Committee Members Attending

Advisers:

Tatyana Alahverdzhieva
Zeljko Balog
Mitze Chapovski
Wolfgang Freier
Franka Stas

Also Present

Jaroslav Kolcava (President of the Czech UNICA Committee)
Tatyana Alahverdzhieva (Friends of UNICA)
Wolfgang Freier (UNICA Patronage)
Serge Michel (IFTC Liaison)
Odilon Dubost (Translations)
Romy Van Krieken (Translations)
Stefan Eich (Translations)
Hana Staňková (Translations)

Not Present

Paweł Łęski  (Adviser)
Rolf Mandolesi (Adviser)

Members Present

22 - Selection of place and date of the Congresses for the following three years:

a) 2019: Zeist (Netherlands) – 24th – 31st August. Confirmed.

b) 2020: Birmingham (UK) – 5th-13th September.Proposed.

Jacqueline Pante asks if there are reasons why the date is so late in September. The date chosen is to avoid UK school holidays. Franka Stas commented that for some countries it will be rather a problem, because the schools start at the begin of September. Britain is asked to reconsider the dates and give feedback to the committee and the GA.
[ The British later amended the dates to 8-15th August. ]
The proposal is accepted unanimously.

c) 2021: Poland - Witold Kon proposes for Poland orally. Date will likely be end of August in Warsaw. We are looking forward to a successful congress, as we had in the past.

The President and the committee are happy to accept the candidature.

The President takes the opportunity to give the sad news that Mrs Stani Puls has passed away last week. Stani Puls and his wife were so much part of previous UNICAs and were really popular. It is a great cause of sadness personally and for UNICA. A minute of silence is held in her memory.

23 - Miscellaneous, without vote (this has been taken ahead before the farewells)

Romania - Viorel Ieremie stated that UNICA has a problem: organising young UNICA. I want to congratulate the Czech team, who did a great job with the young workshop. However I am not completely satisfied. The committee decided that the attendance to the workshop is permitted only from 18 years onwards. Younger ones are not allowed. In my opinion the workshop should be open to younger ones too, may be from 16 years onwards. Each national organisation has to find solutions for this. For instance I am here with four children, 2 under 18 and 2 above, so two of them could not participate. This created a little “tragedy” among the group. I invite the committee to reflect on this age limit. I would be very happy if in 2019 children under 18 will be admitted.

The major problem seem to be related to responsibility for the youngsters. This is what I understood in my many discussion within UNICA. I think this is a false problem. In fact, younger ones are always accompanied by an adult. If the national organisation wants to have a young participant, then it is up to them to take care of this responsibility respectively to solve it. This can not be taken by the committee or the organisation. And what kind of responsibility is meant? The young group is the whole week in the stage, in a class, guided by the tutors.Is this really such a heavy responsibility for UNICA? For instance I received the responsibilty for the four children, the loco parentis.

Mr Ieremie invited the GA to discuss about it, as UNICA has to have younger participants (looking at the audience). Can we give a chance to the younger people between 16-25 years.

Netherlands - Franka Stas. I am aware how you feel about this. We have communicated this from the beginning, so each national organisation should have been aware. The loco parentis is not a problem as a teacher. However, in Suceava I had the responsibility for two 16 years old children, and I did not like it, because I did not know these kids. It is not immediate to say: „now you are responsible because you are an adult”. This week, for instance, I had been to the Police because of a problem for one workshop participant. I have tested it every day, because of problems to solve, they needed help, there were solutions to be found. I felt responsible for the whole group. Furthermore 16 years old children are not as mature as 18 years old ones. Among the group there are different age groups and opportunities to mingle if there are too many differences in ages. I prefer to have max one or two people from each country to keep a good mixture.

Romania - Viorel Ieremie. I live in the same hotel as the kids, you do not. I can tell you it works very well. To mingle in groups is another fake problem. They are here to learn.

Netherlands - Franka Stas. I understand you have a personal interest.

Romania - Viorel Ieremie. No, I do not. To me it’s important to give access as well to younger people and I know that some other countries want this too.

Lichtenstein - Rolf Leuenberger. I remember two participants from Switzerland in South Korea 2006, and did there what you do now here. Years later in Tunisia , there was a lot of trouble with them. They try to find a way to enjoy without control, so to say.

Sweden - Aase Högfeldt. I totally understand the views of all, as I work with young people too. In Sweden, once 18, you must be insured. Below 18 the responsibility is totally with the adult. The accident this week, shows how much you have to take care and be present.

Russia - Julia Obratzova. In Russia you are considered young and not accountable until the age of 18, but you are allowed to do nearly everything: smoke, drink, etc. In Petersburg we did not have a youth programme because I could not include younger people, and we needed public funds.

Czech Republic - Jaroslav Kolcova If younger than 18 would come, then they must be accompanied by an adult and the attendance must be paid.

Spain - Josep Rota. With reference to the incident, it was the Spanish girl, who is 20 years old, actually adult. What if the girl would have been only 16? The national delegate would always be the spokesperson at UNICA and towards the parents at home.

The President invites Viorel Ieremie to submit an official proposal. Furthermore, he notes, the young workshop depends always on what the local organisation is prepared to offer.

Final remarks from the President

As the voting took so long, the President postpones the farewells of the former committee members Rolf Mandolesi, Željko Balog and Wolfgang Freier to the prize giving ceremony.

Thanks to the delegates, keep UNICA going strong.

The General Assembly closed at 6:40 pm.