FEANTSA

FEANTSA, whose name derives from the French Fédération Européenne d'Associations Nationales Travaillant avec les Sans-Abri, is a European federation focused exclusively on homelessness and housing exclusion. It brings together roughly 100 member organisations from around 30 European countries, including many national or regional umbrella bodies representing service providers. These members work in areas such as accommodation, social support, housing access and assistance for people experiencing homelessness, generally in cooperation with public authorities, social-housing providers and other civil-society organisations. The organisation operates as a European policy, advocacy, networking and knowledge platform rather than as a conventional commercial brand. Its work includes monitoring the scale and characteristics of homelessness, examining national and local policy responses, and contributing to European debates on social protection, social inclusion, employment, health, urban policy and housing rights. FEANTSA engages with the European Union institutions and has consultative status with both the Council of Europe and the United Nations. It also participates in wider civil-society and housing networks, including the Platform of European Social NGOs, the European Anti-Poverty Network, the European Public Health Alliance and the European Housing Forum. Research and evidence are central to FEANTSA's role. In 1991 it established the European Observatory on Homelessness, a research network supported by national correspondents from European countries. The Observatory has worked to improve understanding of homelessness as a changing and complex social issue, including questions of measurement, housing exclusion, health, employment, migration, gender, youth and the role of public services. Its outputs include the European Journal of Homelessness and comparative reviews of homelessness statistics, as well as earlier thematic and transnational reports. FEANTSA also communicates through policy statements, reports, conferences, the Homeless in Europe magazine, the FEANTSA Flash newsletter and practical tools or toolkits. Its administrative council selects an annual theme, around which the organisation normally develops a policy statement, a report and a conference; the magazine may also devote an issue to that theme. This annual-theme model allows the federation to connect research, member experience and policy advocacy around a particular aspect of homelessness. A notable strand of FEANTSA's public work concerns the recognition of housing as a social right and the development of coordinated European responses to homelessness. The federation has supported legal and policy action concerning housing rights, including successful collective complaints before the European Committee of Social Rights relating to France in 2007 and Slovenia in 2010. In 2010 it launched the Ending Homelessness campaign at the European Parliament in Brussels, using a parliamentary hearing to argue that European institutions could make a stronger contribution to ending homelessness. FEANTSA's present identity is therefore that of a specialist European civil-society federation: it represents organisations serving people without stable housing, produces comparative knowledge, convenes practitioners and researchers, and advocates for policy approaches intended to prevent and ultimately end homelessness. It does not have conventional consumer products, a stock-market listing or a parent commercial corporation.

FEANTSA developed as a European network for organisations working with people experiencing homelessness. Its distinctive remit is European and thematic: rather than operating as a national service provider or a commercial housing organisation, it connects national and regional bodies, represents their concerns in European policy discussions, and builds comparative knowledge about homelessness and housing exclusion. The federation's membership includes approximately 100 organisations from around 30 European countries, among them 24 European Union member states according to the referenced description. Many members are umbrella organisations for frontline providers. Their work covers emergency and longer-term accommodation, social support, housing access and other services for people without stable housing. Members often cooperate with municipalities, national authorities, social-housing organisations and other civil-society actors, giving FEANTSA a channel between practical service delivery and European-level policy. Research became a formal pillar of the organisation in 1991 with the creation of the European Observatory on Homelessness. The Observatory brought together national research correspondents with experience in homelessness and housing exclusion. Its purpose was to improve the evidence available to policymakers, practitioners and researchers, while recognising that homelessness changes with housing markets, welfare systems, migration, employment conditions, health needs and demographic factors. The Observatory's publications have included comparative work on statistics and the European Journal of Homelessness, which began publishing under that title in 2007. Earlier outputs, published between 2002 and 2006, addressed European statistics, homelessness policies, research in the European Union and thematic issues. Earlier transnational reports examined subjects including migration, access to housing, women, youth, support and housing, services and coping strategies. FEANTSA's policy activity has expanded across several European agendas. It contributes to discussions on social protection and social inclusion, urban policy, employment, health, housing and the organisation of services. The federation also maintains relationships with EU institutions and has consultative status at the Council of Europe and the United Nations. Its partnerships include the European Housing Forum, which it helped found, as well as European social, anti-poverty, public-health and housing-research networks. The organisation has used legal advocacy to frame homelessness partly as a question of social rights. In 2007 it won a case concerning the violation of the right to housing in France before the European Committee of Social Rights. A second successful case concerning Slovenia followed in 2010. These proceedings complemented FEANTSA's research and policy work by placing housing obligations and the treatment of people experiencing homelessness within European human-rights mechanisms. Communication and agenda-setting are organised around publications, events and annual themes. FEANTSA's administrative council chooses a theme for each year, which is generally developed through a policy statement, a report and a conference. Homeless in Europe, published three times annually according to the referenced material, provides a forum for researchers, practitioners, local authorities and European institutional representatives. FEANTSA Flash circulates news on homelessness and housing from members, European institutions, international organisations and the European press. The federation also produces practical tools and toolkits for service users, researchers, local authorities and other stakeholders. A visible public campaign milestone came on 14 April 2010, when FEANTSA launched Ending Homelessness at a hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels. The event asked how European institutions could contribute more effectively to ending homelessness and was organised with several Members of the European Parliament and the organisation Projekt Udenfor. The campaign reflected FEANTSA's broader approach: combine member expertise, research, rights-based advocacy and European political engagement in support of coordinated responses to homelessness. Today FEANTSA remains an active European federation and advocacy network. Its work centres on representing homelessness-sector organisations, improving the evidence base, sharing practice and pressing European and national authorities to treat homelessness and housing exclusion as policy and social-rights priorities.

