commission to keep the proposal for a European strategy on mental health as its long-term objective. It also calls on Member States to draw up-to-date mental health legislation which is in line with international human rights obligations.   The report, which reviews the priority areas identified in the European Pact, addresses the issue of combating stigma and social exclusion and calls for the organisation of public information and awareness raising campaigns. It stresses the crucial role of the media in changing perceptions, the need for training of key staff, and calls on Member States to support the participation of organisations representing people with mental health problems and their carers in the formulation and implementation of policies. The report also stresses the need for high-quality, accessible, effective and universal mental health services.    In the EU, one in four people will experience some form of mental health issue at least once in their lives, while depression is one of the most common disorders with 59,000 deaths a year being due to suicides, which are mostly linked to mental disorders. Vulnerable and marginalised groups are more likely to suffer from mental health problems. Together with other factors, mental health issues can be one of the triggers or the consequences of homelessness.   Read the report on the European Parliament website.
	Council for the Homeless created in Poland [26/02/2009]
	FEANTSA member The Pomeranian Forum In Aid of Getting Out of Homelessness has established the ‘Pomeranian Council for the Homeless – “The Council of Twelve”’ (Pomorska Rada Osób Bezdomnych – „Rada Dwunastu”). The Council was created in answer to Forum member needs, and as a Forum consultative body, it will cooperate with Forum members, give opinions on solutions concerning the support and (re)integration of homeless people, as well as provide its own solutions to working with the homeless. The Homeless Council will follow the rule “nothing about us - without us” („nic o nas - bez nas”) and will be made up of people who were or are still homeless.  It is hoped that the Council will not only allow the Pomeranian Forum to revise solutions worked out so far, but may also become a source of inspiration for the future.   The aims of the Pomeranian Council for the Homeless are:       1.   To prepare recommendations regarding homelessness;       2.      To organise and participe in conferences and seminars; 3.      To prepare and distribute publications on homelessness (bulletin, ads, posters); 4.      To manage a voluntary centre; 5.      To enable access to the internet in homeless institutions.
	Emmaus celebrates its 60 years with a 660 km organised walk [26/02/2009]
	This year, French FEANTSA member Emmaus celebrates its 60th anniversary.  To mark this special occasion, Emmaus is inviting employers, users, volunteers and anyone else who is interested to cross France from East to West, going through Lyons, birth place of Abbé Pierre.  The route is 660 km long and will be divided into 11 stages.  Participants are free to choose their means of transport, but no cars allowed!  People may want to proceed on foot or by horse, bicycle or roller blades.  The aim is to reach the end destination by the 4th and 5th of June, the evening before the start of the Tour de France.    It should be an unforgettable opportunity to exchange ideas and meet new people.  For more information, please contact dlelievre@emmaus.asso.fr or cbresler@emmaus.asso.fr
	FNARS campaigns for end to police arrests in homeless shelters [26/02/2009]
	French FEANTSA member FNARS has issued a press release calling for the immediate end of police arrests in homeless shelters.  Several homeless shelters around France have been targeted by police in a bid to arrest undocumented migrants.   In its press release, FNARS reiterates that shelters are acting legally by taking in undocumented migrants, who, like any other person in distress, have the right to shelter under the article L111-2 of the Social Action Code of Families.    Arrests inside shelters jeopardises this law and discourages undocumented migrants or people in an irregular situation from seeking help.  This further isolates them and forces them to live in dangerous conditions on the streets or in squats.  FNARS calls on the state to guarantee unconditional access to shelter as a fundamental right.      For more information, contact Bernard Loye, tel +33 1 48 01 82 06.
