International Association of Schools of Social Work(IASSW)

Annual Report
2015
IASSW

2015

IASSW President's office: Room No. 212, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences Post Box
8313, V.N.Purav Marg Opposite Deonar Depot Mumbai 400 088., Tel: 91-22-25525446

Foreword
I am delighted to present this compiled update of the activities and progress of ourassociation done from January to December 2015.
The Annual Report provides an opportunity to reflect on the significance of ouraccomplishments over the past one year, as well as get a glimpse of where we areheaded in the coming months. This report gives an insight into the range ofactivities undertaken by our members in different parts of the world.
A few of our Board members who had served IASSW with great commitment, givingof their time and making significant intellectual contributions by providing
leadership in several committees, namely, Sue Lawrence, Vishanthie Sewpaul,
Antoinette Lombard and Wassie Kebede completed their terms on the board. While
Sue Lawrence volunteered to be an evaluator of the China Collaborative project,
Vishanthie and Antoinette were co-opted and continue their roles as Chairpersons of
the Review of Ethical Statement Task Force and the Global Agenda for Social Workand Social Development International Steering Committee respectively. Wassie was
entrusted to complete his task of finalising the nomination for the Katherine Kendall
Award to be presented at 2016 World Conference on Social Work, Education andSocial Development. We thank them for their continued involvement.
Our first faculty capacity building programmes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh in
Vietnam in collaboration with the Vietnam Associations of Social Work wereorganised with external funding through the IASSW Foundation. We achieved
this thanks to the efforts of Angie Yuen and her team in Hongkong as well as
our coordinator Janet Williams. The funders were enthused to continue
supporting this initiative.
The bi-monthly meetings over Skype among the office-bearers continued andhelped tremendously to follow up on actions to be taken and issues that needed
urgent consideration.
Communicating over Skype has been most useful. I was able to hold productive
meetings with colleagues from other international organizations on the basis ofrequests for some form of international collaboration like the UNICEF’s Geneva
based Child Protection Coordinator who is keen for collaboration to strengthensocial work education in Central Asia.
The new website was launched in November, 2015. Both the website provider
Preshit and the website mistress Rashmi worked closely together to get it readyfor the January board meeting. IASSW members had started accessing the new
payment gateway and any faults were being dealt with pronto. The newchairperson Surinder Guru of the website committee reported and invitedcomments and suggestions from the board members.
A new team of IASSW members had started working along with IFSW
representatives to organise the Social Work Day at the United Nations HQ in
New York in March 2016. I thank Carol Cohen, Associate Professor, Adelphi
University, Martha Grabin, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
City University of New York, and Shirley Gatenio-Gabel, Associate Professor,
Fordham University, for agreeing to volunteer to plan and organise the event.
They were in continuous communication with Lynne and me regarding the same.
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The board thanks Darla our board member for proposing their names.
I am highly appreciative of the enthusiasm of our board for initiating IASSW
strategic review after 2008 and look forward to discussions in the forthcomingboard meetings.
I invite our members to share pride in the achievements of their association andcomment freely on the report.
Prof. Vimla V. Nadkarni, Ph.D.
President, International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW)
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

2Introduction to IASSWThe International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) is the worldwide
association of schools of social work, other tertiary level social work educational
programmes, and social work educators. The IASSW promotes the development ofsocial work education throughout the world, develops standards to enhance qualityof social work education, encourages international exchange, provides forums forsharing social work research and scholarship, and promotes human rights and social
development through policy and advocacy activities.
IASSW holds consultative status with the United Nations and participates as an NGO
in UN activities in Geneva, Vienna and New York. Through its work at the UN andwith other international organizations, IASSW represents social work education at
the international level.
IASSW was founded in 1928 at the First International Conference of Social Work,
held in Paris. It started with 51 schools, mostly in Europe, and was known as theInternational Committee. Revitalized after World War II, the organization expanded
its membership to include a wider range of countries and was renamed theInternational Association of Schools of Social Work.
The association has member schools in all parts of the world. Five regionalorganizations based in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North
America and the Caribbean are affiliate members and their Presidents are the VicePresidents on the IASSW Board of Directors.
IASSW is governed by the Board of Directors under a constitution approved by thebiennial General Assembly. The mission of the association emphasizes thepromotion of worldwide excellence in social work education and engagement of acommunity of social work educators in international exchange of information andexpertise.
IASSW carries out its purposes through:
1. A biennial world conference of social work educators.
2. Publication of an online Social Dialogue magazine.
3. Representation at the United Nations.
4. Co-sponsorship, with IFSW and ICSW of the journal International Social Workpublished by SAGE.
5. Funding of small cross-national projects in social work education.
6. Important policy documents include the Definition of Social Work, Global
Standards for Social Work and Social Development and Ethics in Social Work
Statement of Principles (all developed along with the International Federationof Social Workers) and the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social
Development.
7. Capacity building and other activities of Committees and Tasks Forces of theassociation.
8. Setting up IASSW Regional Resource Centres in collaboration with social workcolleges/departments.