• 2010

  Successful housing-rights complaint concerning Slovenia

  [1]FEANTSAen.wikipedia.org

  FEANTSA won a further case before the European Committee of Social Rights concerning Slovenia.

• 2010

  Ending Homelessness campaign launched

  [1]FEANTSAen.wikipedia.org

  FEANTSA launched the Ending Homelessness campaign at a European Parliament hearing in Brussels.

• 2007

  European Journal of Homelessness begins publication

  [1]FEANTSAen.wikipedia.org

  The European Observatory on Homelessness began publishing the European Journal of Homelessness as a platform for critical analysis of homelessness policy and practice.

• 2007

  Successful housing-rights complaint concerning France

  [1]FEANTSAen.wikipedia.org

  FEANTSA won a case before the European Committee of Social Rights concerning a violation of the right to housing in France.

• 1991

  European Observatory on Homelessness established

  [1]FEANTSAen.wikipedia.org

  FEANTSA established the European Observatory on Homelessness to support comparative research and improve understanding of homelessness and housing exclusion across Europe.

A European civil-society federation and specialist policy network advocating for the prevention and elimination of homelessness through research, member coordination and engagement with European institutions.

• Research network · 1991

  European Observatory on Homelessness

  FEANTSA's research network, established in 1991, links national research correspondents and develops comparative evidence on homelessness and housing exclusion. Its work addresses measurement, changing profiles of homelessness, policy responses, services and the role of the state. The Observatory has produced statistical reviews, thematic reports and the European Journal of Homelessness for policymakers, practitioners and researchers.

• Research publication · 2007

  European Journal of Homelessness

  A research publication associated with the European Observatory on Homelessness. It presents critical analysis of homelessness and housing-exclusion policy and practice in Europe, with the aim of stimulating debate and strengthening the evidence base for policy development and innovation.

• Magazine

  Homeless in Europe

  FEANTSA's magazine covers a selected topical theme related to homelessness in each issue. Contributors may include practitioners, researchers, local-authority representatives, European institutional stakeholders and other experts. The referenced material describes it as being published three times a year.

• Newsletter

  FEANTSA Flash

  A newsletter carrying news and developments on homelessness and housing from FEANTSA members, European institutions, international organisations and the European press.

• 2010Ending Homelessness

  Europe

  FEANTSA launched this European campaign on 14 April 2010 at a hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels. The event focused on whether and how the European Union could contribute more effectively to ending homelessness and was organised with several Members of the European Parliament and Projekt Udenfor.

  Outcome. The campaign established a visible European-level advocacy platform for coordinated action against homelessness; a specific quantified outcome is not stated in the reference material.

  Source

• 2010

  Launch a European campaign to end homelessnessStrategy

  Background

  FEANTSA sought to elevate homelessness on the European political agenda and clarify the role of EU institutions in addressing it.

  Action taken

  It launched Ending Homelessness through a European Parliament hearing in Brussels.

  Aftermath

  The campaign provided a public advocacy framework for FEANTSA's rights-based and policy-oriented work; the reference material does not specify a quantified result.

  Source

• 1991

  Create a European homelessness research observatoryStrategy

  Background

  FEANTSA identified the need for stronger comparative evidence on the scale, nature and changing forms of homelessness across Europe.

  Action taken

  It established the European Observatory on Homelessness and developed a network of national research correspondents.

  Aftermath

  The Observatory became a source of comparative reports, statistical reviews and the European Journal of Homelessness.

  Source

1. 1FEANTSAen.wikipedia.org
2. 2FEANTSA official websitefeantsa.org