GLOBAL COOPERATIONNEWSLETTER
July 2007
In this edition:
From the editor
Cooperation with International Association of Schools of Social Work andInternational Federation of Social Workers
UN and Employment
World Economic and Social Survey 2007
Eighth Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting
Anti Corruption
The Backlash against Civil Society in the Wake of the Long War on Terror
OECD on Health
Does the IMF Constrain Health Spending in Poor Countries?
Conferences global and regional
From the editor
As editor I face a real dilemma each month. I keep the newsletter to four pages. (Frenchand Spanish versions are a bit longer because of translation).
This month I started with 20 pages of content. There is good information arriving in my inbox each day which is of interest to those working in social welfare and social development.
I have decided to keep the Global Cooperation to four pages so that it remains easy to read.
I will however put a longer version in English on our web site (www.icsw.org – what’s new)for those who wish to keep up with new information.
I send ICSW Regional Presidents information that is specific to their regions and they may
include this in their regional newsletters. Regional newsletters exist in East and Southern
Africa (French and English), Central and West Africa (French and English), South East Asiaand the Pacific (English) and Europe (English). In the next month or so we will have a new
website and you will be able to subscribe to regional newsletters as well as this global
newsletter.
Cooperation with International Association of Schools of Social Work andInternational Federation of Social Workers.
Each year the Presidents and the Executive Directors of the three organisations meet to plan
cooperative events. The main focus of our meeting in June this year was the 2010 Joint
World Conference on Social Work and Social Development: The Agenda. The conference will
be held in December 2010 in Hong Kong and will be hosted by the national members of the
IASSW, IFSW and ICSW. This is the first time in over a decade that the IASSW, IFSW andICSW will come together in a joint conference.
While at our meeting in London we met with the “DeA: working for local government
improvement” and the General Social Care Council (GSCC).
In their summary of the meeting the DeA reported on their website that the social work
profession is experiencing a worldwide resurgence.
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Social work has never been more relevant to the challenges of modern society worldwide,and people want to do the job.
Lynne Berry, Chief Executive of the GSCC, outlined her work with regulators from 14 othercountries. She reported a global interest in social care and particularly the movement oflabour. The UK’s model of regulation is unique in its coverage of regulation, conduct andsocial work training. The forthcoming phased regulation of the entire 1.5 million social carework forces is an unprecedented undertaking.
There are 95,000 registered social workers and social work students in England. A minorityof these work in local government. Many work in the voluntary and private sectors andanother 10,000 are independent practitioners. Social work is now the equal tenth mostpopular profession for graduates, equal with medicine. This is an extraordinarytransformation for a profession that has had a bad press in the past. Social workers fromover 80 countries are coming to England to work. The top four countries are South Africa,
Australia, USA and India.
The Department of Health’s recruitment campaign has brought 6,000 more social workers
into the workforce. But the number of jobs requiring them has grown too, so demand is still
exceeding supply. This situation of excess demand is seen around the world. Extraordinarily,
Ethiopia’s new school of social work had 1,200 applications for 32 places this year and thegovernment asked all 67 Members of Parliament to undertake the graduate programme.
What explains this resurgence? The international consensus is that the profession’s greatest
strength is its flexibility – the way social workers can work effectively in different contexts,
reflecting the diversity of human experience.
Social workers are most valued because they are comfortable with complexity, withbalancing conflicts of interest, and dealing with risk and uncertainty. In some parts of theworld these skills are needed to deal with acute problems of poverty or the consequences ofconflict or disease. In others, their exercise of judgment is most valued.
UN and Employment
ICSW has regularly lobbied for employment to be restored to global targets for the
alleviation of poverty. It was a key result of the World Summit for Social Development in1995 but was dropped when the MDGs were created in 2000. We have heard that the
Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki Moon will propose to this years General Assembly that
“Full Employment” be added to the MDGs. ICSW welcomes this proposal and urges membersof ICSW to lobby their governments to support the proposal in the General Assembly.
ICSW’s position on Promoting full employment and decent work for all can be found at
www.icsw.org under What’s New
World Economic and Social Survey 2007
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has released its latest annual flagshippublication, World Economic and Social Survey 2007: Development in an Ageing World.
The complete publication is available on our website and can be accessed at
http://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess . Copies of the publication can also be ordered throughthe UN sales division athttps://unp.un.org/details.aspx?entry=E07WEP&title=World%2BEconomic%2BSituation%2B
and%2BProspects%2B2007.
Eighth Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting
Extracts from the official communiqué.
th

