Projects

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1. Healthcare Programme

ICSS covers the costs of remedies, medicines and medical aid and meets the needs of Hungarian and foreign children for their examination and medical care as well as for their hospital care or operations.

Starting in September 1995 ICSS has operated its own dental ambulance-bus in Hungary and in the neighboring countries. This mobile dental practice is completely equipped including an X-ray apparatus; it is self-supported and independent from localities. The bus is employed for dental examinations and treatments of children and juveniles to secure dental basic care.

International Children's Safety Service opened its free specialist outpatient surgery for children in need in September 2002. At present we offer paediatrical and child neurological specialist's consultation, special therapy for hyperactive children and for children having behaviour problems. Depending on our financial situation we would like to start our child ophthalmological, child gynaecological, dermatological and orthopaedic consultation.

2. Children Feeding Programme

ICSS pays for and ensures the lunch of children of socially deprived families in schools and kindergartens. For many of them it is the only chance to get at least one hot meal once a day.

3. Foster-Parent Programme

ICSS in a self-financed pilot program supports Hungarian children from state-owned orphanages in rural areas who are now raised by foster-parents. 

4. Codification Programme

ICSS has published a collection of international legislation and guiding documents dealing with child protection during the period prior to the creating of the child welfare law. Between 1992 and 1994 together with the Prime Minister's office we have been creating and running a Child-, Youth- and Family-Law Codification and Deregulation Committee which in co-operation with the Ministry of Welfare has developed a child protection law, approved by the Parliament in 1997.

We have suggested and together with the Ministry of Law we have developed a modification of the Penal Code concerning the early jailing of youth, our modification was accepted by the Parliament. We have approached the appointed responsible by Parliament on the matters of citizens rights, asking for commenting on whether the fact that the national highway codes did not include the issue of compulsory child seats, would not harm the citizens rights of children, by including experts in the investigation. The responsible body appointed by Parliament has agreed on the suggestion and has accepted it.

We have initialised the modification of the child welfare and media law and we have participated in the development of the modification.

5. Holiday Programme

ICSS ensures the opportunity of organised holidays for institutionalised or otherwise disadvantaged children.

6. Educational and Post-Graduate Programme

ICSS offers training-courses for foster parents. It also furthers the post-graduate training of foreign doctors, paediatricians, therapeutic pedagogues, laboratory technicians, and staff-members of child-care institutions. ICSS supports the education and intellectual development of children in state-care or of other disadvantaged children.

Through our scholarship programmes we help the maintaining of talents of children in need, by providing scholarships and support for educational equipment.

Through our Riding for the Disabled programme we organise training courses for instructors with theoretical and practical training.

7. Relief Shipments

ICSS takes relief shipments mostly to Romania and to the territory of ex-Yugoslavia, but has also carried out relief actions in Bangladesh, Russia, and Ukraine. It also gives long-term support to various foreign - mostly Rumanian - institutions. In 2010-2011 we provided significant help and support for families affected by the flood in Northern Hungary and by the toxic sludge catastrophe.

8. Co-operation with and Support of Other Organisations

Employing the precise Central-Eastern European knowledge of its members, ICSS frequently assisted other relief organisations. Hence e.g. it took part in preparing the UNICEF and UNESCO programmes for Romania and established the proper contacts and conditions for many Western European relief convoys.

ICSS helped in the planning of reconstructing or reorganising hospitals and children's homes and secured the logistical background. One of the most ambitious projects was the reconstruction of an orphanage at Sinmartin/ Rumania in 2003: this co-operation with Austrian, German, Rumanian and Swedish organisations runs up to costs of DM2 Million.

9. Events

ICSS organises events for Christmas-time, Children's Day, Mother's Day, etc. to entertain children who in case of indigence are guests of ICSS. Each year several concerts and other events at the Hungarian State Opera House are organised for the children's benefit.

10. Programmes for Information and Advice

ICSS regularly gives information and advice to children, youths and children's institutions about legal, medical and other issues concerning children. A publication-series dealing with legal questions, self-organisation and planning of life, drugs, smoking, and sexual education was started in 1995 and will be continued with publications on other child-related topics. ICSS organized from 1998 several international conferences on the “Effects of the Media on the Children and Young people”.

11. Film, Television and Photo Documentation

The everyday life of socially disadvantaged children as well as the problems, which arise in child welfare on the part of hospitals, schools and other institutions for children are documented in a tv-serie every year.

Late in 1996 the ICSS-owned 'Centre for Infant Development' in Budapest was taken over by public authorities and Hungarian health insurance companies. This centre had been designed and founded as well as financed and operated for more than five years by ICSS. Its physicians, psychologists, therapeutic pedagogues and teachers treated physically and/or mentally handicapped children. The big success of this centre did not only justify the conception and its realisation; its integration into the public health-care proves that ICSS’ ideas and the transition into pilot-projects can trigger off public initiatives.

12. Collection of Contemporary Fine Arts

The International Children’s Safety Service’s Collection of Contemporary Fine Arts comprises works of art donated by recognized Hungarian artists, and due to the continuous donations, it's steadily growing. The works of art gives an authentic cross-section of the contemporary art. It is our long-term goal to use the funds raised by selling the whole Collection or its pieces for supporting disadvantaged children.

If you want to support the work of ICSS, please do it as a visitor to one of our events, or as a member (minimum annual fee for private members HUF 1.200). Please contact the following address:

International Children's Safety Service (Nemzetközi Gyermekmentő Szolgálat)

- Hungarian registered non-profit association -

H-1066 Budapest, Teréz körút 24 I./1.

Phone:  + 36-1-475-7000

Fax:     +36-1-302 41 36

E-mail: ngysz@gyermekmento.hu

Web: www.gyermekmento.hu

Banking account No: IBAN HU87 1179 4008 2002 2002 0000 0000

BIC (SWIFT): OTPVHUHB

Budapest/Hungary