Over the last days we have witnessed devastating floods in many countries around the world. This has resulted in significant loss of life and the destruction of houses, hospitals, transport systems, schools and sewage systems. Social workers along with others are responding to each of these emergencies in their communities.
IFSW President Joachim Mumba said, “The Federation stands in solidarity with all social workers facing these climate change challenges. They are not only responding to the immediate needs of communities resulting from the physical challenges, but also from the emotional trauma from the loss of life and the vision for new futures. This work has become a pillar in the profession’s changing skills and forms a part of the paradigm shift in modern social work practice.”
The People’s Charter has been developed by many partners in response to spiralling inequality, climate change and the destabilising of local communities. From our own development within social work in embracing indigenous knowledge our World Social Work Day themes of Ubuntu and Buen Vivir are helping us as a global profession to share practices that reinforce the required paradigm shift. This centres on social workers working in their communities to promote harmony between peoples and people and nature.
This is quite a challenge in the context of inadequate political structures that are focused on competition and economic growth at the expense of well-being and nature. The People’s Charter describes five actions we can do together in partnership with others to address these challenges. Each of these actions recognises the resources in people and centres on new forms of democracy where leaderful communities become the norm.
We know from the work particularly undertaken in Asia-Pacific in response to natural disasters that the surviving members of communities are the core workforce in the recovery process and their involvement in decision-making is critical for achieving sustainable outcomes, rebuilding infrastructure, local economies and local democracy into their shared futures. Social workers are often key co-facilitators in these processes.
IFSW Secretary-General, Rory Truell commented, “Nature is telling us that we have to do things differently. Social work has started a paradigm shift based on a vision co-evolved with communities in the People’s Charter for a new balanced and harmonised eco-social world. Within this new paradigm, social workers are deepening their partnerships with others beyond the traditional role prescribed by governments. We are all moving from reactive models responding to individual need, to sustainable co-existence between peoples and nature. As social workers experienced in transformation, we know this can be done.”