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Activities and Achievements in 2015
IASSW Board meetings
Fifth Executive Committee and Board Meeting-Vancouver Board MeetingJanuary 20-21, 2015

Picture 1: IASSW Board of Directors in full board meeting at Vancouver

The fifth Executive Committee and Board meetings were held at The University of
British Columbia in Vancouver in January 23-24, 2015. The Board meeting wasattended by 20 board members and two joined through Skype. IASSW committee
list was revised and circulated for expression of interest to each board member
Additional meetings organised were: International Steering Committee meeting on
the World Conference, Global Agenda meeting with partner organizations, and the
Tripartite meeting. Each meeting raised health debates around issues and many
important decisions were taken for action and to be further discussed, if required
during the Medellin meeting.
Sixth Executive Committee and Board Meeting- Medellin Board MeetingJuly, 2015
The Sixth Executive Committee and Board meetings were held at The Universidad
de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia in July 29-31, 2015. This meeting was unusual as
the first brainstorming session on IASSW was conducted in a one day workshop withthe board of directors. It was attended by seventeen board members while twoboard members (Angie and Lena) joined via Skype.President and all board members
thanked vice dean and board member Prof. Hernando Muñoz Sanchez for organizing
the board meeting at his campus as well as Rector Dr. Mauricia Alviaz, Dean Prof.
Gloria Pelavez and Department Director Dr. John Mario Munoz for their hospitality.
4Picture 2: IASSW Board of Directors in full board meeting at Medellin

Seminars organized in collaboration with Universities hosting IASSW Board
meetings
Advancing the social work profession across borders: Promotinginternational collaboration in education, research, knowledge exchange
and credential recognition (January 25, 2015
The daylong conference was attended by board members, colleagues from The
University of British Columbia and Canadian Association for Social Work Education.

Picture 3: Mini conference attended by IASSW Board of Directors, faculty & Colleagues from CASWE and UBC

Several board members alongwith members of CASWE made excellent presentations
on various aspects of regulation and enhancing quality of social work education.
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IASSW thanks the Director of the School of Social Work who provided meeting space
for the several meetings and the Longhouse at the University, a most beautiful
setting for the board meeting. Thanks were also due to Prof. Dixon and Prof. Janet
Williams for coordinating the meeting along with CASWE.
Mini conference on Social Movements (August 1, 2015)
The Board meeting in Medellin in July 2015, followed by a day conference, was toprovide an opportunity to promote IASSW and to listen to members in the region.
The topics of Social Work and Social Movements and Social Work in the Context ofConflict were chosen to showcase this region’s skills and initiatives.
The conference was attended by board members, colleagues and students from The
Universidad de Antioquia for Social Work Education. Several board members alongwith faculty of Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas de la Universidad de
Antioquia made presentations.

Picture 4: Mini conference attended by IASSW Board of Directors, faculty, student and staff of Universidad
de Antioquia

Re-organising the IASSW Committee
The clustering of committees under broader themes and issues was an innovationthat was implemented in 2015. This ensured that each thematic cluster was headed
by a voting board member to ensure synergy across and follow up of the various
activities. The committees were thus grouped as follows:6

Theme: `Education’ included activities pertaining to Capacity building,
Regional Resource Centres, International Projects and Social Work
Research.
Capacity building
Capacity building is a sub-committee of the Education Committee. This committee
had several activities in year 2015. Few are listed below.
International Social Work Capacity Building Workshop: Building Capacityfor Professional Leadership in Vietnamese Social Work
Vietnam Association of Social Workers (VASW), Vietnam Association of Schools ofSocial Work (VASSW) and International Association of School of Social Work(IASSW) organized two four-day social work training workshops for social work
educators and practitioners in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City respectively. The
workshops were coordinated by Janet Williams and Angie Yuen along with Prof.
Thuan Nguyen Thi, President of Nguyen Trai University, and Madam Hang. The
programme was sponsored by funding organisations based in Hongkong.
On the basis of the suggestions from the Vietnam faculty, the sessions covered core
topics on curriculum development, evidence based research, field education whichwere attended by all the faculty participants. Thereafter, based on their choice, they
participated in full day workshops on social work with families and womenexperiencing violence and abuse, children with learning or physical disabilities,
delinquency, violence and gangs, and social work in schools.

Picture 5: (From R) President, Angie Yuen, Immediate Past President and Janet
Williams, Chairperson, Capacity Building committee of IASSW in workshop at Hanoi

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Picture 6: Banner of workshop at Hanoi

The trainers were from various parts of the world especially South Asia and included
board members. Along with Prof. Thuan and Angie Yuen who was the chair of the
programme, President IASSW gave the welcome at the first workshop held in Hanoi
during November 4-6, 2015. She also took a session on “Evidence-Based Research”.
VASW is an association formed to promote the professionalization of social work andsocial work education in Vietnam and is supported by the local government and
IASSW.
Regional Resource Centres
The first IASSW Regional Resource Centre namely “Peking University - The Hong
Kong Polytechnic University China Social Work Research Centre” was launched in
March 2015 at a conference in Beijing. The RRC was selected on the basis ofprinciples and guidelines in the policy document for RRCs. A ‘procedure document
for applicants and assessors’ is posted on the website.
Programme Consultations
The President formally accepted an application from the University of Al Ain, in the
UAE, for a Programme Consultation (MSW) planned for the autumn or winter of
2015/16. This would be their second Consultation.
In order to facilitate consultation applications, a procedure document with timelines
was developed and the self-appraisal framework based on the last Consultation in
Sri Lanka finalised.
International projects
IASSW provides grants of up to US $4000 for international projects, which
contribute to the implementation of the IASSW Mission Statement, and to theenhancement of cooperation among schools of social work world-wide. The IASSW
Board of Directors approved four projects for 2015, of which two were completed asgiven below.
1. Developing and Disseminating a new Masters Social Work Program on Womenand Families in China. Coordinator Tuula Heinonen, Faculty of Social Work,
University of Manitoba, Canada. April 2013-April 2015. Canada, China, Finland.
2. Where Knowledge, Social Work and Social Policy Meet: A Cross-National
Perspective on the Involvement of Social Work Academics in Social Policy.
Coordinator John Gal, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Jan 2014‒June 2015. Israel, Portugal, U.K, Puerto
Rico.
Social Work Research
The committee added new members, and worked on a special issue on Social Work
Research for the Social Dialogue online magazine. The committee also planned amapping of member schools with focus on research education as well as a social
work research seminar at the world conference in Seoul in 2016.

