IFSW urges UK local authorities to back World Social Work Day
The president of the International Federation of Social Workers, David N Jones, has urged social work employees in the UK to embrace World Social Work Day on 16 March and applaud the good work social workers carry out every day.
IFSW has launched a series of online videos to mark the occasion and encourage people around the world to consider the impact of social work on the lives of millions of vulnerable people.
Events are being held globally to celebrate World Social Work Day, this year titled ‘Making human rights real – the social work agenda’, on 16 March, including BASW events in Cardiff and Edinburgh and an array of global celebrations. A gala dinner in Singapore is one such event, while the Canadian Association of Social Workers has created a tool where people can create a card to send to a social worker congratulating them on the work they do.
In the US, paid staff are in place to organise a whole month of celebratory social work initiatives throughout March, among them a social worker of the year awards event. BASW Scotland too is hosting its annual Social Worker of the Year Awards event on 16 March to coincide with the big day, this year taking place in the grand surroundings of Edinburgh Castle’s Great Hall.
In Cardiff, BASW Cymru will host a conference, Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work in Wales, to mark the occasion and debate how best to improve social work practice in the country. The Northern Ireland Association of Social Work (NIASW), part of BASW, held its awards event on 9 March.
David Jones applauded BASW’s efforts but urged social work employers to do more to acknowledge the annual celebration of social work around the world. “It is frustrating for me that leaders of departments have so little connection with the wider profession and don’t realise the global link,” he said.
“When you look at what’s happening here – the debates, tensions in the UK are replicated around the world,” he added. “Social workers all round the world say similar things and have similar frustrations around bureaucracy, management and wanting to get closer to their clients.
“We are typical – it’s not just because we are not doing it right – there are bigger forces at play and we need to recognise it,” Mr Jones said.
The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) initiated World Social Work Day – now in the third year of its current incarnation – and continues to promote the event among its 80 national associations around the world, but it is down to individual social workers and groups to organise activities in their areas.
While it may be too late to organise a lavish gala dinner before next week, Mr Jones pointed out that it takes little effort for councils to put a comment on their intranets endorsing World Social Work Day and celebrating the work their social workers carry out every day. “It’s not good enough to say ‘I didn’t know about it,’” Mr Jones added.
Mr Jones stands down as president of the IFSW at the Joint World Conference in Hong Kong in June after four years in the post.
Organisers should note that the day will be the same Tuesday in March 2011 and so planning can begin for next year’s events now.
View the IFSW videos promoting World Social Work Day.
http://www.ifsw.org./p38001994.html
Find out more about events are taking place to celebrate World Social Work Day
http://www.ifsw.org./p38001978.html