The 8 Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (8WAMM) was held in Kampala,
Uganda, from 11-14 June 2007. Delegations from 32 countries attended the meeting.
Ministers acknowledged that increased investments in gender equality must be a priority toensure sustained economic growth, the achievement of democracy, peace, security anddevelopment.
Ministers expressed their concern that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which areseriously off-track are the ones based on the achievement of gender equality: improving
maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, (MDGs 3, 5 and 6).
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Ministers noted that substantially more effort is required to achieve gender equality as
evidenced by the following statistics in Commonwealth countries:• Only five out of the 53 countries have achieved 30 per cent representation of women innational parliament;• 30 million children are not in primary school, the majority of those are girls;• 60 per cent of HIV and AIDS cases globally are in the Commonwealth, and a growing
proportion are women and girls;• 300,000 maternal deaths per annum; and• Some Commonwealth countries are amongst those with the highest infant and maternalmortality rates.
The Meeting discussed the following agenda items:• Tracking the Money for Gender Equality• National Women’s Machineries (NWMs) and Public Sector: Role in Financing Gender
Equality• Financing HIV and AIDS Interventions: Implications for Gender Equality• Investing in Gender Equality: Promoting Peace and Democracy.
The full communiqué is in the extended newsletter on the ICSW website. ICSW wasrepresented at the Ministers’ meeting by Roselyn Nakirya, Programme Coordinator for ICSW
based in Uganda.
Anti Corruption
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria,
has called on the U.S. and other rich countries to pay greater attention to the ways in which
their policies and practices undermine anti-corruption efforts in the developing world.
Developing countries themselves must lead the fight against developing country corruption,
she said. But rich countries, too, must consider how they sometimes "aid and abet"corruption that hurts poor people and costs developing countries billions of dollars.
http://www.cgdev.org/content/general/detail/13938 - for the news item on corruption.
http://www.cgdev.org/doc/event%20docs/Ngozi%20Remarks.pdf – for the full text of the
speech by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
The full item from the Centre for Global Development 25th June 2007 is in the extended
newsletter on the website.
The Backlash against Civil Society in the Wake of the Long War on Terror (click on
the title or http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/publications/cswp/cswp26_abstract.htm
London School of Economics – Center for Civil Society, April 2007, Jude Howell, Armine
Ishkanian, Ebenezer Obadare, Hakan Seckinelgin, and Marlies Glasius.
Ihighlyrecommend
this
short
paper
to readersof
GlobalCooperation.
The euphoria which emerged in the late 1980s with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the
spread of democratic regimes has been replaced in recent years by a backlash against civilsociety. This has particularly intensified after “September 11” and the ensuing global ‘war on
terror.’ This working paper examines the causes of the backlash against civil society,describes the manifestations of that backlash, and reflects upon the implications for the
future. It considers how the growing prominence of security concerns and the concomitant
expansion of counter-terrorist measures across the world threaten the spaces for civilsociety to flourish and act. It argues that while the manifestations of the backlash, may
appear to be disparate, unconnected phenomena, on closer inspection it is clear that they
are intricately intertwined
OECD on Health
The health system is failing to deliver medicines and vaccines to combat the infectious
diseases that plague tropical countries. What can be done?
Innovation and poverty reduction were in the spotlight at the OECD High Level Forum on
Medicines for Neglected and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Noordwijk-aan-Zee, 21
June 2007. The Forum recognised that the health innovation system is failing to deliver
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necessary medicines, vaccines and diagnostics to cure poor people, plagued with infectious
diseases. This is compounding poverty. Policies and practices need to change.
More on health from Centre for Global Development
Does the IMF Constrain Health Spending in Poor Countries? (Click on the headingor go to http://www.cgdev.org/content/general/detail/14100
Some critics argue that IMF programs in low-income countries unnecessarily limit healthspending, hurting poor people. The IMF argues that its programs are designed to ensure thefiscal stability needed for poverty-reducing growth and that the IMF merely sets targets foroverall spending, with countries themselves deciding what part of the total to allocate tohealth. A CGD working group chaired by visiting fellow David Goldsbrough has concluded
that IMF influences on health spending are indirect but potentially significant. The reportfinds that IMF programs have often been too risk-averse; that the IMF board andmanagement have not made sufficiently clear what is expected of IMF staff in exploring themacroeconomic consequences of alternative aid scenarios; and that wage bill ceilings havebeen overused and should be limited to situations when burgeoning payrolls threaten
macroeconomic stability.
Conferences
2007 North East Asia Regional Conference of ICSWHost: Korea National Council on Social Welfare
Dates: 22nd to 24th October 2007
Venue: Busan, Korea (Paradise Hotel in Busan & Nurimaru APEC House)
Theme: “Issues and Challenges for Cultural Diversity in North East Asia”
Sub themes: International Marriage, Migrant Workers, Interracial Children and North Korean
Defectors
Contact: kncsw@hotmail.com / kncsw-icsw@hanmail.net
2008 ICSW 33rd Global Conference on Social Welfare
Date: 30th June to 4th July 2008
Venue: Tours, France
Contact Information: comite.service.francais@wanadoo.fr
This will be the 80th Anniversary of ICSW. The theme of the conference is Social Work, Social
Protection and Social Development: Where have we been? Where are we going?
In the long version of this newsletter there are reports on new publications from the Centre
for Global Development, the UNDP International Poverty Centre, the UN Research Institutefor Social Development and the Council of Europe.

