IFSW President, David N Jones, visited Hong Kong on 2 – 5 November to meet the team working on the 2010 global social work conference and to contribute to the planning . David met with the IASSW President, Angie Yuen, based in Hong Kong, and Christine Fang, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service who chairs the conference committee, as well as Lai Wing Hoi Frederick, President of the Hong Kong association and others.
After the meetings, David commented ‘I am immensely impressed by the hard work which has already gone into the preparations for the conference. The list of speakers is almost complete with some high profile names. The infrastructure is in place and some significant sponsors have already come on Board. We are especially grateful to the Hong Kong Jockey Club which is the major donor in Hong Kong and has already given significant financial support.
‘However the major challenge for us all is the preparation of the ‘Hong Kong Agenda’. This conference will be a new way of working for us all. The aim is to have a global consultation before the conference and to end the conference with a social agenda for the next decade. Hong Kong 2010 will shape the future development of our profession and the shape of global social policy.
The Hong Kong partners launched the consultation on their domestic agenda during David’s visit. This is reported in a separate new story. The Hong Kong partners are showing the way for others around the world and encouraging us all to start working now on this unique global consultation.’
David continued to New Zealand for the Asia Pacific conference, where he and Angie Yuen will be challenging the region to develop their ideas about the agenda. He then travels to China for meetings about the Hong Kong conference and other matters with the China association of social workers. Watch the IFSW website for more updates!