The FEANTSA conference 2008
16-12-2008

In the article from November 10th 2008, which is placed on our website, you can read that Fonden projekt UDENFOR once again is putting homelessness into focus, this time in co-operation with the artist and provocateur Jens Galschiøt. As a way to kick off a pan-European debate regarding the rights of homeless people, Jens Galschiøt has made a human-size bronze sculpture portraying a homeless man. November 12^th 2008 is this homeless man flying to London on business class.

But what was the point of bringing this special homeless man to London, some might wonder. The point was to bring it with us to the annual FEANTSA conference in Cardiff, Wales.

The European umbrella organization for NGO’s working with homelessness, FEANTSA, held its annual conference and general assembly in Cardiff, Wales, from November 13.th till 15^th. There is four Danish organization that are members of FEANTSA; Kofoeds Skole, Missionen blandt Hjemløse, SAND and projekt UDENFOR. This also means that it is still possible for other Danish organizations to join in, since all EU member states have several organizations that are members of FEANTSA. It will however be rewarding for all of you, who have not already visited the FEANTSA website – www.feantsa.org , to take a look at it. Here you can also find the official minutes from the conference.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Housing’, which has also been one of the main themes within FEANTSA’s work this year. This also means that the foundation for the European strategies of ‘ending homelessness’ has been laid. ‘Ending homelessness’ is both an EU-related strategy and national strategies in many European countries.  

It is however not a simple thing to end homelessness, and there is also many suggestions to how this should be done. Some are placing treatment and training into focus, others more resources to execute the work amongst homeless people and again others the right to housing. 

It is in my opinion strange that the question regarding the right to a home causes so much extra-talk. But that is just how it is when it comes to discussions in this country, and it was the exact same thing at the conference. It is not possible to guarantee that a person can have a right to a get a home, and it is definitely not possible to guarantee this for everybody, which would be the case, of it is made into a right. It is not possible to fund such a right at the moment, especially now when we are facing financial downturn. This was the words being said again and again during the discussions. 

In relation to the right to have a home, it can be useful to have a look at the law, known as ‘loi Dalo’ – visit the FEANTSA website: www.feantsa.org/code/en/pg.asp?Page=24&pk_id_news=1483 – which has been accepted in France and can be taken into consideration from December 1^st 2008. This law gives the homeless people and some other people the right to be housed, and at the same time the law is holding the authorities liable in securing a house to the persons mentioned in the law.

In France there are too few beds in the shelters, and the new law does not exactly change this, since it is dealing with the right to permanent housing of socially excluded persons. But here in Denmark a similar law would first of all reduce the number of new homeless people and secondly secure that people who are staying at temporary housing options are being transferred to permanent housing.  

The discussions during the conference certainly gave me an opportunity to wish for a debate in Denmark regarding the right to permanent housing for people with both social and health related problems that have great difficulties getting or maintaining a home for themselves. At the same time it would be good to introduce the ‘housing first’-strategy as the main strategy for the action towards homelessness in Denmark.   

In relation to the ‘ending homelessness’-strategy, FEANTSA would like to support a number of local and pan-European initiatives and campaigns across Europe the next few years.

Next year’s theme and thus the theme for the conference in Copenhagen will be ‘participation’, and projekt UDENFOR will be co-hosting this conference with FEANTSA. It will not be a problem, if a member organization from FEANTSA should choose an organization of users as their representative for the FEANTSA board, as long as it is a national organization.

Why don’t we show that we are one of the pioneers when it comes to participating people who are homeless or used to be homeless and including them in the institutions that work with bettering the conditions for the homeless? We can show this by choosing the Danish organization SAND as our representative in the board?       

Preben Brandt