The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development started in 2010 when 3000 social work representatives and social development professionals came together to set the priorities for the profession until 2020. This significantly successful period of the Global Agenda has been an essential voice in proactively setting and fulfilling the Sustainable Developmental Goals, working towards more peaceful and just societies and strengthening the voice of the social work profession.
Now, the social work profession needs to examine new themes and processes to expand the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development for the years 2020 to 2030. From IFSW, we are launching a consultation process, where your input is essential to build a robust and inclusive Global Agenda that meets the real needs of all people. The consultation period will end in July 2020.
Please make your contributions to the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development 2020 – 2030 by filling in the comments box at the bottom of this page.
To see the reports of the Global Agenda from 2010 to 2018 please visit the IFSW Bookstore where you can download the reports for free. Below is a video message from the IFSW President Silvana Martinez and Secretary-General Rory Truell providing some examples of the success of the Global Agenda and inviting all people interested in the development of social work to participate in the consultation process. The video is subtitled in both Spanish and English.
Comments Section
Please leave any comments on your proposed Global Agenda themes for 2020 to 2030 and any suggestions for how to integrate the themes across the decade which also allows the Global Agenda process to effectively respond to any unforeseen social issues that may arise.
We are students of social work at the “Fliedner Fachhochschule” in Germany.
In our seminar „international social work an development“ we discussed about the IFSW and the Global Agenda of social work. In addition we simulated a Global Agenda and set three aims for the next years. We represented Russia.
The current situation of social work in Russia is characterized by an insufficient professionalization and an insufficient allocation of social benefits.
Therefore we agreed on the aim to strengthen professionalization of social work. Furthermore one of our goals is a proper education for all countrys. Russia is undergoing changes in its education system, but this process has to be expanded. The third topic we discussed, is migration, which is very important for Russia because it’s the second largest country of immigration. Despite of the increasing number of immigrants the integration policy of Russia is insufficient and has to be improved.
Hello everybody. We are students from Germany. In our seminar on international social work, we deal with social work in different regions. We have set our focus on the country of Russia. One point for Russia to adress in the upcoming agenda should be the drug policy, because so many people are dying in cause of not cleared up people about infectious diseases and overdose. Another point that is close to our hearts is educating people in russia about human rights and making their social work palatable. Because something can only be done if social work is recognized as a profession.
Hello everybody. We are students from Germany. In our seminar on international social work, we deal with social work in different regions. We have set our focus on the country of Russia. One point for Russia to adress in the upcoming agenda should be the drug policy, because so many people are dying in cause of not cleared up people about infectious diseases and overdose. Another point that is close to our hearts is educating people in russia about human rights and making their social work palatable. Because something can only be done if social work is recognized as a profession.
Jasmin Servos, Juliane Stepan, Linda Jakob-Hög
Hello ladys and gentlemen,
we are a group of students from Germany, we study social work at the Fliedner Fachhochschule Düsseldorf. Within our bachelor degree course we handle with the topic „international and european developments within the social work“. In our group of eight we decided to take a closer look at the Benelux states. our reasons for choosing explicit this countries are at first that these countries are in direct neighbourhood to Germany and the close contiguity to our own society in general.
For our fellow social workers we worked out some possible improvements and ideas for the upcoming future. Especially in the topics of drug related problems, identity and profession of social work and third, human rights in a general sense. Unfortunately it would be too much to present you all of our researched material, so we decided to give you a little glimpse at what we think is the biggest issue in the entire Benelux states.
As you might know, Cannabis is legal to buy and consume in the whole Netherlands and in Luxemburg it will probably be fully legal in near future. Belgium is the only country out of these three in which it doesn´t seems that there will be a decriminalization in the next years.
In Luxemburg the state wants to invest the earned money out of legal Cannabis purchases into the prevention of drug abuse and addiction in general. This concept is surely controvers, but we think it could be a great opportunity in drug enforcement. In the long run, we would appreciate to see, that because of the earned money it is possible to qualify motivated social workers to be experts in drug enlightenment, especially for the youth of the population. The aim is to make adolescents aware of all the risks drugs are bringing with, it is very important that this enlightenment doesn´t happen in the impersonality of a mass gathering, but in small intimate groups. For sure, to make this happen it is necessary that there are enough social workers as well as enough money to fund this whole project. Certainly it would already be an effort if this will start at a small number of schools in Luxemburg and will spread slowly but steady across the whole Benelux. With a high quality clarification it is possible to reduce drug abuse, drug addiction and drug criminality in the long term, predominantly within the upcoming generation.
Thank you very much for your attention and kind, collegial regards from Germany.
In the module “International Development in Social Work” we have dealt with social work in different countries by also considering which tasks social workers in different countries have to fulfil. We´ve formed different groups and payed attention to different countries. Our group, consisting of five students, has dealt with the country Italy. After learning about the country and its social projects and social problems, we have set 3 goals that we felt were the most important in Italy. The goals were to create new jobs in order to fight poverty, to settle social inequality and also to build a better network in Italy. After setting our goals, we had another course meeting, in which all countries were presented and in which we should agree on three goals applying equally to all countries. After some time and discussion, we agreed on the following goals: 1. Expanding networking, 2. Countering social inequality 3. Protecting the environment. The first two goals relevant for the whole course coincided perfectly with two of our goals. Additionally, we incorporated the goal of environmental protection in our report.
To whom it may concern
We are a group of six “Social Work” students in Düsseldorf, Germany. In one of our seminars we were told to focus on one country which is confronted with social or educational problems. As a group we decided to put our attention on South America and, more specifically, to focus on Columbia. During our research on this country we found some interesting but also shocking information. Based on these details, our work consisted in focusing on three aims which would help the current social/educational situation in Columbia.
Our first aim involves the creation of new educational perspectives. A large portion of the population in Columbia lives in poverty. As a consequence, many children do not have the opportunity to go to school and are likely to end up victims of forced recruitment. On the other hand, children who have an education have better chances of avoiding forced recruitment and poverty. To stop forced recruitment it is important to focus on poverty. More schools but also preschools have to be built. The sooner the education starts, the more value it has for the future.
The second aim is to focus on new laws for the protection of children. One of them would be to determine a minimum age for soldiers. The second law would concern compulsory school attendance for all children. This attendance should be strictly supervised. This should also help in the fight against forced recruitment. All children should have the same right to attend school and this should improve their chances for a better future.
The third and last aim is to minimize or even forbid the violence. A protection concept should be written to protect victims from daily violence. Safe camps should be built for children and youths to give them the opportunity to feel safe and secure. In these places they would also learn how to defend themselves and deal with the violence experienced in their families. This is a chance for them to escape their background and live a better life without violence and hate.
Thank you for your attention
We are a group of social work students from Germany. In a seminar called “international social work” we choose Netherlands as our country. After a detailed examination of the problems of social work in the Netherlands, we have decided to underline on the following three main goals:
The first goal for the “Global Social Work Agenda” is in our opinion Education.
The Netherlands would use this goal to work against unemployment and the associated problem of homelessness. The focus should be on the prevention of these problems.
The second goal is migration and refugees. According to our research, there is an extreme housing shortage in the Netherlands. This also applies to the accommodation of refugees. The aim should therefore be to create more affordable housing for the refugees and for the other citizens of the Netherlands in order to create equal opportunities and social justice. The intercultural exchange is an enrichment for people with a history of flight and for residents.
The final goal should be to promote and strengthen the increasing professionalisation of social work. We feel that this aspect is also extremely important for social work in the Netherlands.