	Focus Ireland submits proposed amendments to Child Care Act [26/02/2009]
	On 4th February Focus Ireland announced that it had submitted a series of proposed amendments to the 1991 Child Care Act to the Minister for Children Barry Andrews as part of their campaign to secure a legal right to aftercare for young people leaving State care.   The charity’s Life President, Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy, called on the government to place the right to aftercare on a statutory footing in order to protect vulnerable young people leaving State care from many problems such as homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, exploitation and crime. Health and Safety Executive statistics reveal that there are over 5,000 children and young people in care (80% in foster care and the rest in residential centres for children). Currently, the State has no legal obligation once a person turns 18 years of age to provide aftercare services.   FEANTSA mentioned Focus Ireland’s campaign launch for the statutory right to aftercare in its November 2008 Flash: http://feantsa.horus.be/code/en/pg.asp?Page=7&pk_id_news=2340
	Klimaka: Organises a ‘sleep out’ and meets with government [26/02/2009]
	Greek FEANTSA member Klimaka, will organise its fourth annual “Sleep Out” in Athens central square (Klafthmonos square) on 6th – 7th March.  “Sleep Out” is an event that not only shows support for homeless people in a symbolic way, but also underlines the need for the Greek state and society in general to take responsibility for the problem. During this event, Klimaka staff will spend the night on the street calling people to action and informing people about Klimaka’s work.   Klimaka also recently met with the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity.  The results were rather general, but it is important to note that the Ministry at least had this initiative. Klimaka was the only NGO invited and it emphasised the need not only for specific action in a professional and targeted way, but also for the Mphasis Project, which has the possibility of addressing the phenomenon statistically. Klimaka spent time explaining the ETHOS typology and why it is essential to give it importance. The new Ethos Typology was printed in large print and distributed to several Ministries and other stakeholders.
	Polish FEANTSA members visit Focus Ireland for information exchange [26/02/2009]
	From 13th-19th January, representatives of the Pomeranian Forum In Aid of Getting out of Homelessness, the Pomeranian Council for the Homeless, Dziennik Ba³tycki and Radio Gdañsk visited representatives of Focus Ireland in Dublin. The meeting was organized within the framework of the project Werbel Demokracji - kampania na rzecz przelamywania stereotypów osób bezdomnych ('Campagin to break stereotypes about the homeless'). The four day meeting became a platform for the transfer and exchange of experience, which has greatly inspired the Forum in developing the concept of an awareness raising campaign in the Pomeranian Province. The Polish participants would like to thank the representatives of Focus Ireland, and Roughan MacNamara and Zoe Hughes in particular, for their warm welcome and openness.
	Belgium: 1,771 homeless people counted in Brussels [26/02/2009]
	A count held on the 19th of November 2008 in Brussels revealed that there are 1,771 homeless people living in the Belgian capital.  This figure includes rough sleepers as well as those sleeping in shelters.  The Belgian Minister for Public Assistance, Evelyne Huytebroeck, says ‘This type of census is the first of its kind in Belgium, and is part of a European initiative to gain real statistics on the homeless population and how it lives.’   The census was carried out by the association ‘La Strada’ which galvanised 145 people to systematically count the homeless people that they found that night.   The public authorities recognise that this gives nothing but a ‘snap shot’ of the problem, but it is at least a first measure of understanding the homelessness problem in the region.  Brussels Minister for Public Assistance, Pascal Smet, admits that housing needs to be strengthened, links with public authorities need to be reinforced and contact with actors on the ground need to be maintained.  He envisages a more qualitative count for the future, which would reveal more about the pathways into homelessness.    The count shows that 262 people slept on the street in Brussels on that night.   Meanwhile, Diogenes, a Belgian organisation that works with homeless people in Brussels, has been investigating why people are sleeping on the streets, rather than accessing shelters.  Its findings show that shelter provision is rarely adapted to their specific needs.  The top five problems identified were: too few spaces for homeless couples; too much noise in shelters; lack of safety; too few places that allowed dogs; too few places where the supervised consumption of alcohol was permitted.