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Theme: Advocacy and Policy
Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
IASSW along with the partner international organizations namely ICSW and IFSW
continued promoting the second theme “Promoting worth and dignity of peoples” of
the Global Agenda for the period 2014-2016, globally, through various innovative
activities.
The slogan/ statement for the campaign to promote the worth and dignity ofpeoples was as follows: “Human dignity is core to sustainable development andwell-being”.
The rationale behind the slogan was that sustainable development (including equal
sustainable communities) cannot be achieved unless the worth and dignity of people
are realized. To provide a framework to report on promoting peoples’ worth anddignity, relevant concepts were developed, and used by all three organizations.
A Special Issue of International Social Work journal on the theme of “Promoting
worth and dignity of peoples” would be prepared by a team of social work educatorsfrom IASSW and IFSW and launched at the Seoul Joint World Conference in 2016,
along with a consolidated report of the implementation of the Global Agenda.
Human Rights
IASSW’s human rights committee has so far focused primarily on social work
education. Although, the previous mission of the committee also included acampaigning dimension, this did not receive similar attention. A couple of issues
that were considered by the committee as potential campaigning themes included
the “Social Protection Floor” and “Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and
Human Rights”.
The committee reformulated its objectives as follows:
A. Encourage, promote and facilitate opportunities for Human Rights and Social

Justice informed curricula.

B. Monitor and record human rights violations affecting social work educators,

practitioners and students.

C. Identify and co-ordinate broader campaigns, petitions, coalitions promotingsocial justice, in line with the strategic priorities of our Association and therecommendation of our membership.

Sustainability, Climate Change, Disaster Intervention
The chairperson of the committee Prof. Lena Dominelli represented IASSW at the
UNISDR World Third Disaster Summit in Sendai, Japan in March 2015, with financial
support from Doshisha University in Japan where she gave a talk on Green Social
Work. She was part of a panel organized by the University which was supporting
the Japan Disability Movement to highlight the much worse outcomes for disabled
people caught in disasters (research based on the 2011 Great East Japan
Earthquake) and asked UNISDR to acknowledge the differentiated needs of disabled
people in its final statement. This was successful in that disabled people werementioned twice in the final communique.
9Since 25 April, 2015, a great deal of work went into supporting the staff andstudents of the Nepal School of Social Work (NSSW) who were working in
Sindhupalchowk, Kathmandu and Dhading to provide services to 12,000 victimsurvivors of the two earthquakes that have devastated Nepal. IASSW members
mobilised funds, provided training materials, and other forms of support to NSSW,
through Dr Balaraju Nikku, board member, and Pradipta Kadamari, CEO of NSSW.
Dr. Nikku has been leading the IASSW international project related to the 2013
flooding in the Uttarkhand area, which is nearing its completion. A faculty workshop
and a publication are the outcomes.
After the initiative by President IASSW and Sue Lawrence, Lena Dominelli continued
discussions in a productive meeting with Margareta Wahlstrom, UNISDR, on 26 Junein Geneva. She impressed on Ms. Wahlstrom the importance of including social
workers in their activities as social workers, like health workers, were called upon to
help victim-survivors of all manner of disasters from (hu)man-made to natural ones.
Additionally, the Disaster Network headed by Dr Julie Drolet from the University ofCalgary, Canada, has included IASSW as a sponsor in the research network entitled,
Rebuilding People’s Lives After Disasters, presented papers at the Gender andDisasters Conference in Vienna in July 2015.
IASSW presented on the initiative of the chairperson Prof. Lena Dominelli, a Side
Event and Exhibition at UNFCCC COP20 meeting in Paris, France from 30 November12 December 2015. Marcel Jaeger at the Paris Conservatoire National des Arts etMétiers (CNAM) and Manuel Boucher at the School of Social Work in the Institute ofSocial Development in Rouen collaborated with IASSW to organise the side-event in
Paris CNAM, titled: Advocating for Environmental Justice: Social Work Addressing
the Challenges of Climate Change – Research, Theories and Practice.
World Social Work Day and Week (WSWD), March 2015
The World Social Work Day and Week in March was celebrated by regional and subregional associations as well as schools of social work across the world. Several
IASSW members shared their celebration reports and pictures, which were postedon the IASSW website.
President’s video message was shared with members of IASSW and posted on thewebsite and Facebook. The message was translated in Dutch and in Japanese as per
demand from IASSW members. The Dutch version was used for student’s online
learning programme.
A significant event was the joint celebration with UNAIDS in Geneva.
IASSW at the United Nations
Several members of IASSW have developed expertise on UN based themes andissues and work closely with the NGO committee in New York and Geneva. Some of
the areas of intervention by the respective committees and task forces aredescribed below.

