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In the streets of ALGIERS: men, women and children
assisted in everyday life
Given that Algeria was weakened by an economic
recession as well as by a serious and deadly political crisis, the
1990s have seen the outbreak of a new phenomenon : the presence
of women with children in the street. The Algerian family code penalizes
women who, once they are banished and repudiated, do not have the
means to fight against this situation. The drug issue has also become
increasingly worrisome, especially amongst younger people. Moreover,
the number of men suffering from psychiatric disorders has increased
among those living in the streets of Algiers in the last years.
In order to solve these various problems, the Wilaya of Algiers
(the main administration of the city) set up samusocialAlger
in November 1998, on the model of samusocialdeParis.
samusocialAlger obtained the
status of “Etablissement Public à caractère Administratif”
(EPA), ie “an Administrative-Style Public Institution”
in November 2001.
A "global" answer
Each night, two mobile teams composed of a psychologist, a
nurse, an educator and a chauffeur cruise the streets of the Algerian
capital.
These professionals come into contact with individuals who suffer
from exclusion and direct those who wish or need it towards the emergency
night shelters of Samusocial. Settled in Dely Ibrahim, in the nearby
suburbs of Algiers, this centre provides more than 200 beds for the
victims of exclusion.
Once sheltered, a psychological, medical, legal and administrative
assistance is offered. This assistance is completed by various post-emergency
actions including literacy trainings for adults, a pre-school
for children as well as a day nursery.
A medical and social drop-in centre rounds out this programme. It
welcomes around twenty people every day.
Each evening, the mobile teams go out towards people living
in the streets of Algiers.
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samusocialAlger is used
to meet many deprived women in the streets with their children
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Algiers-Paris: inter-associative exchanges
Within the framework of the tripartite convention signed between samusocialAlger,
samusocialdeParis and samusocialInternational,
an exchange programme has been implemented between the Algerian
and Parisian teams.
Four sessions already took place in March and October 2003, September
and November 2005. They enables teams to share on their experiences and to strengthen their field experience in different environments.
samusocialInternational also brings
a technical assistance to samusocialAlger
and implicates it actively in the associative life of the federation.
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