	Germany: Over one million people rely on food banks and food handouts [26/02/2009]
	The work of the so-called ‘Tafeln’ (food banks) in Germany has increased over the years as over a million people who cannot afford to buy food in the regular supermarkets are turning to the over 800 ‘Tafeln’ that exist for help.   Since starting its activity in 1999, the ‘Tafel’ in the city of Nauen for example, has grown considerably. Marina Sult, Director of the organisation explains: “When we started in 1999, we had around ten clients who came to us twice a week. Today there are five additional food banks in the region. Every week we serve around 1,600 people”. In Germany today, big supermarket chains such as ‘Metro’, ‘Lidl’ or ‘Aldi’ donate more than 10,000 food products every year.    Sociologist, Stefan Selke, recently criticised the ‘success story’ of the food banks as a “normalisation” of something that should be scandalous – poverty that is reaching out to a wide spectrum of society. While food banks used to be an emergency service for people experiencing homelessness, they are slowly developing into a full-supply structure. Selke himself worked in a food bank for a year and recently wrote a book ‘Fast ganz unten’ (‘Almost at the bottom’) about his experience.   The ‘Bundesverband Deutsche Tafel’ (Federation of German Food Banks) rejects this criticism. According to them, it is not the food banks that are at the origin of the problem, but a growing poverty in Germany. Says Norbert Weich, President of the ‘Tafeln’ in Berlin-Brandenburg: “Instead of talking about help, we organised help”.
	Italy’s draft security law adopted by first chamber of the Parliament [26/02/2009]
	The Italian senate has adopted a draft security law which foresees a number of measures of great concern for civil society and doctor organisations.  These include the setting up of a national homeless register; the possibility for local authorities to de-register residents from council records if the place they live in fails to comply with sanitary requirements; and the obligation for general practitioners to denounce undocumented migrants seeking medical care. The draft security law will now be discussed in the other chamber of the Parliament.   FEANTSA Italian member fioPSD joined up with other organisations to raise awareness amongst the general public and members of parliament on the impact that the law can have on the fundamental rights and social integration of homeless people and of other vulnerable groups. A specific website has been created in this context. ‘Avvocati di strada’, a homeless lawyer organisation and member of fioPSD, has started a campaign to grant free legal counselling to doctors who are potentially threatened by the draft law while providing care to undocumented users.   To view the web site created by fioPSD, see Residente della Repubblica.   Read Avvocati di strada's press release (in Italian).   To read about other initiatives related to the draft law, read FEANTSA’s November 2008 Flash article.
	Japan: Unemployment soars and will increase numbers on the streets [26/02/2009]
	Many Japanese workers are finding themselves out on the street as major companies are cutting their forces due to the economic crisis. For many years Japan has lived up to an ‘ideal standard’ of being able to provide people with lifetime employment. Now, however, now  part-time, temporary or contract workers are quickly discovering that the unemployment safety net is out of date.   Nearly one-third of the Japanese work force is made up of temporary workers, including 3.8 million bottom-tier workers sent around the country to provide labour on demand. Temporary workers are given hard factory jobs with an average basic monthly wage of about 150,000 yen (about 1, 022 euros). When they are laid off and evicted from housing provided by the employer, they usually have no money and need to quickly find another similar job that provides them with accommodation. An independent union organiser said, “It’s a scheme to attract the poor to take the low-paying, hard labour and keep them in the system”.   Makota Yuasa, head of the Independent Life Support Centre, a grass-roots activist group, says: “In Japan, people quite often become homeless as soon as they lose their jobs. There is no protection for people who are able to work but are out of jobs”.   The Japanese government released statistics last month estimating that some 125,000 part-time workers will lose their jobs by March. Labour officials cannot follow all those who have lost their employment, but of the 45,800 who have been recorded, the government found that 2,700 became homeless.