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IASSW Representation at the United Nations, New YorkIASSW has consultative status with ECOSOC and DPI (Department of PublicInformation) at the United Nations. IASSW are permitted to register 5
representatives, including the President and a badge for a “Chief Administrative
Officer.” In addition, temporary passes (renewable) were available for interns andothers for short term assignments. IASSW members (faculty volunteers) serve on
NGO Committees at the UN on behalf of IASSW and participate in sessions of UN
Commissions. Prof. Lynne Healy, School of Social Work, University of Connecticut, isthe Main Representative at the UN in New York on behalf of IASSW.
Migration
IASSW interns, Louise Harmon and Grace Felten, University of Connecticut
represented IASSW on the NGO Committee on Migration and were very active
members of the Committee’s two task forces. Louise co-chaired a task force on
Migrants at Sea and researched and drafted the group’s policy statement on the
topic. Dr. Rebecca Thomas has been introduced to the Committee and will represent
IASSW in 2015-2016.
Working Group on Girls
This active committee addresses many topics of interest to social work, includingchild marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and equal access to education.
AgeingTerry Hokenstad continues to represent IASSW on the NGO Committee on Ageing
and travels to New York each year to attend the International Day of Older Persons
events. He is currently working on using electronic technologies for distancecommunication.
Social Development
Lynne Healy is IASSW official representative on the NGO Committee for Social
Development. She is also a member of the Committee’s grassroots task force, abody that conducts research to bring on-the-ground experiences and opinions into
UN deliberations. A study is currently underway to identify examples of grassroots
economic projects. The survey has been distributed to all IASSW members.
Post-2015 Agenda Process
In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the Post-2015 Agenda to
identify priorities and targets for global and national attention for 2015-2030. Lynne
Healy has been following the process over the past 18 months, both by attending
sessions and keeping up with on-line materials. IASSW was part of an advocacy
petition to urge reinstatement of a Goal on inequality—a successful process.
Commission on the Status of WomenIn September2015, Shirley Gatenio-Gabel joined this group on behalf of IASSW.
Several team members participated in the annual session of the UN Commission on
the Status of Women in March 2015.
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Family
Dr. Rebecca Davis has officially joined the NGO Committee on the Family for IASSW
and will be representing the team in 2015-2016. She is also involved with UNICEF.
CSWE APM
The IASSW-UN team presented a session titled “Representing Social Work Education
at the United Nations” at the October 2015 Annual Program Meeting of the Council
on Social Work Education in the United States.
WSWD at UNAIDS, Geneva
The World Social Work Day was successfully celebrated on March 17, 2015 inGeneva at the Kofi Annan Memorial Hall, UNAIDS. This was the first joint
collaborative event after the signing of the MoU between IASSW and UNAIDS. IFSW
was also a partner in this event. The President of the International Council on
Social Welfare (ICSW) participated in the event. World Social Work Day 2015 wasabout the role of social work in working with people to prevent and mitigate theimpact of AIDS and how the social work profession can contribute to ending AIDS
by 2030. There were 120 participants from Geneva schools of social work, IFSW,EASSW and ENSACT. The entire day’s programme was relayed on livestream.The
seminar ended with a ‘‘Common statement on Joint Action between UNAIDS andSocial Work Organizations Ending Aids, Promoting Dignity and Respect for All‘‘.
President would like to put on record her thanks to Mariangela Simoa, Director for
Rights, Gender, Community Mobilization and Prevention, UNAIDS; David Chipanta,
UNAIDS, Klaus Kuhne, UN Representative on behalf of IFSW and Sue Lawrence, theteam that worked together to plan and organise the collaborative event.

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UNAIDS/WHO and the Global Health Workforce Alliance Meeting on“Catalysing Global Action to Eliminate Stigma and Discrimination in HealthCare - 10th and 11th November 2015
President IASSW represented the association at the Meeting on “Zero HIV related
stigma and discrimination in health care settings” at Geneva which was organisedby WHO, UNAIDS and the Global Health Workforce Alliance. The meeting wasattended by representatives of WHO, UNAIDS, ILO and other international healthorganisations. President also chaired a working group session titled: “Scaling up
what works: actions to fast-forward to ending discrimination in health care”. At theend of the meeting, a joint statement has been issued of concerted action to end
discrimination in health settings summarised as follows: “Meeting participants
committed to increase individual and collective efforts around a shared vision:
Everyone everywhere needs access to health services without discrimination. The
achievement of this collective vision demands that all stakeholders already working
to advance this agenda come together for a Platform to Stop Discrimination in
Health, grounded on the health-related SDGs, and the results of the UNAIDS
Strategy and upcoming Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce
2030. The Platform will prioritize three critical areas of information sharing andcollective action: Accountability, Political Impact and Implementation”.

Picture 7: President IASSW with Participants at UNAIDS/WHO Meeting

Picture 8: President at Plenary session at UNAIDS/WHO Meeting in Geneva

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Presentations at International Fora
Professional Social Work in South-East Asia: Education & Qualifications”
on July 21-22, 2015 Cambodia
President IASSW presented the keynote address at the inauguration of theinternational conference, co-organised by the Department of Social Work at theRoyal University of Phnom Penh and the Association of Professional Social Workers
of Cambodia.
The conference sought to build the capacity of social work educators in Southeast
Asia through its objectives: to learn about educational innovations for preparing
professional social workers in SE Asia, explore ways to address challenges tobuilding the capacity of social work education in SE Asia, and build networks andpartnerships across social work programs. There were over 150 presenters andparticipants from across the globe. Prof. Tatsuru Akimoto, Director & Professor,
Asian Center for Social Welfare Research, Shukutoku University and an Immediate
Past President, Asian and Pacific Association for Social Work Education (APASWE)
presented the closing keynote speech.

Picture 9 :(from Left) Mr. Bora Chun, President, Association of Professional Social
Workers of Cambodia; Prof. Vimla Nadkarni, President, IASSW; Dr. Kimkanika Ung,
Head, Department of Social Work and Dr. Tracy W. Harachi, Associate Professor,
UW/RUPP Social Work P

19th International Symposium of the International Consortium for Social
Development on Transforming Society: Trends and Models in Community
Leadership and Social Development (July 7-10, 2015))
President IASSW was invited by the Sim University in Singapore as a plenary
speaker at The 19th International Symposium of the International Consortium forSocial Development on Transforming Society: Trends and Models in Community
Leadership and Social Development (July 7-10, 2015). She presented a paper on“Social Work Education for Social Transformation” in which she has used14

illustrations of social work alumni and social work departments that are harbingers
of social change and are working for socially transformative policies andprogrammes.

