International Falcon Movement – Socialist Educational International
The International Falcon Movement – Socialist Educational International (IFM-SEI) is an international non-profit organisation based in Belgium that campaigns for children's rights.[1] It is a fraternal organisation of Socialist International[2] and works closely with International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and Young European Socialists (formerly ECOSY). IFM-SEI is a full member of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) which operates within the Council of Europe and European Union area and works closely with both these bodies.[3] In Latin-America it is a full member of the Foro Latin-America de Juventud (FLAJ). It is also part of the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organisations[4] (ICMYO) which consists of worldwide active youth organisations and regional youth platforms coordinating their activities towards the UN and its agencies.
Motto | Span the world with friendship, Education for Social(ist) Change |
---|---|
Founded | 1922 |
Founder | Kurt Löwenstein |
Type | International Umbrella Educational Organisation |
Focus | Socialism, internationalism, children's rights, democracy |
Location | |
Origins | European Socialist Education Movements |
Area served | Global |
Method | Popular education |
Key people | Carly Walker-Dawson (Secretary General) Christina Schauer (President) |
Employees | 5 |
Volunteers | over 1 million |
Website | www |
A fraternal member of Socialist International |
It has member organisations all over the world and is strongest in Europe and South America. Many of its member organisations work with children and young people of all ages through activities, groups and camping.
IFM-SEI members are children and youth self-organisations, family organisations and other organisations who are working for the benefit of children and young peoples.[5] IFM-SEI organise campaigns, for example against child labour or child pornography, seminars, trainings, camps and other educational activities. Their activities are carried out by member organisation, and international seminars are held regularly in cooperation with other fraternal organisations. A recent activity was the Peace Camp with Israelis and Palestinians.[6] The LGBT event of IFM is called Queer Easter.[7]
President
- Max Winter from Rote Falken, Austria (1925)
- Anton Tesarek from Rote Falken, Austria (1955–1959)
- Hans Matzenauer from Rote Falken, Austria (1967–1980)
- Eric Nielsen from DUI leg og virke, Denmark (1980–1983)
- Piet Kempenaars from Belgium (1983–1985)
- Eric Nilsson from Unga Örnar, Sweden (1985)
- Jerry Svensson from Unga Örnar, Sweden (1985–1995)
- Jessi Sörensen from DUI leg og virke, Denmark (1995–2001)
- Östen Lövgren from Unga Örnar, Sweden (2001–2005)
- Ted Birch from Unga Örnar, Sweden (2005–2007)
- Tim Scholz from SJD - Die Falken Germany (2007–2013)
- Ana Maria Almario from Acacia Fundacion Colombia (2013–2016)
- Sylvia Siqueira Campos from Mirim Brazil (2016–2018)
- Christina Schauer from Rote Falken, Austria (2018–present)
Secretaries General
- Kurt Biak from Austria (Voluntary) (1931)
- Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez from Spain (first full-time) (1966–1972)
- Ilpo Rossi from Nuoret Kotkat, Finland (1972–1976)
- Ulric Andersen from Unga Örnar, Sweden (1976–1979)
- Jacqui Cottyn from Belgium (1979–1995)
- Odette Lambert from Belgium (1995–2001)
- Uwe Ostendorff from SJD - Die Falken Germany (2001–2007)
- Tamsin Pearce from Woodcraft Folk, United Kingdom (2007–2013)
- Christine Sudbrock from Germany (2013–2016)
- Carly Walker-Dawson from Woodcraft Folk, United Kingdom (2016–2020)
- Ruba Hilal from Independence Youth Union, Palestine (2020–present)
Current Presidium
The Presidium is made up of the Secretary-General, President and two Presidium members from each region (Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Europe and Asia) to make a total of 12 members. Regional Representatives have one seat reserved for a woman and one seat reserved for a person under 30. The last elections were held in 2016.[8]
- Ruba Hilal (Secretary General) from Independence Youth Union, Palestine
- Christina Schauer (President) from Rote Falken, Austria
- Mame Diarra Ndour (Africa) Action Enfance, Senegal,
- Mamadou Mbow (Africa) Pionniers du Senegal, Senegal,
- Tara Damanik (Asia) KKSP Foundation, Indonesia
- Nishaben Vasava (Asia) Antar Bharati India
- Dani Efrati (Middle East) HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, Israel
- Ola Qawasmi (Middle East) Independent Youth Forum, Palestine
- Karlha Villavicencio Barrantes (Latin America) Club Infantil 23 de Mayo CHAP, Peru
- Ronald Salas (Latin America) Mundo Nuevo, Peru
- Sebastian Kumara Feist (Europe) Socialist Youth of Germany – Falcons, Germany
- Heidi Niemi (Europe) Nuoret Kotkat, Finland
Republics and Camps of the IFM-SEI
There were four children's republics held by the international before World War II:
- 1933 First Republic: Oostduinkerke, Belgium.
