| EUROFAX 88 | |
| January 2000 | |
"Eurofax is the monthly newsletter of the European Scout Region. It is produced by the European Scout Office and is distributed to all member associations in the European Region, and others. Reproduction of articles without alteration is encouraged but Eurofax should be acknowledged as the source of the information."
In order to promote democracy and human rights in south eastern Europe, where many people have suffered from severe human rights violations, the Youth Directorate of the Council of Europe is proposing a new Action Plan. It invites youth organisations to make their own specific contribution to the Stability Programme of the Council of Europe, which aims to ensure: peaceful development in Europe; truly pan-European cooperation; a reduction of tension between ethnic groups; the strengthening civil society and its sustainable development; the active participation of young people in public life. The European Scout Region identifies closely with these objectives and is keen to participate through its representatives in the Council of Europe and through partnerships developed by its member organisations. This will be one of the topics discussed at the Symposium on the Mission of Scouting in Slovenia this month.
The new DG IV of the Council of Europe, responsible for culture, education, youth, sport and sustainable development, is planning a seminar on cultural conflicts, human rights and human dignity. Its aim will be to promote capacity building and networking and produce a framework of reflection for the implementation of the Action Plan. Participants will be managers of projects in south eastern Europe, youth workers, youth organisations, youth services, researchers, international organisations and civil servants responsible for youth affairs. The European Scout Region will participate with representatives of Scout associations involved in projects in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia FYRO, Romania and Yugoslavia.
A special fund has been created by the European Youth Foundation to support projects in south eastern Europe. Over the next three years, it is also planning training courses in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, a study visit to Kosovo and multi-lateral activities. A South East European Centre is to be established in Ohrid, Macedonia FYRO. Information about these initiatives will be collected by the European Scout Region’s representatives at the Council of Europe and distributed to all national Scout associations soon. We hope that your association will find ways of participating in or supporting them.
The Council of Europe invited the European Scout Region to attend a meeting in Strasbourg, France, from 13-15 December to evaluate projects in Kosovo. The meeting brought together 25 representatives from various local, national and international organisations which have developed projects for Kosovo. Dominique Bénard, David Bull and representatives of Besa Scouts Albania attended to present the results of our Children for the Future project for young refugees from Kosovo.
This project was one of the most significant projects presented. It enabled 480 children to leave the nightmare of war and take part in attractive activities with other children last summer. Activities were provided over a period of 5 weeks in 3 towns in Albania (Tirana, Durres and Korce). An exhibition on the project was prepared by the European Scout Region to be displayed at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. It was inaugurated by the ambassadors and chargés d’affaires of several countries involved in the Stability Programme for South East Europe. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Pro Victimis Foundation in Geneva and to the national Scout associations which provided support to enable this project to be implemented so successfully.
Two new issues of Euro.Scout.Doc have been produced: one on communication (issue no. 3) and one on regional structures (issue no. 4). They will be distributed via EuroPak and made available on the regional web site soon: www.scout.org/europe.
This year there have been 32 applications to the Centenary Fund, which supports innovative projects to develop national Scout associations in Europe. In general, the quality is higher than last year and the European Scout Committee now has the unenviable task of examining all the projects and deciding how to allocate the grants in the best possible way. The final decision will be taken at the next committee meeting, to be held from 31 March to 2 April in Brussels, and associations will be informed as quickly as possible.
As you may already be aware, the Youth for Europe and European Voluntary Service programmes are due to be replaced by the new Youth Action Community Programme (YACP) in January 2000. However, it is expected that there will be a transitional period before the Vademecum and application forms of the YACP are published. The European Youth Forum (YFJ) has even advised us that the old YfE and EVS application forms could be used for the first selection round of the YACP. Therefore, you are advised to prepare any applications that you are planning to submit for 1 February, even though the deadline may turn out to be later in the year. We will send you further information on this as soon as we receive it.
At the start of the new year, many young people are starting to plan their summer. Some will be planning their troop or unit camps, others may be looking for something a little longer for the summer season.
The European Scout Voluntary Programme offers young people from all over the world aged 18-30 the chance to work at one of 25 sites in Europe. They have to commit themselves to a minimum of 4 weeks at a site; the sites have to provide certain basic practical items, as well as training, evaluation and aftercare. Once basic information has been received, the young people need to contact the sites of their choice to make an application. The programme will run from 1 May to 30 September 2000.
Further information about the programme can be received from the headquarters of national Scout associations, on www.scout.org/europe or by contacting John Moffat at Kandersteg International Scout Centre, CH – 3718 Kandersteg, Switzerland. Tel: +41 33 675 82 82, email: europe4u@kandersteg,scout.org.
December’s EuroPak included an information sheet giving the participation fee for the next European Conference, to be held in Prague from 7-13 July 2001. The fee is †330 if you pay before 30 September 2000, †340 if you pay before 31 January 2001 and thereafter it is † 350. Accommodation at the conference hotel, Hotel Krystel, costs between †120 and †189 depending on the room and time of payment. We hope that this information will help you plan your budgets for the year 2001.
Information and application forms for these ever-popular courses in languages and intercultural learning will shortly be arriving at your association in January’s Europak. In 2000, courses will be held in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian. Completed forms should be returned to Anna Keep at the European Scout Office in Brussels by 22 February. If you would like to nominate a member of your association for one of these courses, and you are concerned that you may not receive information in time, please call Anna on +32 2 534 33 15, and she will fax or email a copy of the form. Unfortunately the forms are not available on the Internet this year.
Information on the Youth Directorate's programme of training courses in 2000 is now available from its web site, at www.coe.fr/youth/home.htm. Please note that applications should be sent to the European Scout Office in Brussels, and not directly to the Council of Europe. Deadlines vary from course to course, so please pay careful attention to the closing dates. This information was also distributed in December’s and January’s EuroPaks. For further information, please contact Anna Keep.
The Youth Forum (YFJ) has announced two forthcoming training seminars: on Marketing and Public Relations, from 26-30 April; on Sponsorship and Corporate Financing, from 14-18 June. Potential participants should be active in the international work of their association, as the programme is geared towards the needs of international youth organisations. There will be a small participation fee (usually around †100), which will be deducted from your travel reimbursement if you are selected to participate. If you are interested in being nominated by the European Scout Region to attend either of these courses, please contact Anna Keep.
If you have not yet subscribed to receive Eurofax directly from our free email subscription service, the time has now come! Just send one simple message:
The European Scout Office team is pleased to welcome Blaise Bachmann, from Switzerland and Canada, as our new Financial Assistant as from 17 January. We also congratulate Anne-Christine Vogelsang, our Administrative Assistant, on the birth of her daughter Roxane and welcome Christa Bovay-Jacqqi from Switzerland as her replacement until March. Finally, we say goodbye to Caroline Noser and thank her warmly for all her hard work over the last 8 months. Thanks to Caroline, we have an attractive new edition of Where to Stay in Europe.
Note: most seminar invitations and application forms are available on the ESR web site.
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