The Korean Association of Social Workers, as a member organization of the IFSW, has celebrated the World Social Work Day with other national associations f social workers, commemorating the achievements social workers have since won. Since 2007, when the World Social Work Day was announced, the KASW has held a commemorative ceremony on April 22, that is, the Social Workers Day (Korea), every year. This year, however, it changed the Day from April 22 to March 30, on which the “Act for the Improvement of Treatment and Status of Social Workers and Others” was passed to celebrate our achievement.
In addition to a commemorative ceremony of the Social Workers Day, the KASW has held an athletic event for social workers around the country every year. This year, it celebrated the 6th anniversary of the Social Workers Day on April 13, and selected social workers who have contributed to the development social work and gave them awards: Award of Minister of Health and Welfare, Award of the President of KASW, and Hanmaek Grand Social Worker Award. And it held an athletic event, the “6th Athletic Event for Social Workers,” in order to pursue unity among social workers and encourage pride as a social worker. It was attended by more than 1,000 social workers, who enjoyed soccer, relay, and rope skipping in groups. In spite of a rainy day, it was very successful. The Gangwon Association of Social Workers won the flag and prize money in the Soccer Event for the Flag of Minister of Health and Welfare, which is the highlight of this event.
Furthermore, it held a workshop, as a special program of this year, with the theme of “2012 Current Issues and Challenges of International Social Work,” which was attended by social workers working in the field of international cooperation and people who are interested in international social work. The workshop was designed to introduce the “Global Agenda on Social Work and Social Development,” which has been promoted since 2010, and encourage Korean social workers to participate in it. The workshop, held on March 20, the World Social Work, was a good opportunity to report to social workers in Korea the process of the promotion of the “Global Agenda on Social Work and Social Development”, internationally promoted from 2010, and the trends and activities of international social work.