GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTER
November 2009
In this edition
2010 Joint World Conference
ICSW Members arrested in Zimbabwe
New WHO report on Women and HealthFighting for gender equality and women’s rights
7th Global Conference on Health Promotion
The Norwegian Forum of Health and Social Issues Centenary Conference
New on the ICSW Website
2010 Joint World Conference
The third announcement of the Joint World Conference to be held in Hong
Kong has been released. http://www.swsd2010.org/en/index.html
In the announcement the programme from 10th June to 14th June isoutlined. Most of the plenary speakers have confirmed their participation.
The key note speaker is to be Mr. Sha Zukang the UN Under-Secretary
General for Economic and Social Affairs.
Conferences are not just opportunities for networking and learning. ICSW
uses conferences to extend ICSW’s social policy and social development
agendas.
Prior to the opening of the conference the UN and ICSW are preparing a pre-conference workshop
on social protection with special emphasis on the Social Protection Floor Initiative (SPF-I) that has
been adopted by UN agencies, the International Labour Organisation and The World Bank. ICSW
supports the SPF-I and is using the 2010 Joint World conference to bring the SPF-I to the notice ofcivil society. For more information on the SPF-I (English, French and Spanish)
http://www.socialsecurityextension.org/gimi/gess/ShowTheme.do?tid=1321\Our Hong Kong hosts advise us that they are receiving up to 100 inquiries a day. This is anindication that the first Joint Conference of the International Association of Schools of Social Work,the International Federation of Social Workers and ICSW will be a great success. Already membersof ICSW such at the Finnish Federation for Social Welfare and Health are organising major
participation from their country.
The closing date for workshop abstracts has been extended to 31st December to accommodate theconsiderable interest being shown by potential participants. Inquiries must be made through theConference website.

ICSW Members arrested in Zimbabwe

ICSW learned with some distress that NANGO board chairperson Dadirai Chikwengo and Chief
Executive Officer Cephas Zinhumwe, were arrested by Zimbabwe police. They were later released
after a harrowing time in police cells. NANGO (National Association for Non-GovernmentalOrganisations) had been conducting the annual NGO Directors Summer School. The meeting was ofNANGO members. The subjects had included HIV and AIDS, humanitarian relief and rights issues.
The NGOs said the police charges stemmed from a statement issued by the directors, inwhich they called for the intervention of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) andthe African Union to ensure that the Global Political Agreement was fully implemented.
Let us have no illusions about the problems that civil society faces in the Global South. Quoting thePresident Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, “We have a new phenomenon of NGOs… I don’t knowwhether this creature is for the better or for the worse, but in our country we have seen a situation
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where they have exceeded their terms of reference, and perhaps we might have to reconsider theadvisability of having NGOs”. (Source: The Africa Report No.19 October-November p.9)
Do not think that this type of attitude is the exception. Unfortunately many of our members face day
to day harassment by governments who do not like being questioned on their corruption or
inappropriate uses of government resources. ICSW wishes all strength to NANGO and all membersof civil society that are constantly under threat for representing the human rights of people inpoverty
ordisadvantage.
Anews
reportonthearrests
canbefoundat
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910261738.html For more information on the proceedings of theDirector Summer School visit www.nango.org.zw

New WHO report on Women and HealthNovember saw the release of a major WHO Report "Women and Health. Today's Evidence,
Tomorrow's Agenda"
Launching the report, entitled Women and health: today's evidence
tomorrow's agenda, WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan called for urgent action both within
the health sector and beyond to improve the health and lives of girls and women around the world,
frombirthtoolderage.
"If women are denied a chance to develop their full human potential, including their potential to leadhealthier and at least somewhat happier lives, is society as a whole really healthy? What does thissay about the state of social progress in the 21st century?" asked Dr Chan.
Up to 80% of all health care and 90% of care for HIV and AIDS-related illness is provided in thehome - almost always by women. Yet more often than not, they go unsupported, unrecognized andunremunerated
inthisessentialrole.
The report seeks to identify key areas for reform, both within and outside the health sector.
Strategies to improve women's health must take full account of gender inequality and address thespecific socioeconomic and cultural barriers that prevent women from protecting and improving theirhealth.
The
Reportisfreelyaccessible
on
theWHO
website
atThe printed version can be
http://www.who.int/gender/women_health_report/en/index.html
purchased through the WHO online bookshop at www.who.int/bookorders