7 : Resource
persons
andparticipants
participants ininRoundtable
PicturePicture
10: Resource
personsandRoundtable discussion

She also attended a Roundtable Session where representatives of the internationalorganisations of social work and social development provided updates on theirrespective activities. In her presentation, she described the vision and mission of
IASSW, the structure, nature of membership, membership benefits, and theactivities. The other presenters were David Jones, IFSW Coordinator, Global Agenda
for Social Work and Social Development, Mariko Kimura, President-Asia Pacific,
APASWE, Barbara Shank, President, ICSD and TAN Ngoh Either we Tiong, Chair,
Global Institute of Social Work (GISW). The papers are being published by Prf.
Tiong and his team.
The Joint Regional Conference APASWE and IFSW Asia Pacific: Growth andCrisis: Social Work and Policy Discourses, (21st -24th October, 2015),
Bangkok, Thailand
President IASSW was invited as a speaker at the Plenary Session II: A Panel
Discussion on “Social Work and Policy in Response to Global Crisis” . The otherpanel speakers were President IFSW Ruth Stark and Immediate Past President of
APASWE and former board member of IASSW, Prof. Tatsuru Akimoto.

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Picture 11: President, IASSW along with Resource Persons, Hosts and Sponsors of the conferencePresident IASSW made a presentation on “Re-Imagining Social Work Education in
the Era of Global Crises”. She outlined the various global crises that are providing
both challenges and opportunities for social work teaching, practice, research andadvocacy. She stressed the necessity for social work education to re-imagine andre-animate the global mission with a sense of urgency and moral imperative. She
concluded that: “The crucial issue is how to train students with a socialtransformative perspective so that they work on both economic and social fronts
and are enabled to empower the poor and marginalized populations to demand their
human rights and participate equally in social change efforts to reduce and conquer
the impacts of the global crisis”.
2ND INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL WORK CONFERENCE 2015: CELEBRATING
DIVERSITY IN ONE WORLD ON 2nd -3rd DECEMBER 2015, Penang, Malaysia
President IASSW delivered the Keynote Presentation on “Social Work at the
Crossroads: Diversity in a Globalised Environment” at the international conference,a collaboration of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development,
Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia, (2-3 December 2015), Penang. The
conference was inaugurated by the Honourable Minister of Women, Family andCommunity Development along with Prof. Dato’ Omar Osman, Vice-Chancellor andPresident of the University, and other dignitaries. Professor Azlinda Azman, Head of
the School of Social Work presented the concept and objectives of the conference.
In her presentation, President IASSW emphasised that respecting diversity was acore principle in social work. “Social workers are expected to respect diversity andfollow the principles of multicultural and ethnic sensitive practice. However it is only
when this key concept is brought to our notice do we wake up and introspect. Whena teacher in Germany was interviewed about teaching the children of the Syrian
refugees, she said that they don’t only need to learn the language but they have to
get integrated into our society to be accepted by our people. Does this mean giving
up their own culture and language to get integrated into the new society which they
have chosen as an alternative to being massacred in a rabid conflict situation. Thisis an ethical and practice dilemma for social workers both in the field and inteaching”. She discussed how diversity is understood and taught as well as thedilemmas of diversity-sensitive and anti-oppressive practice within a globalised
world. Other distinguished speakers included Prof. Choi Won-Gyu, Korea, Datuk Dr.
Denison Jayasooria, Malaysia, Prof. Maritta Torronen, Finland, Professors Sara
Crabtree and Jonathan Parker, U.K.

Picture 12: President IASSW delivering the Keynote Presentation

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Theme: Member Services
Communications and Publications (Website, Social Dialogue magazine)
Book publication
The IASSW sponsored book titled “Global Social Work Education: Crossing borders
and blurring boundaries”. edited by Carolyn Noble, Helle Strauss and Brian
Littlechild, was successfully launched at IASSW Melbourne world conference and has
been very much appreciated by social work educators across the world. The copiesof the book were sold at various other conferences with the support of the IA
members, regional and sub-regional associations.
Social Dialogue Online magazine
Social Dialogue (SD) Magazine is published by IASSW on a quarterly basis in bothonline and print versions for global distribution. It has served and developed as a
primary platform for IASSW members, programs, faculty and students tocommunicate on global social work education and developments across regions.
Since the inception of April 2011, SD has published 10 issues and has successfully
established its reputation as a professional magazine network with free access for
substantive discussion. The past discussion topics include the following:
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■

Social Work Education,
Human Trafficking,
Asylum Seekers,
HIV & AIDS,
Environment and Sustainable Development,
Disaster Response & Management,
Community-based Social Economy,
Gender,Disability
Social Work and Conflict

