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Open letter from Ivana Antalová, councillor for the Prague 1 Municipal Department

Urgent call to resolve homelessness and support social services staffers

Dear Prime Minister, Dear members of the Government, Dear Mayor,

I am writing you all as a representative of the Prague 1 Municipal Department, a territory that has long faced homelessness and its impacts, and I am calling on you to collaborate with us on resolving this serious issue. Let’s prove, through our joint efforts, that we belong among the developed, responsible societies of the world.

The recent conference on “Homelessness in Prague 1” clearly confirmed that our society is suffering from this long-neglected problem. For many years, there has been an absence of an adequate range of services here that would make it possible for every citizen to make his or her own way toward a life that is more dignified than one lived on the street.

I draw your attention to the fact that there are not enough systemic solutions, not enough resources and not enough support for this issue when it comes to the conditions of those working on it. This all creates immeasurable pressure on the social services staffers providing aid and support to the neediest. Already these staffers face being overworked, and the situation is getting worse. The number of the needy who are receiving neither adequate care nor adequate support is growing. This state of affairs significantly impacts the quality of the services provided and endangers these staffers’ mental and physical health.

The consequences of these insufficient services for homeless people also bother local residents. Homelessness has serious impacts on everybody’s comfort and quality of life. It involves aesthetic problems in public spaces as well as public health problems and risks to public safety.

It is not appropriate to just react to the repercussions of homelessness, rather, we should concentrate together on effective prevention and create circumstances in which people never have to face the difficulties of homelessness.

In the Czech Republic, this deplorable state of affairs affects the neighborhood of Prague 1 and its residents the most. It also affects millions of tourists and visitors from various parts of the Czech Republic, Europe and the rest of the world who annually come to the center of Prague. Almost all of the citizens who are homeless and who end up in the neighborhood of Prague 1 in its public spaces are also just visitors, not residents.

In 2013, a Concept for Addressing the Issue of Homelessness was adopted at the nationwide and citywide level by both the Czech Government and the local assembly of the City of Prague. An extensive Strategic Action Plan and an Interministerial Working Group were created. I am convinced that it is high time, after more than a decade, to follow up on all of the meaningful steps in the Concept and fulfill them. By doing so, we will not just help Prague 1 residents, but the Czech Republic as a whole with increasing its prestige as a society.

The Municipal Department of Prague 1 is the biggest victim of this situation and I, Ivana Antalová, as councillor for accessibility and social affairs in the Prague 1 Municipal Department, am calling for your collaboration with us:

"Declaration:

Anybody who finds themselves homeless, socially excluded, or otherwise threatened on the territory of Prague 1 should not end up living on the street without any aid and increasing the homeless population. Everybody who provides assistance to the neediest has our full recognition and support. Every human life deserves protection and respect.

I am calling on the responsible bodies, individuals and institutions to collaborate on jointly implementing the following steps:

Establishing working groups at the level of City Hall and the Government which will actively support homeless people on their journey toward a better, more independent life; 

• Providing protection and support for innovations in social services and to social service staffers; 

• Creating ways for homeless women, who are exposed to a greater degree of violence when living on the street, to access adequate housing both for themselves and their minor children who end up in children’s homes otherwise; 

• Building a network of unobtrusive public health, hygiene and warming centers; 

• Building a discreet community of therapists working with such persons; 

• Organizing education and outreach that will lead to the elimination of stereotypes, the prevention of homelessness, and support for a respectful society of solidarity. 

The Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms guarantees everybody equality in dignity and rights as well as freedom. It guarantees to anybody in material distress the kind of aid that is essential to covering the cost of their basic living conditions. The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, in the context of our applicable international obligations, has inferred the right to adequate housing from this guarantee, specifically, to dignified, humane housing, as the Civil Code states."

I believe our collaboration on this issue will be a success for all of society. Adequate, dignified, humane housing is a fundamental human right, and it is unacceptable that people in crisis are living on the sidewalks of a developed society in the 21st century. We must start caring for homeless women in particular as soon as possible.

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