May 2009

This monthly update from IFSW keeps you up to date not only with the activities of IFSW but also global and regional developments which are relevant to the practice and delivery of social work.

Every month IFSW provides you with a list of updates on the IFSW website. All you need to do is follow the web links to the items which interest you. New additions will include:

New IFSW material keeping you up to date with IFSW statements, policy consultations and activities - not only globally but also in the 5 IFSW Regions and in member organisations.
News and Infos from around the world keeping you up to date with the activities of the United Nations and its agencies and other global and regional bodies and also news items from individual countries which have wider implications for social work
New information about international conferences run by IFSW, IFSW member organisations and other

Please let us know what you think about the update and ways in which you would like us to develop the service. Please send comments to ifswmail@ifsw.org.

We look forward to hearing from you

David N Jones
IFSW President

IFSW welcome Special Representative on Violence Against Children (SRSG)
The International Federation of Social Workers warmly welcomes the appointment of Ms. Marta Santos Pais by the United Nations Secretary-General as his Special Representative on Violence against Children at the level of Assistant Secretary-General', said IFSW President David N Jones.

Ms Santos Pais served as Rapporteur on the first Committee on the Rights of the Child from 1991 to 1997. After leaving the Committee, Ms Antos worked for Unicef in New York before becoming the Director of the Unicef Innocenti Research Centre in Florence.

'We were happy to be involved with Ms Santos Pais during her two three-year terms on the Committee on the Rights of the Child, said Ellen Mouravieff-Apostol (IFSW Representative to the UN in Geneva). 'Her commitment, experience and energy will be an important tool for children’s increased safety.'



IFSW call for UN action on social impact of climate change
There could be 200 million “climate refugees” by 2050, according to new policy paper by the International Organization for Migration, depending on the degree of climate disturbances.

The areas of the world to be most affected first include South Pacific islands and low-lying areas in Bangladesh and nations in the Indian Ocean. The leader of the Maldives has begun seeking a safe haven for his 300,000 people. Landlocked areas may also be affected; some experts call the Darfur region of Sudan, where nomads battle villagers in a war over shrinking natural resources, the first significant conflict linked to climate change.

In the coming days, the United Nations is expected to adopt the first resolution linking climate change to international peace and security. The hard-fought resolution, brought by 12 Pacific island states, says that climate change warrants greater attention from the United Nations as a possible source of upheaval worldwide and calls for more intense efforts to combat it. While all Pacific island states are expected to lose land, some made up entirely of atolls, like Tuvalu and Kiribati, face possible extinction.

The social impact of climate change has been one of the key themes identified recently by IFSW President David N Jones : 'the social consequences of climate change will have a real impact on us all', Jones has recently been quoted as saying.. 'Everyday social work practice will be affected. Social workers already know that global social movements have a real impact in the homes of people we meet, affecting family relationships and creating social problems. Climate change will affect the very basics of life and peace - water, food, energy and land.' In an appeal to the United Nations, Jones has requested that ‘Governments anticipate the consequences of climate change and act together to create a world where all can thrive'.

This issue will be a central focus of the 2010 World Social Work Conference in Hong Kong.

EU survey of minorities and immigrants sheds new light on extent of racism in EU - Une enquête communautaire menée auprès des minorités et des immigrés révèle l'ampleur du racisme dans l'UE - La encuesta de la UE sobre minorías e inmigrantes
April, 22 2009
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) today releases results of the first ever EU-wide survey on immigrant and ethnic minority groups' experiences of discrimination and racist crime. The survey reveals that discrimination, harassment and racially motivated violence are far more widespread than recorded in official statistics. The results suggest a sense of resignation among ethnic minorities and immigrants who appear to lack confidence in mechanisms to protect victims. The FRA calls on EU governments to improve the situation, by promoting the reporting and recording of discrimination and racist crime, fully applying anti-discrimination laws, and better informing vulnerable minorities about their rights.




Europa: Only a few countries have an emergency hotline for missing children

In 2007 the 30 Members of the European Union has signed an agreement to set up a single 24-hour hotline for parents to report missing children. Calls to the european wide phone number - 116000 - are free of charge. Since today only 10 of the 30 European countries which signed up to this agreement in 2007 have so far set up services. The rest, including Britain, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Spain and all of Scandinavia, have failed to do so, to the frustration of the European Commission.



27th Annual “Protecting our Children” national conference on American Indian child abuse prevention and neglect
United States of America, Reno

The 27th Annual "Protecting our Children" US American Conferencen on American Indian child abuse prevention and neglect was held in Reno, USA, from April 19 until April 22

Nearly 500 attendees went to and presented workshops, created focus groups and networked, among them were child welfare advocates, social workers, juvenile court staffers, clinicians and researchers. The conference was sponsored by the National Indian Child Welfare Association, the attendees are professionals from the field of social work, elected tribal officials, and tribal employees sent to the conference to learn issues of access to children’s mental health services, compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act, youth leadership and cross-border issues between the U.S. and Canada.




World Social Work Day 2009 in the Philippines
The Philippine Association of Social Workers Inc. (PASWI) will be celebrating World Social Work Day on June 18, 2009 with a conference at the Bayview Hotel Manila, as part of the celebrations of the Philippine Social Work Week (June 15-21).

The theme of the conference is " Strenghthening Solidarity and Excellence in Social Work". Mr. John Ang, Regional President for IFSW Asia Pacific, is invited as guest speaker. Participants will be social workers from the different regions and provincies in the country, from all fields of social work practice.





UNICEF: Handbook on the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography


The Handbook aims to promote understanding and effective implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The publication describes the genesis, scope and content of the Protocol, and provides examples of measures taken by States Parties to fulfil their obligations under this instrument.



