ERASMUS INTENSIVE PROGRAM

Transcription

1 ERASMUS INTENSIVE PROGRAM TILBURG, THE NETHERLANDS FEBRUARY 2014 SWITZERLAND DEMIERRE Charlie, DERVEY Sylvie, KOBULAN Mizgin, NAROYAN Gayané & VIRET Camille.

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. The current situation in Fribourg, Switzerland A. The number of homeless people as well as people at risk of losing their home B. The availability of affordable and social housing for different social groups 2. The current policies in Fribourg, Switzerland A. Prevent and tackle homelessness B. Provide affordable housing (via for instance housing benefits or social housing) for all or for targeted groups C. Include social groups via housing, as people with disabilities, (vulnerable) old people, migrants and people with anti-social behavior. 3. Final Thoughts A. How are civil society and NGO s involved in preventing and tackling homelessness and social exclusion? How are the (local) government and private organizations working together? B. Given the great diversity in housing and housing policies in EU member states, reflect upon the advantages and challenges of housing and housing policies in your country. C. Are housing policies in your country suitable to tackle homelessness and include excluded social groups in society? If not, what needs to be done?

3 1. THE CURRENT SITUATION IN FRIBOURG, SWITZERLAND

4 Source:

5 Article 12 of the Swiss Federal Constitution: Anyone who is in distress and is not able to maintain herself has the right to be helped and assisted and receive the necessary means to carry an existence worthy of human dignity. Source: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse, du 18 avril 1999 (Etat le 3 mars 2013),

6 A. THE NUMBER OF HOMELESS PEOPLE AS WELL AS PEOPLE AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HOME - No statistics concerning the number of homeless people in Switzerland - Statistics about poverty - Shelters and their users - In Fribourg La Tuile - Emergency housing - «Supported housing»

7 Source: Statistiques,

8 B. THE AVAILABILITY OF AFFORDABLE AND SOCIAL HOUSING FOR DIFFERENT SOCIAL GROUPS Source:

9 2. THE CURRENT POLICIES IN SWITZERLAND

10 A. PREVENT AND TACKLE HOMELESSNESS Main focus put on providing affordable housing Emergency services: Emergency shelters: not owned by the cantons but subsidized in some way, e.g. La Tuile in Fribourg Civil protection shelters: open between mid-november and late March in GE, VD, VS

11 HOUSING UNIT OF THE CITY OF LAUSANNE In some cases can help people who are at risk of being expelled by paying their back rent Has 450 apartments at its disposal to relocate people who have been expelled Subletting contract + social follow-up Hotel rooms in case no apartment is available

12 B. PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING (VIA FOR INSTANCE HOUSING BENEFITS OR SOCIAL HOUSING) FOR ALL OR FOR TARGETED GROUPS Federal level The Confederation doesn t build apartments buildings It helps people or organizations who build public utility housing by granting them low-interest loans, which they have up to 25 years to repay In return they have to offer lower rents. Rents plans are made. They go up every two years

13 The Confederation also grants further non-refundable housing benefits for low-income tenants, disabled ones and some old people This aid lasts 25 years Transition period: law changed in Now, the Confederation only grants low-interest loans to organizations who build public utility housing

14 CANTONAL LEVEL A variety of housing policies Some are complementary to and dependent on housing benefits offered by the Confederation, e.g. Fribourg Some (not many) cantons grant individual housing benefits, e.g. Geneva Some cantons simply don t offer housing benefits at their level

15 CITY LEVEL Impossible to have a clear view of what is done at this level Some (not many) do grant housing benefits, e.g. Lausanne, whose help is especially designed for families who are independent financially but whose rent represents too big a part of their budget

16 C. INCLUDE SOCIAL GROUPS VIA HOUSING, AS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, (VULNERABLE) OLD PEOPLE, MIGRANTS AND PEOPLE WITH ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOR. Bienne Social urgency: generalist offer (Sleep-In and Maison de Quai) and specialist offer (Maison d accueil pour femmes and Masion Sotto Sopra) Psychiatric housing: pension (Foyer Ancre and Ville Christine) and foyer (Foundation AK15 and Foyer Shoeni) Protected housing: Casanova Autonomy housing: old people

17 3. FINAL THOUGHTS

18 A. HOW ARE CIVIL SOCIETY AND NGO S INVOLVED IN PREVENTING AND TACKLING HOMELESSNESS AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION? HOW ARE THE (LOCAL) GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS WORKING TOGETHER? Switzerland has a complicated political and social policies system. Each state has its own way of governing and each town take their own decisions. So that means that almost every town has its own way of preventing and tackling homelessness and social exclusion.

