Global Cooperation Newsletter

December 2016

International Council on Social Welfare

ICSW

Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year to our readers!
This December edition of the Global Cooperation Newsletter has been
largely prepared by ICSW-Europe, reflecting its long-standing and
immediate priorities. This edition continues to highlight the activities
of ICSW in various regions of the world where we are working.
This Newsletter presents information on some institutions that are key
to ICSW-Europe: European Platform for Social Cohesion, profiles of the
AGE Platform Europe, as well as the European Social Platform. Some
more recent activities, such as the expert group meeting on social
protection assessment tools, are also discussed. As usual, in the “findof the month “section this edition includes information about somenew resources of interest to our readers.
The contribution of Jean-Michel Hôte, the President Europe Ad Interim,is acknowledged in the preparation of all of the articles published inthis edition.
Sergei Zelenev, ICSW Executive Director and Editor of the Global
Cooperation Newsletter

continued on page 2

INSIDECouncil of Europe: European Platform for Social Cohesion(PECS) - Strasbourg (France)

2

Experts’ Meeting on social protection assessment tools3

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December 2016

continued from page 1
In this December edition of the Global
Cooperation Newsletter the ICSW Europe is
pleased to share a selection of information on
European activities that may be of interest to
the readership.
The annual general meeting of ICSW Europe
was held in Prague on 27 May 2016 at theinvitation of our Czech member, theAssociation of Citizens Advice Centers. It
adopted a program of action for the period
2016-2020 in line with the priorities of theprevious period: eradication of poverty, inparticular among children and young people;
international migration; social cohesion andthe fight against segregation; and the ageingof the population and its consequences.
At the meeting, the Board was elected for aperiod of two years.
Since then, a new situation has emerged: thestate of health of our President, Miloslav
Hettes from Slovakia, has worsened to thepoint when during the summer he had to stop
working.
I was nominated to replace him temporarily
for a few months, and having that in mind, I
wrote a short presentation, delivered at theSeoul Conference, in which he was able toparticipate. Further, in order to implement a
project that Miloslav had conceived at the
beginning of the year, the European Board, inagreement with the General Assembly, agreed
to participate in a Conference to be held in
Moscow on 18 and 19 May 2017 at theinvitation of our new member from theRussian Federation, the Institute for Additional
Professional Education of Workers for Social
Services, organized on the theme "Humanwell-being, social cohesion and sustainable
development: the quest for responses tocontemporary challenges”.
Please accept holiday greetings from the
ICSW-Europe Board, consisting of Angela

Cepenaite(Lithuania),
JoaquinEguren(Spain), Annelise Murakami (Denmark), Britta
Spilker (Germany), Ronald Wiman (Finland)and Gabriela Siantova (Slovakia), our editorialassistant responsible to the quarterly ICSWEuropean Newsletter, who participated in the
preparation of this edition.
Jean-Michel Hôte
Council of Europe: European Platform
for
SocialCohesion(PECS)
Strasbourg (France)
Created as an ad hoc committee in response
to a request by several member countries, theEuropean Platform for Social Cohesion is anintergovernmental structure aimed at keeping
the issue of social cohesion at the forefront of
the Council of Europe's priorities.
The Platform, attached to the Directorate
General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law,
has a two-year mandate (January 2016December 2017).
It held its first meeting on 27 - 28 June 2016
and set up three working groups on thefollowing themes:a) an integrated approach to social cohesion(including an analysis of that concept);b) an exchange on good practices
innovative approaches;andc) examination of new trends and challenges.
In turn, the third working group seeks to deal
with the following issues:Protection and integration of migrants andrefugees;
Access to social rights by vulnerable groups
and young people;
Fight against poverty and exclusion; fightRespect for human dignity and the fightICSW – International Council on Social Welfare

