From the Director
Social Work's Global Community
By Elizabeth J. Clark, Ph.D., ACSW, MPH
 This
past fall, NASW President Gary Bailey and I had the opportunity
to travel to Adelaide, Australia, to attend the General Meeting
of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the
global organization that seeks to promote international cooperation
among social workers and their professional associations.
The General Meeting preceded the Global Congress of Social Work,
held biennially by IFSW and the International Association of Schools
of Social Work. This year's congress centered on the theme of
"reclaiming civil society" by boosting individuals'
participation in their communities during this time of unprecedented
global transformation in social institutions, economies and technologies.
At the IFSW General Meeting — which is IFSW's highest decision-making
body, akin to NASW's Delegate Assembly — I was one of 103 delegates.
The General Meeting delegates represented more than 30 countries.
IFSW in its current form was founded in 1956, so it is approaching
its 50th anniversary, just as NASW is celebrating its own half
century of existence this year.
During the General Meeting, IFSW added member organizations from
Palestine and Papua New Guinea, expanding its reach to 80 countries
and representing almost half a million social workers.
One of the more challenging aspects of the meeting for me was
remembering to identify myself as being from "NASW-United
States," because numerous countries' social work organizations
have names similar to NASW's.
In fact, similarities far outnumber differences in other areas
as well. It was heartening to realize that so many social workers
around the world are working to advance human rights and to increase
the quality of life for those living in their countries.
NASW-USA was instrumental in establishing the IFSW Human Rights
Commission in 1984. In the ensuing 20 years, human rights — as
viewed from the unique social work perspective of self-determination
for the person-in-environment — has remained at the forefront
of IFSW's mission and, along with poverty alleviation, is still
an overarching issue.
For example, in 2000, IFSW called upon the United Nations and
other international agencies to give priority to the views of
the people of East Timor in determining, among other issues, how
human rights abuses should be investigated in that strife-torn
country.
It remains IFSW's view, as it is NASW's, that recognition of
the dignity of every individual is the key to achieving world
stability and security.
One new area of focus of IFSW for the next two years is the global
image of social work. This parallels our goal in the United States
of launching a public education campaign about social work. As
we work to further develop our national campaign, we will have
much to contribute to social work organizations in countries with
more limited — some severely more limited — resources.
IFSW also will seek recognition of a Global Social Work Day,
a day to call attention around the world to the importance of
our profession.
You can help with these initiatives by supporting IFSW. Suzanne
Dworak-Peck, a former NASW national president, serves as the U.S.
IFSW ambassador. During her NASW presidency, Sue helped to establish
the "Friends of IFSW Program" to raise funds to support
social work in all countries.
Please log onto IFSW at www.ifsw.org/
to find out how to register as a "friend," to participate
in the important work of IFSW and to become part of a network
of social workers around the world — a global social work community.
To comment to Elizabeth J. Clark: newscolumn@naswdc.org
From January 2005 NASW News. © 2005 National
Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News
articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of
copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies
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