19 In 2010, the Federal Council has finally recognized the problem of poverty. The strategies can be operated by NGO s or communitybased organizations and they all have the same goal. The Federal Council has created a new poverty prevention plan for 2014 to 2018.

20 One of the first aspects of poverty on which Switzerland is working on is employability. Young people have a lot of problems to find a job after the obligatory school.

21 Source: Confédération suisse, la situation sur le marché du travail en 2013, ww.seco.admin.ch

22 Source: Confédération suisse, la situation sur le marché du travail en 2013, ww.seco.admin.ch

23 Source: Confédération suisse, la situation sur le marché du travail en 2013, ww.seco.admin.ch

24 One of the main NGO involved in Switzerland regarding poverty fight is Caritas Mission: sensitizing political groups, local economics and population in general.

25 Family policy should be improved in order to take into account: The people that are raising their children alone, The working poor who should receive higher wages, Families living in poverty who should receive additional benefits.

26 And to tackle homelessness: Offering low-rent housing Doing everything to avoid the loss of the apartment by talking with the owner or authorities to suspend the procedure of termination or expulsion.

27 COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS Offer to the homeless people a roof to sleep Low cost place to eat A place to buy second hand clothes, staples A place to wash their clothes and having a shower.

28 B. GIVEN THE GREAT DIVERSITY IN HOUSING AND HOUSING POLICIES IN EU MEMBER STATES, REFLECT UPON THE ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES OF HOUSING AND HOUSING POLICIES IN YOUR COUNTRY. Europe s housing policies are built upon «housing first» In Switzerland : different housing policies because of the federalism system (cantons, municipalities). So it s difficult to compare the swiss system with the european one. Switzerland doesn t always follow housing first programs, and prefers to focus on other difficulties of the homeless people and take care about housing at the last time, when people are ready to move to sustainable housing.

29 C. ARE HOUSING POLICIES IN YOUR COUNTRY SUITABLE TO TACKLE HOMELESSNESS AND INCLUDE EXCLUDED SOCIAL GROUPS IN SOCIETY? IF NOT, WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? The first improvement that would be important is the coordination : the inter-city communication is missing in each canton. The goal : to take into account the needs of each cities. It would also be important to have right s education, because people don t know their rights, their possibilities and the available procedures. Gaps of the system : it doesn t support everybody. Some people fall between categories and aren t able to get help.

30 SOLUTION To control the rents In some areas, the rents are unaffordable and indecently expensive. Because there is a housing shortage, no control is done over that right now. For the middle class and the working poor, who can t afford these rents, help should be better provided. Currently, no help is available for this part of the population.

31 EXAMPLE OF IMPROVEMENTS For the youth : housing with moderate rents should be available to answer students needs. For old people : There are projects in development about old age policies, for example day centers where people can come and stay on a daily basis and go back to their house at night. There are also flats converted for old people, and even flat sharing systems for old people and younger ones, which provides efficient social mixity. These services are usually provided next to medical and social institutions. But these are not enough, because the waiting lists are neverending.

32 CONCLUSION A different number of social policies are there to tackle poverty and homelessness, but the political systems and the differences between the federal and cantonal systems raise a number of issues. NGO s are involved but it looks like that the small local organisations are doing more to try to fight homelessness and social exclusion. Maybe this impression occurs because what the little organisations are doing seems to be more efficient and at the same time more concrete, because they are acting directly on the field. They are also making less publicity prevention than the NGO s. The private organisations have some influence on the policies, because they raise issues that the government doesn t see or doesn t really want to see. Hence, there are still problems regarding homelessness in Switzerland and this has to be resolved.