	Russia: New bulletin on homelessness is launched [26/02/2009]
	Earlier this month, a bulletin entitled ‘Homelessness in modern Russia: Problems and Solutions’ was launched by The Inter-regional Network for Overcoming Social Exclusion.  Funded by the humanitarian agency Dan Church Aid, and the European Union, the bulleting includes statistics, expert recommendations, and experiences of NGOs and ministries.  Homeless people have contributed directly to the preparation of the bulletin.    In Russia, the loss of a house entails not just the loss of accommodation, but also the loss of a residence permit.  Almost all social and medical aid given by the Russian state is connected with having this permit.  Without it, it is also impossible to work legally, get married, register children in school…It is estimated that currently four million people live without one.  The Bulletin covers this situation and calls for a change in the law to restore civil rights to homeless people.   To access the bulletin (in Russian), visit http://www.pravonadom.spb.ru/main.php?g=articles&c=13&v=i&i=1717
	Spain: Journalist spends 21 days on the streets of Madrid [26/02/2009]
	Spanish journalist, Samanta Villar, spent 21 days on the streets of Madrid with people who are homeless as part of a series of TV ‘documentary-journalism’ reports. This was the first of a series of programmes as part of a series entitled ’21 días’ (’21 days’) in which the journalist spends 21 days living another life to learn how others live in situations completely different to hers. Villar says: “There are problems in life that you can only understand if you live in that particular person’s skin”, affirming that the main intention is to show people the whole reality of each situation, “…with the tears, smiles, fears, anxieties and always with truth”.   Villar also related the experiences of some of Madrid’s homeless population via the camera, such as 53 year old Manuel who had been sleeping rough since the age of 14 and Said who spends the nights sleeping in an abandoned, beat-up car. Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution states: “All Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing. The public authorities shall promote the conditions necessary and establish the pertinent norms to make this right effective…”. One homeless man, Conrado, simply says: “I don’t believe in anything anymore”.
	Spain: Many migrants facing unemployment and homelessness [26/02/2009]
	The Jaén province of Andalucía has been overwhelmed with thousands of destitute jobseekers looking for food and shelter. The majority of these jobseekers are migrants from Senegal, Gambia, Algeria, Morocco and a few from Romania and Bulgaria. Local officials and charity workers say migrants have been coming for years to work on the olive harvest in Andalucía, but never in such large numbers, or with so little chance of finding a job.   The town of Ubeda has turned its indoor sports centre into a giant temporary shelter for people who are homeless at night. There is a triple crisis facing immigrants in Spain this winter, as the home construction industry has collapsed now that the housing bubble has burst. Secondly, Spaniards who have previously not done farm jobs are beginning to accept any work that they can get due to the financial crisis and are sometimes given preference by Spanish employers. Thirdly, the late start to the olive harvest due to rain and snow has left many workers without pay for weeks.   Antonio Moral Muñoz, Vice-President of the local Red Cross, says: “This year is more problematic because this famous crisis means that Spaniards working in construction have lost their jobs, so they are harvesting olives”. The charity, Caritas, fed 700 immigrant jobseekers during one night in the town of Ubeda which has a population of 34,000.   The 4.5 million immigrants in Spain are now losing work at twice the rate of Spaniards in a country where unemployment is above 3 million. Over a million more workers are expected to be laid off in Spain by 2010, taking the total above four million.
	UK: Children still in poverty, despite having at least one parent in work [26/02/2009]
	A recent study published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals that there has been a sharp increase in children living in poverty who have at least one parent in work.  This challenges the UK government’s message that employment is the best way out of poverty.   When the research was last conducted five years ago, the majority of children in poverty had parents who were unemployed. The 2009 study shows the majority of children living in poverty now have at least one parent in work, but they are earning so little they are unable to drag their family above the poverty line. Says Helen Barnard, policy and research manager at the Joseph Rowntree foundation, "The idea is that you get a job, and through this job, you will progress upwards and be lifted out of poverty in the long term," she said. "But for a lot of people, the jobs they have been going into have been low-paid, casual and short-term, and often they are back on to benefits very quickly."  For more information on this report, visit: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/ending-child-poverty-changing-economy
	UK: London Mayor promises to end rough sleeping by 2012 [26/02/2009]
	The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has pledged to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2012. The Mayor promised to tackle homelessness in London, where more than half of the UK’s rough sleepers are, in his draft London Housing Strategy from November 2008.   Mr Johnson said: “We must aim to get people off the streets and into work…the number of rough sleepers experiencing the ‘revolving door’ of homelessness should be reduced”. Homeless organisations have welcomed the Mayor’s proposals. FEANTSA UK member Homeless Link announced that a quarter of people sleeping rough in the capital are from Eastern Europe, as they experience sudden unemployment due to the economic recession.