- 1935 Second Republic: Verneuil-l'Étang, France. 900 children from Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, UK and Switzerland.
- 1937 Third Republic: Brighton, United Kingdom. Theme: Solidarity, 2,000 participants from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Britain, Spain and Tunisia.
- 1939 Fourth Republic: Wandre, Belgium. Theme: Freedom and Peace, 1,600 participants, from Belgium, France, UK, Switzerland, Tunisia and refugee children from Spain.
Since the end of World War II the IFM-SEI organises international camps as well as encouraging bi- and multi-lateral camps between members. The following is a list of official IFM-SEI camps held since 1945:[9]
- 1946 Brighton, United Kingdom
- 1951 Döbriach, Austria
- 1952 Füssen, Germany
- 1955 Oslo, Norway
- 1956 Stockholm, Sweden
- 1958 Vienna, Austria
- 1961 Deurne, Belgium
- 1965 Reinwarzhofen, Germany
- 1967 Scunthorpe, United Kingdom
- 1971 Lahti, Finland
- 1974 Döbriach, Austria
- 1977 Oslo, Norway
- 1981 Walsrode, Germany
- 1985 Döbriach, Austria
- 1988 Imatra, Finland
- 1991 Norrköping, Sweden
- 1994 Reinwarzhofen, Germany
- 1997 Zanka, Hungary
- 2000 Döbriach, Austria. Theme: Children's Rights. 1000 participants.
- 2006 Kent, United Kingdom. Theme: Millennium Development Goals. 5000 participants.
- 2010 Döbriach, Austria and Jedovnice, Czech Republic. Theme: Train 4 Change. 1000 participants.
- 2016 Reinwarzhofen, Germany. Theme: Welcome to Another World.
- 2020 Kent, United Kingdom. Theme: Common Ground – International Friendship and Solidarity.
Member organisations
Member and candidate organisations are listed here:
Africa
- Girls Excel
- Youth Advocates Ghana
- Oyoun Masr Association
- Pionniers du Mali
- Action Enfance Senegal
- Mouvement National des Pionniers Senegalais
- Patsimederu Trust
Europe
- Armenian Youth Federation (ARF-YO)
- Kinderfreunde / Rote Falken
- SYB - The Falcons Belarus, Belarus (in exile in Lithuania)
- Faucons Rouges
- Rode Valken, RVPA
- DUI - Leg og Virke
- Nuorten Kotkain Keskusliitto
- Georgian Falcons
- Hungarian Childfriends
- Lietuvos Sakaliuku sajunga
- Fenix
- Slovenian Falcons
- Kinderfreunde / Rote Falken
Middle East
- Independence Youth Union
- Independent Youth Forum
- Seeds Association for Development and Culture 'Bothoor'
- Association for Social Democracy
References
- http://www.ulb.ac.be/ceese/OCDE/OCDE_275.htm
- http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticlePageID=931
- http://youthforum.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=294%3A-international-falcon-movement-socialist-educational-international-&catid=58%3Amember-organisations&Itemid=58&lang=en
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-08-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.woodcraft.org.uk/news/kieran-represents-us-ifm-sei-committee-meeting
- Peace Camp
- Queer Easter
- "IFM-SEI election results". IFM-SEI. IFM-SEI. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- http://www.c3.hu/~mgym/emuseum.html