Health effects of climate change

A collaboration between the Journal "The Lancet" and University College London, UK, resulting in the first UCL Lancet Commission report, setting out how climate change over the coming decades could have a disastrous effect on health across the globe. The report examines practical measures that can be taken now and in the short and medium term to control its effects.

Climate change could be the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Effects on health of climate change will be felt by most populations in the next decades and put the lives and wellbeing of billions of people at increased risk. During this century, the earth’s average surface temperature rises are likely to exceed the safe threshold of 2°C above pre-industrial average temperature.





UN: Human Rights Council Election

On May 12, 2009 the UN General Assembly elected 18 States to serve on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting next month, five of which will be sitting on the Geneva-based panel for the first time: Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and the United States. Former US President George W. Bush had refused to support the council when it was established in 2006. Last month, Obama reversed that policy and announced US intentions to run for a seat.

Re-elected for an additional term were the following 13 members: Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Jordan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uruguay. Only Kenya and Azerbaijan were shut out of their respective regional groups. The terms of office for all members elected today will begin on 19 June.

The Human Rights Council is the principal human rights political body of the UN. The Council is composed of 47 elected Member States that must uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights. Based on equitable geographical distribution, it allocates seats to the regional groups as follows: African Group, 13 seats; Asian Group, 13 seats; Eastern European Group, 6 seats; Latin American and Caribbean Group, 8 seats; and Western and Others Group, 7 seats.



World Bank publishes World Development Indicators 2009


WASHINGTON, April 22, 2009

The World Bank has released the World Development Indicators (WDI) 2009. The publication tells the story through comprehensive data of how developing countries benefited from a long period of prosperity which may now be set back due to the current crisis.

“That long period of growth is now being interrupted by a global recession, which has spread through the same channels that nourished the growth of the global economy, principally trade and investment,” says Shaida Badiee, director of the Development Data Group. “The WDI is the statistical benchmark that will help measure both the impact of the crisis and, eventually, of global recovery.”

Goal to reduce HIV infections among newborn babies not reached


The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) published a new report on HIV Prevention of Mother-to- Child Transmission. In 2001 the worlds' governments promised to reduce the rate of HIV infections from mothers to babies by 50%.

Whilst the Mother-to-Child Transmission (also known as Vertical Transmission) of HIV has been virtually eliminated in the global North in poorer parts of the world only a third of HIV infected pregnant women are receiving any drug treatment at all, that would protect babies of an infection. Most of this treatment is so inadequate that it fails to prevent them from transmitting the virus to their babies, the report said. Only about 8 per cent are getting the full triple-dose drug-combination treatment that is widely used in the West to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission.


Amnesty International publishes its World Report 2009


The Amnesty International Report 2009 documents the state of human rights during 2008 country-by-country and provides a summary of each continent and the Middle East.

The report points out that the global economic crisis is also an unfolding human rights crisis with signs of creating new violations, inequality, insecurity, xenophobia and racism. "Ignoring one crisis to focus on another is a recipe for aggravating both. Economic recovery will be neither sustainable nor equitable if governments fail to tackle human rights abuses that drive and deepen poverty, or armed conflicts that generate new violations." Irene Khan, Amnesty's Secretary General, said.
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Japanese Conference: Different Cultural Problems and Social Work in Different Countries - For Building a Multicultural Harmonious Society

In a climate of rapid economical change on a global scale, foreign nationals residing in Japan have more serious problems of their daily life (different cultural problems) including those relating to medical care, health, welfare, and employment. Social work practice for building a multicultural harmonious society is required as well as supporting people with different cultural problems in such situation.


1st Global Conference: Bullying & the Abuse of Power

This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference aims to explore the phenomenon of bullying as it manifests and has manifested itself in a wide range of contexts in the personal, social and global spheres. Bullying is a multi-faceted phenomenon, of interest and concern to academics and professionals of all kinds, including psychologists, sociologists, teachers, ethicists, politicians, social workers, philosophers, theologians, historians, physicians and human rights lawyers.

6th International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health

The theme has been chosen to encompass new and ongoing challenges for practitioners, researchers and educators of social work on an international basis. These challenges include the changing demography, innovations in health care knowledge and practice, the focus on maintaining good health as well as curative interventions.


7th Annual TiSSA Plenum and Pre-Conference

Theme: New culture of welfare: the clash between managerial ideology, public image and professional identity

During the TiSSA (The international "Social Work & Society" Academy) Plenum and PreConference of the PhD-Network plenary sessions, panel debates and working groups excite the exchange and discussion of current developments and challenges in the social professions. Field visits give the opportunity to meet colleagues from Lithuania and learn about their approaches and projects of social work. The social program makes it possible to get an idea of the conditions of daily life and to visit tourist attractions

1st Joint National Social Workers Congress, South Africa

Main theme:Social Work in Action: Narrowing the Theory-Practice Divide

The 1st Joint Congress of the Association of Schools of Social Work Education Institutions (ASASWEI) and the National Association of Social Workers, SA (NASW, SA) will take place in a resort in the Drakensberg mountains in the KwaZulu-Natal province.


12th European Network Occupational Social Work Meeting

Generations in Organizations

It is our experience, in The Netherlands, that there are many differences between generations within organisations. For example, the way of communicating and interacting as well as differences in finding solutions for managing workload and other work-related issues.
It is the approach and management of these generation differences which will be the main focus of the conference. Our aim is that you will gain valuable information that can positively contribute to you and your organisation. As with all our conferences we offer you the opportunity to create new contacts and the benefits gained from exchanging experiences with other delegates.