Fighting for gender equality and women’s rights
ICSW representative to the UN in Geneva Anne Herdt reported on a series of NGO
Interactive Roundtables on the Beijing +15 Regional Review Meeting of the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) that took place in November inGeneva. The overall theme was “The Challenges of Gender Equality in the Contextof the Economic and Financial Crisis.” The meeting was attended by some 200
participants, mainly from civil society, but also some UN representatives.
Regional and thematic interactive discussions and the drafting of recommendations took place at theend of the first day and during the second day of the meeting. The interactive discussion focussed
on the following Free Caucus themes:• Care economy, unpaid work and decent work,• Displaced women, migration and trafficking,• Employability, education and training, information and communication,• Human rights and responsibilities,• Macro economics and gender budgeting,• Minorities,• Environment and climate change,• The new gender architecture and one UN entity on women.
For an overview of the recommendations presented by various NGO representatives during theintergovernmental process of the ECE meeting, see the article Beijing +15 ECE Regional Review
Meeting; challenges remain.

Global Cooperation Newsletter

Page 27th Global Conference on Health Promotion

The WHO organised the 7th Global Conference on Health Promotion with the theme Promoting
health and development: closing the implementation gap. The conference was held in Nairobi, in thelast days of October 2009. It is the latest in the series, which began in Ottawa in 1986 and produced
the Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion.
Health and development today face unprecedented threats. The financial crisis threatens the viabilityof national economies in general and of health systems in particular. Global warming and climatechange exert a toll in human life, especially in lower income countries. Security threats create asense of shared uncertainty for communities around the world. In this context, health promotion
has never been timelier or more needed.
The conference participants were largely from government and research institutions. Civil society
was not a large component but WHO supports civil contributions to the health promotion activities.
ICSW Executive Director Denys Correll facilitated the sub plenary - Civil society and NGOs: Closing
the implementation gap. The sub plenary was organised by the NGO Alliance for Health Promotion.
The objectives of the session were:
1. Present and share initial ideas and experiences on community assets, community empowerment,
partnerships, intersectoral cooperation and capacity building
2. Propose actions in which all stakeholders across sectors and at different levels can contribute to
Health Promotion
3. Strengthen NGO and civil society working relationship with governments, WHO and otherpartners/agencies
Concluding messages were formulated at the session and forwarded to the drafting committee forconsideration when finalising the Call to Action
1. For more effective health promotion, governments and international agencies must deepen theirengagement with civil society and NGOs to create an enabling environment that empowers
grass-roots communities.
2. In addressing the social determinants of health, civil society is an indispensable resource inhealth promotion because of its strong connection to the diverse needs of the community.
3. In order to bring to scale successful projects for broader implementation, civil society and NGOs
are responsible to enhance their accountability by monitoring and evaluating their programs for
effective resource allocation at all levels.

The Norwegian Forum of Health and Social Issues Centenary Conference

In late October 2009 the Norwegian member of ICSW celebrated its 100 years. Executive Director
Denys Correll addressed the centenary conference on International experiences in a globalised world.
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The paper examined the history of ICSW in the areas of the conferences, regionalism, focus on theglobal South, national committees, North-South collaboration, United Nations, leadership and theglobal financial crisis. The full paper can be found at http://www.icsw.org/publication/pp.htm

New on the ICSW Website

Content
Global Cooperation Newsletter October
2009
Global Cooperation Newsletter October
2009 (Es)
Global Cooperation Newsletter October
2009 (Fr)European Newsletter November 2009
European Newsletter October 2009
South East Asia and the Pacific Newsletter
Link to Latin America region website:
http://www.cibs.cbciss.org/
South Asia Region Newsletter
Link to the North East Asia region website
Black Sea Newsletter
New Members

Link
http://www.icsw.org/doc/10_Global_Cooperati
on_Eng_Oct_2009.doc
http://www.icsw.org/doc/10_Cooperacin_Mundial_Oct_2009_Espa-ol.dochttp://www.icsw.org/doc/10_CooperationMond
iale_FR_Oct_2009.doc
http://www.icsw.org/doc/ICSW_European_ne
wsletter_November_2009.doc
http://www.icsw.org/doc/ICSW_European_ne
wsletter_October_2009.doc
http://www.icsw.org/doc/SEAPNewsletter_2_O
ctober2009.doc
http://www.cibs.cbciss.org/
http://www.icsw.org/doc/SouthAsiaNewsletter
No6Nov09.doc
http://www.icsw.org.tw/eng/nea/
http://www.icsw.org/doc/IUBSNGO_Newslette
r_No_4_November_%202009_eng.doc
http://www.icsw.org/intro/memberliste.htm#catA

The content of this Global Newsletter may be freely reproduced or cited provided the source isacknowledged. 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
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