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A Community Effort; Securing the Well being for Europe's Jewish Children in Need
History was made in Paris this November when Jewish lay leaders and professionals throughout Europe gathered together for the first conference ever focusing on the state of European children in the 21st century. The symposium was organized by JDC Europe in conjunction with several regional organizations.
The inspiration for this conference grew out of the increasing awareness that there are a significant number of European Jewish children in need. The majority of these children live in countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as Europe. Currently, a growing number of Jewish families are facing economic difficulties and many lack at least one strong parental role model to provide a nurturing and secure home environment. Furthermore, there are Jewish children with special needs — which include, physical, emotional and learning disabilities — that pose even more complex challenges. The conference was attended by over 100 people from all parts of Europe and the CIS, including lay leaders and professionals -- psychologists, pediatricians, family doctors, educators, professionals and youth working with children and families. Most participants are in charge of the children's programs in their respective communities. Countries represented included: France, UK, Belgium, Italy, Rumania, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, The Netherlands, Israel, Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Turkey and Morocco. Together those in attendance exchanged best practices and addressed a number of strategic questions: How do we build inclusive communities? How can we integrate children in need into our institutions, our schools, our youth movements, our camps, our synagogues? If in our surrounding society, the tendency is to recognize these problems and not to create stigmas, surely we must head in this direction. Issues were examined against a larger geopolitical backdrop and revolved around the issue of how to raise children in times of uncertainty instigated by recent trends like new family structures, economic challenges, migration and school attrition rates. All of these trends affect the child and the family unit, as well as family cohesiveness. At the close of the conference, participants agreed that the European Jewish community as a collective must respond to the needs of at-risk Jewish children -- the response must involve the whole community, not just the parents or schools. Organizations across the region took part in the symposium including International Communities Center for children (based in Budapest), the European Council of Jewish Communities, the Fonds Social Juif Unifie (umbrella French organization) and OSE France. Thus this first ever symposium on Jewish children in need catapulted the issue to the top of the Jewish communal agenda for the 21st century. November 2006 |