The content of this Global Newsletter may be freely reproduced or cited provided thesource is acknowledged. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily thepolicy of ICSW.
Please distribute this newsletter as widely as possible.
Newsletter Editor: Denys Correll – Executive Director
ICSW C/- MOVISIE PO Box 19129
3501 DC Utrecht
Netherlands
Email: icsw@icsw.org
Tel: +31 30 789 2226

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GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTER
August 2007
In this edition:
Southern African Development Community – Council of Non-Governmental
Organisations 3rd ForumUNESCO takes a lead on social development
Japan and African Civil Society
National Development Strategies Policy Notes
ICSW Europe Conference Equal Opportunities for Individuals, Groups and Nations
Newsletter of the International Association of Schools of Social Work
Conferences
Southern African Development Community – Council of Non-Governmental
Organisations 3rd ForumICSW delegates participated in the 3rd SADC Civil Society Forum held in August in Lusaka,
Zambia.
After the Forum SADC Council of NGOs General Secretary Abie Ditlhake
commented that the Forum clearly demonstrated the desire by civil society to engage with
SADC processes and take responsibility for their destiny. There were 300 registereddelegates at the forum which was about 150 more than expected.
Mr Ditlhake said that civil society has begun a process of asserting their rights as citizens of
the region. There are major challenges ahead to achieve the main objectives of the SADC
CNGOs. The Forum achieved its objectives and in particular united civil society efforts towork together. In addition to the outcomes of the two previous forums the Council has a fullagenda for this year leading to the 2008 Forum in South Africa.
Denys Correll Executive Director ICSW presented a paper on Working together with
Regional Apex Organisations and Lessons/messages of support from other regions. The
paper covered•

Global economics and social policy;•

Copenhagen and beyond•

Moving from global to regional development•

National and regional economics and social policy;•

The current reality of civil society intervention in national and regional policies•