IASSW published the following three issues of Social Dialogue in 2015:
March 2015 Social Work and Conflict (Guest editor Vasilios Ioakimidis)
July 2015 Social Work without Borders (Editor Carolyn Noble)
November 2015 International Social Work (Linda Kreitzer and Janet Williams)
Language Committee
There are 5 official languages: English, French, Japanese, Spanish and simple
Chinese recognised for both verbal and written communication with IASSW
members.
IASSW Language Policy was circulated to all partner organizations and localorganizers of the Melbourne world conference. The committee also looks after thetranslations which are done by translators on a professional or voluntary basis, fordocuments such as election materials, and definition of social work. The language
committee coordinates with website committee for translation of website in IASSW
official languages. The Committee is highly appreciative and most thankful tocolleagues who responded positively and voluntarily helped with translations of the
Global definition of Social Work on request.
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Programmes/Activities of the Regional and Sub-regional Associations
Five regional associations and two sub-regional associations have been involved in arange of programmes in 2015. Some of their activities are highlighted below. Theirdetailed reports are available at the IASSW website : https://www.iassw-aiets.org/
page-Regions
Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA)ASSWA members supported the opening of new graduate programmes at the
University of Swaziland and Institute of Social Work, and Hubert Kairuki memorial
University, Dar es Salam, Tanzania. These are filling gaps in graduate study
programmes particularly in countries outside of South Africa.
Vishanthie Sewpaul and Dr. Janestic Twikirize were among the keynote speakers in
the first ever social work conference organised in Burundi in March 2015 as part ofcapacity building for social work in this post conflict society.
ASSWA supported colleagues in Liberia with a sum of US$ 5000 in respect of theEbola crisis. ASSWA’s contribution made a modest difference in relieving thefinancial pressure suffered by colleagues at the United Methodist University. The
association also mobilised US $2000 for Nepal School of Social Work’s rebuilding
efforts. Students were sensitised to the global issues around climate change andenvironmental disasters, and encourage supporting the relief efforts.
Asian & Pacific Association of Social Work Education-(APASWE)
APASWE organized a Joint Conference with International Federation of Social
Workers – Asia Pacific (IFSW-AP) on 21st-24th October 2015 in Bangkok, on thetheme: Growth and Crises : Social Work and Policy Discourses. APASWE publishes amonthly online newsletter called “Check It Out”. This contains country reports andnews/messages. Through the country report, the members learn about each other’s
program and activities in advancing social work in general, and social work
education in particular.
European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW)EASSW developed a statement on the conflict in Ukraine/Russia which was posted
on EASSW and IASSW websites. The EASSW bi-annual conference in Milan (July
2015) entitled “Social Work education towards 2020” attracted more than 700
delegates from 43 countries. Keynote speakers included Professor Iain Ferguson,
Professor Jan Fook and Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction
Margareta Wahlstrom. The first EASSW Honorary Lecture was delivered by Prof.
Walter Lorenz. EASSW in collaboration with IASSW and IFSW celebrated WSWD
2015 at the UN in Geneva.
East European sub-regional Association of the Schools of Social Work
(EEsrASSW)
The members organised the 5th European social work research conference of the
ESWRA, a new social work association established in 2014. Darja Zaviršek was theeditor of the special issue of the Journal of Social Work (Socialno delo), published by18

University of Ljubljana on the Disability studies in Eastern Europe and Southeast
Asia. Articles were in both languages, Slovene and English. The special issue aimed
to promote and connect social work scholars in the area of disability studies andsocial work across Eastern European region and make a comparative analysis withthe development of disability studies in Asia.
Nordic Association of Schools of Social Work (NASSW)In Norway, a new council has been established to develop collaboration between
different social work colleges and universities. The Nordic higher education
collaboration programme, Nordplus, is important especially for Greenland and
Iceland. In Denmark, first net-based social work programme starts at VIA University
College. In Finland, the network for academic social work education, SOSNET, offers
national net-based courses which are open for all social work students in Finnish
universities.
North American and Caribbean Association of Schools of Social Work
(NACASSW)
The North American and Caribbean Association of Schools of Social Work
(NACASSW) held two regional meetings at the Canadian Association of Social Work
Educators (CASWE) in Ottawa, Canada in June, 2015 and the Association of
Caribbean Social Work Educators (ACSWE) Conference in True Blue, Grenada in
July, 2015. An additional meeting was planned and held for the Annual Program
Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education in October, 2015 in Denver,
Colorado. Both regional meetings supported the concept of a new constitution, thedraft of which was discussed with Executive Committee members and at the APMCSWE meeting in Denver. CSWE has been designed (in cooperation with NACASSW)
as the point organization to gather examples for the second publication in
implementing the Global Agenda theme (Worth and Dignity of Individuals). Leaving
the USA, the Presidency next moves to the Caribbean in June 2016.
Social Networking
IASSW provides updates and networks with its members through various Social
Networking sites.
IASSW is very active on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ IASSW.AIETS). The
membership of the Facebook site is growing with more than 1000 followers/
members using that site. This has enabled IASSW to continuously upload and share
information on activities, events, pictures and links of IASSW members with sites
followers. IASSW also welcomes and uploads information from its members on its
Facebook page.
IASSW is also present at Twitter: @IASSW_AIETS (having around 400 followers)
and at LinkedIn as ‘International Association of Schools of Social Work’ (group)'.
Communicating within the Association
Two Google groups were created for facilitating and enhancing communication
amongst IASSW members as follows: Individual members
 Institutional members
19

1. Annex-1 ; IASSW Board of Directors
IASSW Board of Directors and Executive Committee (February, 2015)
Sl. Position
Name
Details
Email ID
No.
Executive Committee
1

President

Vimla
Nadkarni

2

Immediate Past
President

Angelina
Yuen

3

Secretary

TetyanaSemigina

4

Treasurer

Mark
Henrickson

5

Vice President,
President of
Association of
Schools ofSocial Work in
Africa (ASSWA),
Vice-President,
President,
Asociación
LatinoAmericana deEscuelas deTrabajo Social
Vice-President,
President of
Asian & Pacific
Association forSocial Work
Education

Gidraph G.
Wairire

6

7

Nilsa
BurgosFentiny
NugrohoFormer Professor andFounder Dean, School ofSocial Work, Tata Instituteof Social Sciences, India
Vice-President, The Hong
Kong Polytechnic
University (Hong Kong);
and Professor, The Hong
Kong Polytechnic
University (Hong Kong)
Professor, School of Social
Work, National University,'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy'
UkraineTreasurer, IASSW and
A/Prof Massey University
Auckland, New Zealandvimla@iasswaiets.org

