Wars demolish the infrastructure of societies, displacing people and destroying economic and social functioning often contributing to intergenerational trauma. Andy McClenaghan from the BASW podcast series ‘Let’s Talk Social Work’ interviews IFSW Secretary-General, Rory Truell, on the IFSW partnership with the Kamianets-Podilskyi’ district of Ukraine. They discuss the social work approaches of working `beyond humanitarian aid’ that create hope, purpose, roles and better futures for people within Ukraine. Other conversation topics include how the profession has worked with refugees fleeing to other countries to co-build new communities, ways to reduce anti-refugee political agendas and new ideas such as a social supermarket where people can swap community volunteer actions for products.
The interview provides a clear rationale for why traditional international aid responses need to change so that they recognise the worth and dignity of each person, their diversity of skills and how, with facilitative support, they can co-build new infrastructures and pathways to recovery.
To listen to the podcast, click on one of the following:
Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lets-talk-social-work/id1511140451?i=1000594041198
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/1TO3Yw6okbj4vw9HyWsThj?si=84107e7c53de41f3