IASSW, ICSW and IFSW are delighted to announce their ongoing joint commitment to the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social development and that the three organisations will be jointly holding world conferences in 2022 and 2024 with the expectation that joint conferences will continue into the future.
The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development will remain our flagship during the next ten years. The 2020 world conferences, first in Rimini, and then Calgary will finalise the consultation process to create a follow-up to the Global Agenda 2020 to 2030. The global organisations will then jointly validate the 2020 to 2030 Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development. This 10-year strategy will strengthen the impact of the social work, social work education, and social development efforts, promoting their synergy and making social institutions more humane and responsive to human needs.
The partnerships between IASSW, ICSW and IFSW to jointly host world conferences commenced in 2010 with the agreement to work together promoting the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development through joint conferences. As envisaged in the Global Agenda process each of the three organisations further announces the expansion of the partnerships to include global representatives of organisations that use social work services. IASW, ICSW and IFSW believe this will make a significant contribution to the Global Agenda process and positively impact on the social work, social work education and social development professions. A call for expressions of interest to host the 2022 world conference will be issued in May.
IFSW President Silvana Martinez and Secretary-General Rory Truell jointly commented:
“The Global Agenda has already made a major impact on the social work profession and the communities they work within. Over the last ten years, social workers across the world have advanced human rights and provided social work solutions to social problems and social planning. The Global Agenda has brought visibility and unity to the profession at a height not seen before, and we are delighted that this work will continue in cooperation with our sister organisations over the coming decade. The expansion of partnerships to the world conferences to include people that use social services reflects the aims of the IFSW constitution and the voices of the Federation’s members. Such new partners will see both the world conferences and the Global Agenda platform move from strength to strength. We thank IASSW and ICSW for their co-participation in this development and the organisations that represent people who use social services for their commitment to work proactively with the social work profession. On behalf of the IFSW global executive, we also thank all the IFSW member organisations who participated in the consultations and discussions that have led to this historical development. Together, with growing partnerships, social work is making sustainable social justice a reality.”