Message from IFAP Regional President	  Mariko	  Kimura,	  IFAP	  Regional	  President,	  IFSW	  1st	  Vice	  President	  	  I	  would	  like	  to	  express	  my	  appreciation	  to	  all	  the	  member	  associations	  of	  the	  AP	  region	  for	  supporting	   me	   to	   work	   as	   the	   new	   regional	   president.	   	   At	   the	   global	   level,	   I	   have	   been	  elected	  as	  the	  1st	  Vice	  President	  of	  IFSW	  at	  the	  Melbourne	  Executive	  Committee	  Meeting.	   	  At	   the	   global	   level,	   I	   work	   with	   Ruth	   Stark,	   IFSW	   President,	   Rory	   Truell,	   Secretary-­‐General	  of	   IFSW,	   four	   regional	   presidents,	   and	   Rose	   Henderson,	   Member-­‐at-­‐Large	   of	   AP	   Region.	   	  Eva	  Ponce-­‐de-­‐Leon,	  President	  of	  the	  Philippine	  Association	  of	  Social	  Workers	  (PASWI)	  has	  been	  elected	  as	  the	  global	  Treasurer.	   	   We	  now	  have	  a	  larger	  representation	  at	  the	  global	  level.	   	   Through	   our	   (industrious	   and	   innovative)	   work	   in	   the	   AP	   Region,	   we	   hope	   to	   send	  a	  unique	  message	  from	  the	  Asia	  Pacific	  to	  the	  rest	  of	  the	  world.	  	  The	   Asia	   and	   Pacific	   Region	   being	   so	   vast	   and	   diverse,	   I	   realise	   how	   challenging	   it	   is	   for	   us	  to	  work	  as	  a	  single	  region	  (under	  IFAP).	   	   However,	  if	  we	  truly	  recognise	  and	  appreciate	  the	   history	   and	   diversity	   of	   so	   many	   cultures	   and	   peoples	   in	   the	   region,	   we	   should	   be	   able	  to	  see	  how	  gifted	  we	  are	  with	  tremendous	  resources	  and	  possibilities.	  	  For	  the	  next	  four	  years,	  I	  would	  like	  to	  work	  on	  the	  following	  matters:	  	  1. Strengthening	  of	  the	  organisational	  bases	  of	  the	  region	  -­‐	  §Networking	   among	   existing	   member	   countries	   (there	   are	   22	   member	   countries	  as	  of	  November	  2014)	   	  § Increasing	  new	  member	  countries.	  	  2. Activities	  as	  IFSW	  Asia	  Pacific	  Region	   	  §Promoting	  further	  advances	  of	  disaster	  project	  -­‐	  Asia-­‐Pacific	   is	   (one	   of)	   the	   most	   frequently	   disaster-­‐stricken	   region.	   Based	   on	   the	  experiences	   of	   our	   member	   countries	   that	   have	   responded	   to	   disasters,	   we	   need	   to	  increase	   the	   resilience	   of	   the	   region	   by	   forming	   a	   strong	   organisational	   basis	   that	   can	  function	   in	   case	   of	   disasters,	   working	   on	   economic	   and	   financial	   issues,	   providing	  training	   for	   social	   work	   intervention,	   and	   building	   the	   collaborative	   system	   (networks)	  with	  governmental	  and	  /	  or	  non-­‐governmental	  organisations.	  	  Linking	  with	  Global	  Agenda	  §Under	   IFSW	   Global	   Agenda,	   we	   gather	   and	   share	   information	   of	   the	   activities	   of	   each	  country	   and	   mutually	   support	   the	   development	   of	   tools	   (what	   kind	   of	   tools?)	   in	   the	  region.	   Specifically,	   I	   would	   like	   to	   take	   opportunities	   such	   as	   regional	   conferences	   and	  other	  gatherings	  to	  hold	  ‘regional	  forums’	  to	  come	  up	  with	  various	  ideas	  to	  work	  on	  the	  Global	  Agendas	  in	  our	  region.	  	  
§Collecting	  and	  disseminating	  regional	  information	   	  To	   promote	   the	   recognition	   and	   significance	   of	   the	   Asia-­‐Pacific	   region	   worldwide,	   we	  need	  to	  effectively	  collect	  information	  in	  our	  region	  and	  actively	  disseminate	  it	  globally.	  	  3. 	   Resources	  acquisition	  for	  the	  activities	  In	  addition	  to	  working	  on	  social	  work	  tasks	  in	  our	  region,	  we	  need	  to	  work	  collaboratively	  to	   seek	   funds	   to	   encourage	   and	   support	   our	   activities.	   In	   order	   to	   strengthen	   the	  workability	  function	  of	  the	  region,	  setting	  up	  a	  regional	  secretariat	  office	  is	  essential.	   	   	  	  Finally,	   on	   the	   global	   level,	   the	   IFSW	   Policy	   and	   Constitution	   are	   under	   review	   by	   the	  newly	   elected	   Steering	   Committee	   and	   Executive	   Committee	   members.	   	   We	   are	   also	  seeking	  more	  strongly	  how	  to	  generate	  financial	  resources	  for	  IFSW-­‐Global.	  	  mkimura1951@gmail.com