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December 2016
against discrimination;
Integration of the gender perspective into thework.
A group of NGOs (including ICSW) with
consultative status with the Council, known as
the "Conference of NGOs", participates in theactivities:
ICSW
Europe'sFrenchrepresentative to the Conference, Gérard
Schaefer, attended the meeting while his
EASSW colleague, Robert Bergougnan, wasattending the ICSW Conference in Seoul.
A group of NGOs (including ICSW) with
consultative status with the Council, known as
the "Conference of NGOs", participates in theactivities:
ICSW
Europe'sFrenchrepresentative to the Conference, Gérard
Schaefer, attended the meeting while his
EASSW colleague, Robert Bergougnan, wasattending the ICSW Conference in Seoul.
Please recall that the question of social rights
in Europe is covered by two reference texts:
the European Social Charter (at the level of theCouncil of Europe) and the Charter ofFundamental Rights at the level of theEuropean Union.
For further information: the minutes of thefirst meeting are available on the Council's
website.
The second meeting of the Platform isscheduled for 19-20 September 2017.
Board Member, ICSW Europe
Experts’ Meeting on social protection
assessment tools
By Ronald Wiman, Board Member, ICSWEurope and Jean-Michel Hôte, Treasurer, Acting
President, ICSW Europe

Social protection is a basic right. But only oneout of four or five of the world’s people has
meaningful access to basic social protection.
Particularly since the financial crisis of 2008,
its role as an instrument for social andeconomicdevelopmenthas
been
acknowledged. Evidence on the impacts ofsocial protection systems, as a whole, isnecessary to make a politically convincing
business case for social protection, which all
too often is conceived of or deliberately
stamped as mere charity. Developing
countries are now actively searching for
feasible ways to make their social protection
more systematic and sustainable.
Systematic evidence on the successes of social
protection
programmes
has
been
accumulating rapidly, especially from thecontexts of the poorer countries. “While
there is plenty of research on the impact
of individual programmes, evidence
making the case for systems, or on how
to build them, remains scarce.”
That is one of the conclusions drawn byExperts’ Meeting on Social Protection
Assessment Tools and Methodologies, hosted
by the OECD in Paris, 13-14 October 2016.
The organizer of the meeting was the EU
Social Protection Systems Programme (EUSPS), which is one of the Actions establishedby the EU Commission within its recent
increase of investments in support of thedevelopment of social protection systems indeveloping countries. The EU-SPS waslaunched in 2014/15. It is funded by the EU,
the OECD and the Government of Finland. The
EU-SPS works with ten developing countries,
supporting their efforts to systematize theirsocial protection sector and to make thesystem more inclusive and sustainable.
Compiling and comparing good practices
The Experts’ Meeting on Social Protection
Assessment Tools and Methodologies brought
together government representatives from theten partner countries of the EU-Social
Protection Systems Programme and key
stakeholders who are currently or have been
involved in social protection assessments. The
main objective of the meeting was to share

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Global Cooperation Newsletter
experience and learning about countries’
evidence needs for social protection systemsbuilding, and to consider how social protection
assessments might best address those needs.

Key messages from the report of themeeting.
The Meeting report summarizes the lessons
learned as follows:
Evidence has played a critical role indrivingtheexpansionofsocialprotection schemes. The last two decades
have seen a proliferation of social protection
schemes across the developing world, inparticular cash transfers. That growth has, inparticular cash transfers. That growth has, inpart, been driven by the increased use of
impact evaluations to demonstrate thepositive outcomes and cost-effectiveness ofsocial protection in accelerating humandevelopment and reducing poverty.
Tobeusefultopolicymakers,
assessments must be demand-driven andtailored to local context. It is important forpractitioners to understand political processes
around social protection reform, allowing themto carry out assessments at moments whenevidence can make the most difference andalign those assessments to countries’ needs.
Supply-driven assessments rarely generate
the necessary engagement and buy-in fromdecision-makers to have a significant impact
on policy. While standardized tools are an

December 2016
excellent point of departure, policymakers
find assessments to be most useful when
they are tailored to local contexts anddisplay an understanding of the political
economy of social protection reform.
While there is plenty of research on theimpact of individual programmes,
evidence making the case for systems,
or how to build them, remains scarce.
Policymakers noted that it is difficult tomake the case for building systems basedon evidence about the impact of individual
programmes. The process of systembuilding at the country level is fraught withdifficulty: mandates and budgets tend to be
spread across a range of institutions at
different levels of government. Coordinating
and aligning them requires political will anda clear plan. Some countries discussed theirexperience with formal coordination bodies
that have been set up to spearhead multistakeholder processes.
Three areas were identified as criticalfor evidence generation to advancesystematization efforts. First, in a climateof fiscal consolidation, policymakers stressed
the need for a stronger “investment case” forsocial protection. Unpacking the linkages
between social protection and inclusive
growth is critical for continued investment insocialprotection.
Second,countries
expressed interest in evidence on models andstrategies to finance social protection
sustainably in the long run. Third, partnercountries requested evidence on how toextend social protection coverage to theinformal sector. Given that labour markets
are likely to remain largely informal for theforeseeable future, pragmatic solutions areneeded to extend coverage to informal sector
workers.

