| This report was prepared at the request of the International Youth Foundation (IYF), an independent, international non-governmental organization dedicated to improving the conditions and prospects of children aged 5-20. Central to the IYF's strategy is the creation of a global network of independent, indigenous, grant-giving foundations with a common focus on children and youth. Since its founding in 1990, IYF has established partnerships in Australia, Ecuador, Germany, Ireland, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia, South Africa and Thailand.
This report was prepared in order to introduce the IYF's board and professional leadership to the situation of children and young people in Israel. In this report, we have tried to outline some of the problems and challenges faced by Israel's children and youth and to describe briefly some of the ways in which their needs are being addressed by the service system. As a result of this report, roundtable meetings, and extensive consultation with children and youth experts in Israel, IYF's Board of Directors has approved continued work in the country. A Steering Committee of local leadership has been formed to explore options for the creation of a new, independent foundation for children and young people in Israel.
In preparing this overview, we have encountered areas in which reliable data and analyses of some of the issues affecting the well-being of children and young people are available, and others in which this is not the case. Due to this inconsistency in the available information, we may not have achieved as uniform and balanced a presentation among the areas as we would have liked.
We have tried to reflect a broad range of opinion by incorporating into the report information gathered from experts from various fields involved in child well-being. Nevertheless, we alone are responsible for the report's content and conclusions.
Finally, there are several issues and populations which are not fully described in this report. For example, the report does not describe disabled children as this in and of itself would require a special report. In addition, a number of broader societal issues involving children and youth in Israel, such as the possible influences of peace on children and youth or children's position within the family, are not addressed within this framework.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to the many people who made the completion of this report possible. First, we would like to thank the experts and professionals in Israel who contributed their time and expertise. We would especially like to thank several individuals who read the full report and generously shared their comments with us. We thank Yitzhak Kadman and Asher Ben-Arie of the National Council for the Child; Chana Katz of JDC-Israel; and Ami Bergman, also of JDC-Israel. Our thanks are also extended to our colleagues at the JDC-Brookdale Institute, particularly to Gila Noam, Shmuel Be'er, Eileen Kaplan and Galia Efrat; to Jona Rosenfeld, our senior advisor, for his insightful comments and support; and to Jack Habib, Director of the JDC-Brookdale Institute, for his contribution and support in making the completion of this report possible. We would also like to thank all the participants in the "round table meeting" at JDC-Brookdale Institute in November, 1995. The discussion at the meeting and the comments of these experts significantly enhanced this report.
Last, but not least, we would like to thank the leadership of the International Youth Foundation with whom we worked closely in the preparation of this report: Rick Little, Chief Executive Officer; Don Mohanlal, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer; Maggi Alexander, Manager, New Country Partnerships and Jacob Schimmel, Advisor to IYF.
JDC-Brookdale Institute
October, 1996 |