	Website to help medical staff treat patients who don’t speak their language [26/02/2009]
	Many doctors and nurses are often confronted with a language barrier problem when they come to treat vulnerable patients.  Such was the experience of Charles Vanbelle, a French doctor who decided to create a website with 250 pre-recorded, simple, medical questions in 13 languages, to which the patient can simply answer yes or no.  The website does not claim to replace the valuable services of a translator, but as Vanbelle, explains, ‘it does help to avoid delays in diagnosis and unnecessary examinations.’   Vanbelle wants to prevent all commercial exploitation of the website and would like to encourage its use among non-French doctors.  He’s hoping to have the medical questions available in English soon and is currently looking for a Turkish translator.   Visit http://www.traducmed.fr/
	47th session of the Commission for Social Development focuses on social integration [26/02/2009]
	The 47th session of the UN Commission for Social Development was held from 5th-13th February in New York with social integration being the priority theme for 2009-2010. On the opening day of the session, Sha Zukang, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that whilst social integration has been useful in helping societies achieve national development, it still did not get the attention it deserved on the development agenda.   In his statement, Michael Sedlacek, Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic representing the European Union, stressed the need to increase focus on social inclusion and the introduction of special measures to tackle homelessness and the necessity of having universal and flexible social security schemes with adequate and sustainable pensions. The minister also mentioned the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion in 2010, adding that the promotion of social integration could only be achieved through the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.   The Commission Chairperson, Kristi Lintonen of Finland, also stressed that full realisation of social integration could not be achieved without the contribution of, and cooperation with, civil society.
	France – FAPIL publishes manual on working with undocumented migrants [26/02/2009]
	FEANTSA French member FAPIL (Federation of Associations for Housing Provision) has issued a practical manual for volunteers and charity workers working with undocumented migrants entitled ‘The reception of undocumented migrants and police interventions – what should I do?’ In French - "L'accueil des sans papiers et interventions policières: que dois-je faire?"   Download the manual in French.
	France - Report on inadequate housing [26/02/2009]
	The French association, Fondation Abbé-Pierre has recently launched its 2009 report on inadequate housing in France.  It specifically covers the situation of older people, the causes behind social segregation, and assesses the DALO law, the enforceable right to housing, two years after its establishment was announced.   For more information, go to: http://www.fondation-abbe-pierre.fr/publications.php?id=123&filtre=publication_rml
	Germany – Federal government’s 3rd report on poverty and wealth [26/02/2009]
	The German Federal government has published its third report on poverty and wealth. Concerning homelessness, the report mentions the following: “According to estimates by the Federal Association for Homeless Persons (BAG W) in 2006 the number of homeless persons amounted to 254,000 and was thus about half the 1998 figures (530,000)”.   Download the Executive summary of the report.
	UK – ‘Central and Eastern European Rough Sleepers in London: Repeat Survey’ [26/02/2009]
	Homeless Link has recently produced a report on rough sleepers from Central and Eastern European countries in London.  Research conducted in November 2008 suggests that 25% of rough sleepers in London are from A8 and A10 countries, which shows an increase from previous data.   Download the 'Central and Eastern European Rough Sleepers in London: Repeat Survey'.   Further information on the topic can be found at this link: http://www.homeless.org.uk/cee09/
	UK – New study on youth homelessness in Northern Ireland [26/02/2009]
	FEANTSA member the Council for the Homeless in Northern Ireland has published a new report on youth homelessness entitled ‘Young People Telling It Like It Is’.   The report was commissioned by the Housing Executive to establish the types of young people (aged 16-21) who are likely to become homeless, and other issues on youth homelessness.   Download 'Young People Telling It Like It Is'. The FEANTSA Flash is supported by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013). This programme was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment and social affairs area, as set out in the Social Agenda, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy goals in these fields. The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries. To that effect, PROGRESS purports at: providing analysis and policy advice on employment, social solidarity and gender equality policy areas; monitoring and reporting on the implementation of EU legislation and policies in employment, social solidarity and gender equality policy areas; promoting policy transfer, learning and support among Member States on EU objectives and priorities; and relaying the views of the stakeholders and society at large. For more information see: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/progress/index_en.html FEANTSA is supported financially by the European Commission. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.