Photo: Fiona Robertson and Nigel Hall at the IFSW office in Switzerland
The IFSW Archives team—Fiona Robertson, the official Archivist, assisted by Nigel Hall—is pleased to announce that the work on the IFSW archives project has been finalised. The project spanned more than ten years and has preserved and documented the historical content.
IFSW Secretary-General Rory Truell commented, “That great care was taken in finding and preserving treasured original founding documents of IFSW and the records revealing the early aims, objectives and principles of the movement for international social work.”.
The Archives demonstrate the tremendous interest in social work from the first Conference held in Paris in July 1928, which brought together over 5000 delegates, from 42 countries to the current day and upcoming centennial.
Many of the archival documents record fascinating information on social workers working to address global issues relating to the depression of the early 1930s, equality for women, and the problems of homelessness and widespread poverty.
Fiona and Nigel would like to acknowledge the inspiration of former IFSW President Gary Bailey in promoting the idea of the Archives and Rene Schegg for all his support in helping sort through the Archives. Some records have been digitalised and can be accessed here. IFSW members are also welcome to visit the archives in Switzerland
Fiona Robertson said, “Preserving the past and current records of IFSW is an honouring of the social work profession and our institutional identity. The task of preservation of our history is also about our human rights and human dignity as a profession. Our history cannot be given away, nor can it be taken away but we need to ensure it is kept for the next generations of social workers”.