Regional Social Policy agendas•

Lessons from other regions•

Civil society influence in regions•

Possibilities for Cooperation

The full paper can be found in “Top News” at http://www.icsw.org/

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Zimbabwe was a main issue for Forum delegates. Cephas Zinhumwe, Chief Executive Officerof the ICSW member in Zimbabwe, the National Association for Non-Governmental
Organisations (NANGO) wrote after the Forum: “In spite of Zimbabwe being clearly in
doldrums, SADC Heads of States have been disappointingly lethargic in their responses. In
fact, SADC has consistently believed the Zimbabwe story as told by the ruling party.
Consequently only quiet diplomacy premised on the principles of non-interference,culminating in Mbeki believed talks between the two major political parties in Zimbabwe isall there is to talk about.”“Convinced that the Zimbabweans true story needs to be told to the SADC region by otherindependent voices, NANGO being the umbrella and voice of NGOs in Zimbabwe facilitatedthe participation of various civil society organizations at the SADC-CNGO Civil Society Forum.
The main objectives for NANGO in sending a delegation to Zambia were to raise awarenesson the real situation on the ground, the depth of economic collapse and extent of humanrights and political challenges in the country with a view to mobilize solidarity fromcounterparts in the region.”
UNESCO takes a lead on social development
In July Ministers of Social Development from 19 countries met in Paris during the 8th sessionof the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO programme on Management of Social
Transformations (MOST). Denys Correll Executive Director represented ICSW at the meeting.
Under the rules of UNESCO Mr Correll was able to contribute to discussion as an observer.
Participants included Ministers from Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt,
Greece, Iran, Malaysia, Montenegro, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St
Lucia, Syria, Uganda, Venezuela and officials from many other countries. The participants
shared their experiences on linkages that can be created between social science researchand policy development. The aim is to strengthen the capacity of governments to act
effectively for the welfare of their citizens and social development in their countries.
With the exception of Greece, it was disappointing that Ministers holding positions on theIntergovernmental Council from the global North were very obviously absent from themeeting in Paris.
As a result of the debates, a common observation emerged: it is necessary and urgent tostrengthen the dialogue between social science research and policy development, and to
involve civil society representatives in order to face the challenges generated by
globalization.
At the opening session, on Monday July 16, UNESCO Director General, Koichiro Matsuura,
underlined that the UNESCO “MOST Programme has made a specific effort to support multipartite networks at sub-regional and regional level with a view to producing policy-relevant
knowledge under its priority themes”. (Click here for information on the MOST program)
During the debates, Pierre Sané, Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Social and
Human Sciences, emphasized that “for too long, social policies have been unilaterally
imposed to developing countries by external organizations such as the World Bank. These
politics were the same every where and for every country”.
Johan Schölvinck Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development at the UN madesome very interesting points. He said “social policy is also about redistribution, social justiceand the regulation of market institutions and social structures that may be required to alter
the natural and unequal outcomes of economic activity”. “The internal “weight” of social
ministries within the government is very important, but sometimes they have difficulties inmaking their voice heard”