President ASSWA, SeniorLecturer
Department of Sociology
and Social Work
University of Nairobi,
NAIROBI KENYA.
President, Asociación
Latino Americana deEscuelas de Trabajo
Social, Profesora,
Universidad de Puerto Rico

wairire@uonbi.ac.ke,wairireg@gmail.comChair of Expert Board,
Indonesian Association ofSocial Work Education(Indonesia)

fentiny2015@gmail.com

angie.yuen@polyu.
edu.hkiassw.secretary@g
mail.comm.henrickson@mas
sey.ac.nz

nilsamb@yahoo.co
m

20

8

Vice-President,
President ofEuropean
Association of
Schools ofSocial Work

Nino
ZganecPresident of European
Association of Schools ofSocial Work, Associate
Professor at the
Department of Social
Work, University of Zagreb
Faculty of Law Department
of Social Work Zagreb
Croatia
Dean and Professor,
College of Health & Human
Services, Marywood
University in PA(Pennsylvania), USA

president@eassw.org

9Vice-President,
President ofNorth,
American/Caribb
ean Associan of
Schools ofSocial Work
Member At
Large

Mark
Rodgers

Linda
Kreitzer

Associate Professor,
University of Calgary,
Canadalmkreitz@ucalgary.
ca11Member At
Large

Yongxiang
Xu

Professor of Social Work
School, Dean of College ofSocial Policy and Public
Administration, East China
University of Sciences &Technology (China)

yongxiangxu@hot
mail.com
yongxiangxu@ecus
t.edu.cn

12

Member At
LargeBala Raju
Nikku

nikku21@yahoo.com,balarajunikku@yahoo.com13

Member At
Large

Hernando
Muñoz
Sánchez

Director, Nepal School ofSocial Work, Kathmandu(Nepal), Sr. Visiting
Lecturer , Social Worksection, Universiti Sains
Malaysia
Associated Professor, Vice
Dean, Universidad de
Antioquia, Colombia

10

14

15

Regional, Sub regional & National Representatives
Sub-Regional
Anna Metteri President of the Nordic
Representative
Association of Schools of(President ofSocial Work, Professor
Nordic Regionin International Socialof Europe)
Work, University ofEastern Finland
Sub-Regional
Darja
Chair of the Department
Representative Zavirsekof Social Justice and(President of
Inclusion, Faculty of
East European
Social Work, University
Regionalof Ljubljana ( Slovenia)
Association)

mrodgers@marywo
od.eduhernandomunozsan
chez@gmail.com

anna.metteri@uta.fi

darja.zavirsek@fsd.
uni-lj.si

21

16

Representativeof European
Association of
Schools ofSocial Work
Regional
Representative(Representativeof Africa, Vice
President of
ASSWA)
Regional
Representative(Representativeof Asia Pacific)
National
Representative(Canada)Vasilios
Ioakimidis

Lecturer- Masters in
Social Work, Durham
University (UK)

vas.ioakimidis@dur.
ac.uk

Janestic
MwendeTwikirize

jtwikirize@ss.mak.
ac.ug

20

National
Representative(Israel)Faisal Azaiza

21

National
Representative(New Zealand)David
McNabb22

National
Representative(South Africa)John
Rautenbach

23

National
Representative(USA)

Darla Spence
CoffeyUniversity Lecturer,
Department of Social
Work and Social
Administration,
Makerere University
UgandaDean Faculty of Social
Administration
Thammasat University ,Thailand
Associate Professor,
School of Social Work,
Faculty of Health &Social Development,
The University of British
Columbia (Canada)
Professor and Head of
the School of Social
Work, University of
Haifa (Israel)
President of Council for
Social Work Education
Aotearoa New Zealand;
Lecturer, Social
Practice,Unitec Instituteof Technology,
Auckland, NZ
Head of Department,
Senior Lecturer, Final
Year & MSW Coordinator Department ofSocial Work and Social
Development Universityof Fort Hare, East
London Campus
President

National
Representative(Japan)Mie Ohwa

17

18

19

24

Decha
Sungkawan
Dixon
Sookraj

Council on Social Work
Education
Professor
Department of Social
Work
School of Human
Welfare Studies
Kwansei Gakuin
University

skwdecha@tu.ac.th

dixon.sookraj@ubc.
caazaiza@univ.haifa.ac.il
dmcnabb@unitec.ac.nz

jrautenbach@ufh.ac.za

DCoffey@cswe.org

ohwami1@kwansei.
ac.jp

22

25

26

27

29

30

National
Representative(UK) &
Assistant
Secretary
National
Representative(Indonesia)

Surinder
Guru

Lecturer in Social Work,
Institute of AppliedSocial Studies, School ofSocial Policy, Universityof Birmingham
Department of Science
Faculty of Social andPolitical Sciences,
Padjadjaran University,

S.GURU@bham.ac.
ukNational
Representative(China)Prof. Zhang
Li-Xi

China Association forSocial Work Education(CASWE)

mxx100@263.net

Committees
Chairperson of
Global Agenda
Committee

Antoinette
LombardProfessor, Head of
Department of Social
Work & Criminology
University of Pretoria,
PRETORIAProfessor and Head of
Subject, School ofApplied Social Sciences,
Durham University (UK)antoinette.lombard@up.ac.za

Chief Editor Social
Dialogue, Editor IASSW
Newsletter, Inaugural
Professor of Social Work
(ACAP, Sydney),
Professor Emerita,
Victoria University
Melbourne, (Australia)
Main UN Representativeat International
Association of Schools ofSocial Work, Board ofTrustees Distinguished
Professor Emerita
University ofConnecticut School ofSocial WorkWest Hartford, CT
Faculty Health andWellbeing - Sheffield
Hallam University

Carolyn.Noble@vu.e
du.au

Dr. Soni
Nulhaqim

Chairperson of
Climate Change
Committee andDisasterManagement
Co-chair
Publications
Committee

