The meeting point for policymakers, social workers, scholars and students to exchange experience and development in social work practice, social research and education and social policy to develop a sustainable welfare system for the future. Social Work and Social Development – Action and Impact - Stockholm 8-12 July 2012
Action and Impact
The three global organizations IASSW, ICSW and IFSW coope
rated before and during the Hong Kong conference on Social Work and Social Development 2010, on a common Agenda, which represents the commitment by the global social work and social development community to respond to the global economic and social crisis affecting people everywhere. In the Stockholm conference in 2012 we wish to address and demonstrate what actions are required to develop and fulfil the Agenda – with regard to methods in practice and research, in policies and education and in forms of global commitment and cooperation. We also wish to demonstrate how these actions will impact the conditions of people and demonstrate how actions in the social work and social development community can contribute to a endurable environment and sustainable social development. We will thus in Stockholm – inheriting the main theme from Hong Kong – advance the work on the Agenda by focusing on what Action it requires and what Impact we can expect and demonstrate from our actions. We particularly want to leave visible signs for the future in three areas – Environmental change and sustainable development; Human rights and social equality; Global transformation and social action. Environmental Change and Sustainable Development
In the shadow of climate change, with global warming and the increase in natural disasters due to the emission of greenhouse gases, an alternative approach to the natural environment is vital. The role of social work and social policies in these contexts has not yet been sufficiently highlighted. What are the social consequences of the escalating climate change? The UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by 2015. This was also the initial recognition that environmental change is a requirement for sustainable social development. Since this time the environment discussion emphasizes Social Justice and Solidarity as important aspects of environmental sustainability. The main focus of this sub-theme is to emphasize an holistic view of the person-in-environment concept and find measures to realize it. The experiences of Social work and Disaster management will be explored as examples of a necessary holistic approach. Aboriginal experiences of the natural environment change can give social workers and social policymakers important insights. What are the lessons learned so far? Human Rights and Social Equality
The concepts of Human Rights and Social Equality are the most fundamental influences in Social Work and Social Policies throughout time. Human Rights are a normative base for Social Work and the formation of Inclusive Social Policies. Social Equality serves as the core and purpose of Social Policies – and Social Work contributes to its realization. Within this area of discussion we would like to explore the tension between a normative and a political base of Social Work and Social Development. Recognizing that Human Rights are universal and inalienable; indivisible; interdependent and interrelated, we emphasize:
Economic Social and Cultural Rights
Women's Rights
Rights of the Child
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Rights of the Elderly
How can Social Work and Social Policies contribute in the struggle against violence, racism and abuse etc and to the respect, protection and fulfilment of Human Rights? Global Social Transformation and Social Action
The world's population will grow to 9 billion over the next 50 years and only by raising the living standards of the poorest nations can we curb the population growth. Although a number of countries with emerging economies are catching up with the Global North in welfare and prosperity, one billion of the world’s population is stuck in the poverty trap, unable to survive on their own work efforts. The global financial crisis and the lack of progress in fulfilment of the MDGs has led to different forms of Social action, e.g. the Social Protection Floor Initiative, to meet the needs of the people living in poverty and to counter the inequalities within countries and between regions. In what way can social work and social policy actions contribute to closing the gaps of inequality in and between the regions? The migrant population of the world is estimated to more than 200 million individuals. Migration goes from rural areas to urban areas, from Global South nations to Global North nations. The urban population of the world is now over fifty percent. The number of refugees including internally displaced persons and stateless people is over 30 million. The number of undocumented migrants is unknown. What are the social consequences of these movements? How can social work and social policies contribute to the respect, protection and fulfilment of migrants’ rights and to the bridging of transnational relations that are one of the consequences of the border-crossing migration?