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As a result of this meeting, the 35 members of the MOST Intergovernmental Council, in theframework of which the ministerial roundtable was held, agreed on several recommendations
to be forwarded to the UNESCO General Conference to be held in October 2007.
Among other recommendations members stressed that the Millennium Development Goals
will not be reached without strengthening dialogue between researchers and social policies,
and urged all member states to accelerate the implementation of the MOST National Liaison
Committees.
It was particularly pleasing to see in the recommendation on the Millennium Development
Goals that the Goals should be pursued through intensified regional effort and through abetter integration of economic and social policies.
The recommendations to UNESCO include two that relate to civil society. The wording (to be
confirmed) is Governments, policy makers and the international community are encouraged
to support social science research through adequate funding and to engage social scienceand civil society communities in policy dialogues on research strategies, priorities,
methodologies and results while respecting academic freedom and In recognition of theincreasing need to improve policy formulation, the MOST Programme should continue toconcentrate on the improvement of the relation between policy-making and social science
research, promote social science research that feeds into policy agendas and seek civilsociety and community groups’ contribution to the nexus at national, regional andinternational levels.
What does this mean for civil society? Denys Correll observed that there was a commitment
by Ministers for Social Development to engage with civil society. Already ICSW has received
an invitation from the Economic Community of West African States to speak on defining
social development at their forthcoming meeting of Ministers and experts on Social Affairs.
MOST is committed to strengthening the cooperation with regional groups of social
development ministers. In some countries there are new moves to open dialogue with civilsociety and researchers. Morocco is one example where discussions have begun. ICSW andcivil society should participate in these initiatives.
Johan Schölvinck’s point on social ministries is important. Civil society has a role to support
these ministries in the economic and fiscal debates within government.
Japan and African Civil Society
Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary-General reported in his recent newsletter that he met with
Sayaka Funada Classen Vice-Chair of TICAD Civil Society Forum (TCSF), which is actively
engaged in the TICAD IV (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) process.
The TICAD IV conference will take place in late May 2008 and will serve as a key event
leading up to Japan's G8 summit in July 2008.
According to their website, the TICAD Civil Society Forum (TCSF) is a non-profit organisation
established in July 2004. Its main mission is to deliver the voices of civil society andgrassroots of Africa to Japanese policy makers and citizens. TCSF aims to improve Japan’s
policy to Africa and to contribute to the betterment of the livelihoods of ordinary and poor
people in Africa. To achieve this goal, TCSF has conducted several activities including areview and analysis of Japan’s policy, advocacy and publicity, and the holding of seminars inand outside of Japan.
In the course of discussions with Sayaka Funada Classen she stressed that Japanese civilsociety was keen to create space for African civil society voices to be heard directly. She iskeen to ensure that Japanese civil society plays a role to ensure that southern voices ingeneral and African voices in particular are the ones that are predominant in the activities
planned for next year’s G8 in Japan. She said that it was critically important for civil society
to be able to deal with the contradictions that exist between north and south, if we want ourgovernments to change.
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The UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs has produced an extremely useful andcomprehensive set of Policy Notes to guide National Development Strategies. The notes
cover: (i) Macroeconomics and Growth, (ii) Financial Policies, (iii) SOE Reform, (iv)
Investment and Technology Policy, (v) Trade Policy, and (vi) Social Policy
The UN DESA Policy Notes provide practical guidance on how to operationalise equitable andemployment-generating policies in each subject, following the applied style of widely used
toolkits, complementing them by presenting uncovered and/or alternative development
topics.
The Policy Notes have been developed in cooperation with UN agencies. They have been
officially reviewed by distinguished academics/development specialists including the Nobel
Laureate Joseph Stiglitz. (More in the long version of this newsletter at
http://www.icsw.org/publication/gnl.htm) The policy notes can be found at
http://esa.un.org/techcoop/policynotes.asp

ICSW Europe Conference Equal Opportunities for Individuals, Groups and Nations

The European Region conference on “Equal Opportunities for Individuals, Groups andNations” was organised by the International Council on Social Welfare – European Region
and Vilnius University in June, 2007. The papers from the conference can be found at
http://www.icsw.org/region/e.htm
Newsletter of the International Association of Schools of Social Work
The International Association of Schools of Social Work now has an electronic newsletter
which can be found on their website http://www.iassw-aiets.org/
Conferences
2007 North East Asia Regional Conference of ICSWHost: Korea National Council on Social Welfare
Dates: 22nd to 24th October 2007
Venue: Busan, Korea (Paradise Hotel in Busan & Nurimaru APEC House)
Theme: “Issues and Challenges for Cultural Diversity in North East Asia”
Sub themes: International Marriage, Migrant Workers, Interracial Children and North Korean
Defectors
Contact: kncsw@hotmail.com / kncsw-icsw@hanmail.net
2008 ICSW 33rd Global Conference on Social Welfare
Date: 30th June to 4th July 2008
Venue: Tours, France
Contact Information: comite.service.francais@wanadoo.fr
This will be the 80th Anniversary of ICSW. The theme of the conference is Social Work, Social
Protection and Social Development: Where have we been? Where are we going?
In the long version of this newsletter there are reports on many new publications.
The content of this Global Newsletter may be freely reproduced or cited provided
the source is acknowledged. The views expressed in this publication are notnecessarily the policy of ICSW.
Newsletter Editor: Denys Correll – Executive Director
ICSW C/- MOVISIE PO Box 19129
3501 DC Utrecht
Netherlands
Email: icsw@icsw.org
Tel: +31 30 789 2226

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