Lena
Dominelli

32

Main UN
Representativefor IASSW

Lynne Healy

33

Chairperson
Capacity
Building(Education)

Janet
Williams

31

CarolynNoblesoninulhaqim@yahoo.com

lena.dominelli@dur
ham.ac.uk

lynne.healy@gmail.
com

janetatiassw@gmail
.com

23

24

Annex. 2: List of Committees and Task Forces
Committee

Chair/Co-chair

Members

Theme: Education (Chairperson: Angelina Yuen)
Capacity building
Chair: Janet Williams
Wassie Kebede, In Young
Co-chair : Darla
Han, Janestic Mwende
Spence Coffey
Twikirize, Linda Kreitzer
International projects Chair: Anna Metteri
Letnie Rock , Linda Kreitzer,
Co-chair: Darja
Janestic Mwende Twikirize,
ZavirsekDavid McNabb
Research
Chair: Anna Metteri
Darja Zavirsek, Faisal
Co-chair: Dixon
Azaiza, Brian Littlechild,
Sookraj
Linda De Chenu, Soni A.
Nulhaqim, Surinder Guru,
Synnöve Karvinen-Niinikoski
Theme: Advocacy and Policy (Chairperson – Vimla Nadkarni)
Global Agenda

Chair: Antoinette
Regional observatories
LombardProf Zulkarnain Hatta
Co-chair: Lena
(APASWE)
Dominelli
Human rights
Chair: Vasilios
Letnie Rock , Antoinette
Ioakimidis
Lombard, Surinder Guru,
Co-chair: Hernando
Mark Henrickson
Muñoz Sanchez
Sustainability,
Chair: Lena Dominelli
Letnie Rock , Mark Rodgers,
Climate Change,
Co-chair: Bala Raju
Antoinette Lombard,
Disaster Intervention Nikku
Surinder Guru
Theme: Member Services (Chairperson - Tetyana Semigina)
Membership
Chair: Tetyana
Mark Rodgers, Vishanthie
Recruitment andSemigina
Sewpaul, Fentiny Nugroho,
Retention
Co-chair: Darla
Vasilios Ioakimidis,
Spence Coffey
Hernando Muñoz Sanchez,Mark Henrickson
Communications andChair: Carolyn Noble,
Angelina Yuen , Helle
Publications (Social
Co-chair: Linda K.
Strauss, Vimla Nadkarni,
Dialogue magazine
Janet Williams, Anna
and book
Metteri, Vasilios Ioakimidis,
publications)
Brian LittlechildWebsite Committee
Chair: Surinder Guru
Angelina Yuen, Vimla
Co-chair: Dixon
Nadkarni
SookraLanguage Committee Chair: Janestic
Anna Metteri, Angelina
Mwende Twikirize
Yuen , Tetyana Semigina,
Co-chair: David
Mie Ohwa (Mimi)
25

McNabb
Review of World
Census committee

Chair: Bala Raju
Brian Littlechild, Tetyana
Nikku
Semigina , Angelina BH,
Co-chair: Linda
Vasilios Ioakimidis
Kreitzer
Theme: Budget and Finance (Chairperson - Mark Henrickson )Budget and Finance
Chair: Mark
Faisal Azaiza, Yongxiang
Henrickson
Xu, Dixon Sookraj, Darla
Spence Coffey
Solidarity Fund
Chair: Mark
Dixon Sookraj, Mark
Henrickson
Rodgers, Janet Williams
Theme: Administrative (Chairperson - Vimla Nadkarni)
Nominating
Chair: Helle Strauss
Abye Tasse, Angelina Yuen ,Committee
Hernando Muñoz Sanchez,
Linda De Chenu, Lynne
Healy, Synnove KarvinenNiinikoski
Tripartite Committee
Vimla Nadkarni, Tetyana,Mark Henrickson
Katherine Kendall
Chair: Wassie Kebede
Vishanthie Sewpaul,AwardsCo-chair: MarkPatricia Acevedo, Vasilios
Rodgers
Ioakimidis
Eileen Younghusband Chair: Tetyana
Mark Rodgers,
LectureSemigina
Patricia Acevedo , Vasilios
Co-chair: Vishanthie
Ioakimidis
SewpaulDefinition of Social
Chair: Vishanthie
Dixon Sookraj, Bala Raju
Work Monitoring
SewpaulNikku, Mark Henrickson,
Committee
Vasilios Ioakimidis
International
Chair: Vimla Nadkarni
Dixon Sookraj, Angelina
Collaboration
Yuen, Mark Henrickson,
Committee
Hernando Muñoz Sanchez,
Vasilios Ioakimidis
Task force on Archive Chair: Lynne Healy
Abye Tasse, Angelina Yuen
of IASSW
Co-chair: Vasilios
Ioakimidis
Task force on World
Chair: Vishanthie
Wassie Kebede , Vasilios
Social Work Day
SewpaulIoakimidis
Co-chair: Linda de
Chenu
IASSW-UN
Chair: Lena Dominelli
Surinder Guru, Bala Raju
International
Co-chair: Sungkawan Nikku, Antoinette Lombard,
Committee ( UNAIDS Decha
Mark Henrickson, Vasilios
MOU)
United Nations, New
Ioakimidis, Lynne, Tetyana
York; Main
Semigina, Vimla Nadkarni
representative- Lynne
Healy
Task group on
Mark Henrickson
Darla Spence Coffey, Dixon
financial management
Sookraj, Vasilios Ioakimidis
26

Task force on
Strategic PlanningMark Rodgers

Surinder Guru, Hernando
Muñoz Sanchez, Janestic
Mwende Twikirize, Tatsuru
Akimoto, Sungkawan Decha

27