GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTER
June 2010
In this edition
2010 Joint World Conference – Stunning Success
Opening Session of the 2010 Joint World Conference

For the first time this century the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW),
International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and International Federation of Social Workers(IFSW) combined their conferences. The success we achieved was not just the numbers more than 2,500 conference participants from 113 countries. June 2010 marked the first timein living memory that the three organisations representing social work and social development
worked together to develop a shared global agenda and action programme to promote social
development and social justice.

Global Cooperation Newsletter

Page 1

Top Left: Christine Fang Chair Conference
Organising Committee
Top Right: Mr Sha Zukang, Under-SecretaryGeneral for Economic and Social Affairs at theUnited Nations
Bottom: Cecilia Lai-wan Chan Chair ProgrammeCommittee

In the grand opening ceremony Mr ShaZukang,
Under-Secretary-Generalfor
Economic and Social Affairs at the United
Nations warmly endorsed the combinedcommitment by IASSW, ICSW and IFSW
to a common agenda. Mr. Sha emphasised
the global significance of the conference
for the UN and the world.
He issued a call to action to those working in social development to foster partnership between
IFSW, IASSW and ICSW and United Nations. Mr. Sha noted that “This is the first civil society
gathering abroad that I have attended in my capacity as Under-Secretary-General… You, however,as a group of social workers and social development experts are truly a special audience. You workwith the poor, the voiceless, the disenfranchised. Too often, you are not properly acknowledged. I
wish to state, here and now, that the United Nations recognizes your contributions, day by day andvillage by village, to achieving the lofty development goals established in UN conference rooms in
New York. Thank you.”
Mr. Sha said that the three organisations “were among the first non-governmental organizations toacquire consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. For more than half a century,
they have made strong contributions to UN achievements in social progress.”
He went on to say, “You represent an astounding range of expertise in the field of social work anddevelopment…. This breadth and depth of expertise motivates me in my own role as a senior UN
official in charge of economic and social affairs. It gives me hope that through our collective efforts
we can reduce the staggering levels of poverty, social injustice and exclusion that exist today.” Mr.
Sha issued many challenges to the conference and to IASSW, ICSW and IFSW. He sought oursupport for the achievement of the MDGs; he invited the three organisations to contribute to thesuccess of the Rio+20 Summit; he asked us to assist the UN in communications and promotions; heasked for our assistance in reaching out to NGOs in Southern countries. Mr. Sha said “I therefore
applaud the message of this Conference: Together we build the agenda; Together we face thechallenges: Together we thrive.”

Global Cooperation NewsletterPage 2

Building the Agenda
David Jones President IFSW, Christian Rollet
President ICSW, Angie Yuen-Tsang Woon Ki
President IASSW (left) led the process of setting“The Agenda”. In planning the conference we saw
it as both an opportunity for exchange ofknowledge and to start building a social policy
agenda. Before the conference policy papers werepreparedanddistributedthroughtheorganisations’ websites. ICSW prepared papers
on social protection, the global financial crisis andhuman trafficking.
Throughout the conference a team of rapporteurs worked to gather responses on the key themes.

Mabulara T'suene Tlali ICSW Rapporteur Social Protection

Terry Hokenstad ICSW Rapporteur Human Trafficking

Left: Emmanuel Ted Nandolo ICSW Rapporteur Global Financial Crisis
Right: Chief Rapporteurs IASSW - Lena Dominelli, ICSW - Charles Abbey, IFSW - Garry Bailey. Seated, David Jones,President IFSW.

There will be more on the full agenda in later newsletters. ICSW promoted the Social Protection
Floor Initiative as its key Agenda.

