The Ethics Commission is responsible for the review of the Statement of Ethical Principles, that every member of IFSW is required to adhere to, in addition to their own Code of Ethics. The Statement presents the basic ethical principles of the social work profession, offers guidance and recommends action when the work presents ethical dilemmas not only for members but for individual social workers in relation to the people with whom they work, colleagues and others in the field.
The Commission has five members, one from each region and is coordinated by the Secretary to the Commission who is appointed every two years by the Executive.
Regional Representative
National Codes of Ethics of Social Work adopted by IFSW Member organisations. The Codes of Ethics are in the national languages of the different countries. More national codes of ethics will soon be added to the ones below:
- Armenia – Code of Ethics Armenian AssociationSocial Work AASW
- Australia
- Belgium – Code of Ethics Professional Union of French Social Workers Belgium
- Burundi – Code_Ethics National Social Worker´s Association in Burundi
- Canada | Guidelines for ethical practice
- Congo RC – Code of Ethics Association Nationale des Travailleurs Sociaux de La Republique du Congo ANTS-RC
- Congo DRC – National Body of Social Assistants Democratic Republic Congo CASo/RDC) (English)
- Congo DRC – National Association of Social Workers in DRC-NASW (English)
- Congo DRC – National Association of Social Workers in DRC-NASW(France)
- Croatia – Code of Ethics Croatian Association of Social Workers
- Denmark
- Finland – Code of Ethics Talentia Union of Profesional Social Workers (Finish)
- Finland – Code of Ethics Talentia Union of Profesional Social Workers (English)
- France -French National Association of Social Workers (French)
- Germany – Code of Ethics German Professional Association for Social Work
- Ghana – Code of Ethics Ghana Association of Social Workers
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Norway – Norwegian Union of Social Educators and Social Workers (FO)
- Paraguay – Código de Ética Paraguay
- Puerto Rico English | Spanish
- Portugal
- Russia
- Singapore
- South Korea English | Korean
- Spain
- Sweden English | Swedish
- Switzerland – Professional Association of Social Workers in Switzerland. Deutsch French Italian English
Turkey English | Turkish - USA
- United Kingdom
Ethics in the news
February 14, 2025IFSW-AP recently held its annual general meeting on Friday, 17 January 2025.This meeting served as a review of the activities and achievements of 2024.- February 22, 2024We are excited to announce the publication of an article that explores the transformation of social work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a keen focus on building a new eco-social world.
- August 23, 2022IFSW is delighted to publish the findings of the international research project, ‘Beyond the Pandemic: Exploring Social Work Ethics and Values as a Contribution to a New Eco-social World’.
- March 2, 2022The IFSW and Social Work Ethics Research Group (SWERG) would like to warmly invite Social Workers around the world, from different background, to join us in a webinar, with small group discussions, to reflect on learning from social workers’ rethinking of what counts as ethical practice during Covid-19.