Global Cooperation Newsletter

Page 3

Social Protection Floor Initiative (SPFI)The preconference workshop
on the SPFI was verysuccessful.
Keypolicymakers were introduced tothe concepts and practicesof social protection. It wasfollowed
later
intheconference by a plenary onsocial protection led byspeakers from the UN
Department of Economic andSocial Affairs (UNDESA),UNICEF
andOECD
POVNET
From Left, Hoi Wai Chua, Hong Kong Council of Social Service; Denys Correll, ICSW; Prof. Huck-ju Kwon, Republic ofKorea; Timo Voipio, OECD POVNET and Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland; Prof. Viviene Taylor, South Africa; IsabelOrtiz, UNICEF, Christian Jacquier, ILO; Bob Huber, UN DESA; Valérie Schmitt-Diabete, ILO; Dr. Worawan Chandoevwit,Thailand; Eduardo Klien, HelpAge International. (Thanks to Hong Kong Council of Social Service, the Social Welfare
Department Hong Kong SAR and the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs for sponsoring the workshop withICSW)In April 2009, the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB) launched a social protection floor as one of its 9initiatives to cope with the global crisis. ICSW adopted the SPFI as its major policy initiative in 2010
and 2011 and added it to its Global Programme. In adopting the SPFI the General Assembly ofICSW members resolved to ask each the nine ICSW regions to make the SPFI a key part of theirsocial policy agenda and engage national and regional governments in issues surrounding themodel, adoption, implementation and sustaining of the SPFI. ICSW will work to have civil society
become members of joint SPFI taskforces. The General Assembly asked that ICSW participates inglobal discussions on the SPFI and channel knowledge and opportunities to IASSW and IFSW.
ICSW offered to act as a clearing house for knowledge and resources for IASSW, ICSW and IFSW.
Soon the home page of the ICSW website will feature a special link to the SPFI.
What are the concepts underlying the SPF-I?
The Social Protection Floor corresponds to a set of basic social rights, services and facilities that acitizen should enjoy. It can be seen as a core obligation to ensure the realisation of minimum
essential levels of rights embodied in human right treaties. The Social Protection Floor could consistof 2 main elements that help to realise these human rights:
1. Ensuring the availability, continuity, and geographical and financial access toessential services, such as water and sanitation, food and adequate nutrition, health,education, housing and other social services such as life and asset saving information.
2. Realising access by ensuring a basic set of essential social transfers, in cash and in
kind, to provide a minimum income and livelihood security for poor and vulnerable
populations and to facilitate access to essential services. It includes social transfers (but alsoinformation, entitlements and policies) to children, people in active age groups withinsufficient income and older persons
The SPFI promotes a holistic and coherent vision of national social protection systems as a key
component of national development strategies. It seeks to support countries in identifying andclosing crucial protection gaps through coherent and efficient measures that maximise the effects ofscarce resources on the reduction of poverty and insecurity, to ensure “guaranteed access” toessential services and social transfers.

Global Cooperation Newsletter

Page 4ICSW General
Assembly and theBoard - Following theConference the General
Assembly of membersmet.
At front from left: Roselyn
Nakirya, ProgrammeCoordinator; Christian Rollet,Global President; Denys
Correll, Executive Director;
Charles Abbey, Global Vice
President; Marijke
Steenbergen, Global
Treasurer.

The newly elected Board had its initial meeting after the conference

From left: Roselyn Nakirya, Programme Coordinator; Eva Holmberg Herrström, Regional President Europe; Braema
Mathiaparanam, Regional President South East Asia and the Pacific; Hsiu-Hsiung Bai, Regional President, North EastAsia; Driss Guerraoui, Regional President, Middle East and North Africa; Christian Rollet, Global President; AmacodouDiouf, Regional President, Central and West Africa; Taylor Nyanhete, Regional President East and Southern Africa; A. S.
Shenoy, Regional President, South Asia; Mirtha Crevoisier, Regional President Latin America; Paschaline Tar, Vice
Regional President, Central and West Africa, Charles Abbey, Global Vice President; Denys Correll, Executive Director.
From left: Judith Kaulem,Regional President East andSouthern Africa, 2006 to 2010;
TaylorNyanhete,Regional
President East and SouthernAfrica; Christian Rollet, GlobalPresident; Lola Casal-Sanchez,
Volunteer Latin America, ICSW;Emmanuel
Ndlangamandla,
Executive Director, Coordinating
Assembly of NGOs Swaziland.

The content of this Global Newsletter may be freely reproduced or cited provided the source is acknowledged. Views do
not necessarily represent policies of ICSW.
Newsletter Editor: Denys Correll, Executive Director.
ICSW C/- MOVISIE Netherlands Centre for Social Development
PO Box 19129
3501 DC Utrecht
Netherlands
Website www.icsw.org Email: icsw@icsw.org
If you wish to cease receiving this newsletter, please click 'here' providing your name and email address

Global Cooperation Newsletter

Page 5