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December 2016
Social protection assessments can build
bridges between actors at the country
level. Fragmentation between actors was
highlighted as one of the principal stumbling
blocks for system-building. An assessment
often presents an opportunity to bring actors
together around a common objective and canthus provide an important step towards
system-building. Getting ministries of financeinvolved in those processes in order to linktheassessment
withfiscalandmacroeconomic
considerations
washighlighted as important.
Having aninternational partner facilitate that process
can be helpful.
When assessing the impact of fiscal
policy on poverty and inequality, theconcept of net social protection isimportant. Net social protection reflects a
combined analysis of the distributional effects
of individual programmes and policy
measures on both the tax and theexpenditure sides of the fiscal framework.
The Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Institutehas developed a methodology for conducting
such assessments, which is available as an
open-source tool. The results provide insights
for policy makers, multilateral institutions
and nongovernmental groups when

determining which changes in tax andspending policies will lead to greater
equality and poverty reduction.
Social protection financing assessments
should,where
possible,
includeassessments of fiscal incidence. Fiscal
incidence analysis is particularly relevant in
the context of the Addis Action Agenda. In acontext of declining aid budgets, there is anincreasing emphasis on domestic resource
mobilization to finance social spending indeveloping
countries.
This
analysisdemonstrates that countries need to be careful
to assess the distributional impact of increased
revenue mobilization so as to avoid increasing
poverty and inequality.

The fragmentation of data sources andsystems needs to be overcome. Betterdata and a harmonization of definitions arenecessary so as to further improve thequality of assessments and, ultimately, ofsocialprotection
policy-making.
Fiscalincidence assessments, for example, rely on
both administrative and household survey
data.
Reconciling
the
two
is
often
challenging, as household surveys tend tounderreport income and consumption at the
top end of the income distribution. There isalso a need for the harmonization ofdefinitions – pension contributions, forexample, can be treated as deferred income
or as a cash transfer.
Assessments provide an opportunity tostrengthen national data systems. Social
protection
assessments often use andgenerate useful data on individual social
protection schemes and the broader system.
That data is rarely fed back into national
systems or international databases, which isa missed opportunity. The assessment
process provides opportunities to work withlocal stakeholders and statistical offices tomap existing data sources and identify
opportunities for strengthening statisticalsystems. That will also be critical in enabling
countries to report on the Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) targets related tosocial protection.
Social protection assessments should
continue to evolve with the thinking
about systems. By definition, systems
aren’t static but must continue to evolve inline with countries’ development. So, too,should analytical approaches. The multisectoral nature of the SDG Agenda challenges
social protection practitioners to better
capture issues of policy coherence between
sectors.
The EU Social Protection Systems
Programme will take those messages on
board
for
ongoingandfutureassessments. The EU-SPS will also continue

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6
Global Cooperation Newsletterto contribute to the development andapplication of ISPA tools in its ten partnercountries. Specific plans include contributing
to the development of the planned social
protection financing tool (including the CEQ
methodology) and increased engagement ondata for social protection systems.
The EU-SPS Programme
EU-SPS is an EU Initiative to facilitate thesystematization of social protection indeveloping countries. At the same time it aims
at deriving evidence for guidance for future
investments in social protection in developing
cooperation.
The Programme is currently working with ten
partner countries – Cambodia, Ethiopia,
Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique,
Namibia, Tanzania, Togo, Viet Nam, andZambia – in close partnership with national
governments, social protection authorities,
think tanks, other expert institutions andNGOs. In many of these countries EU-SPS
works in close partnership with UN
organizations, especially ILO and UNICEF.
Recently, Germany joined the EU-SPS,
making it a wider EU-SPS Initiative that isopen to more EU Member States, as well.
The EU-SPS Programme is also expected togenerate and elaborate evidence for preparing
guidance for the broader development
community on how best support thedevelopment of social protection systems with
development cooperation instruments indeveloping country contexts. The programmecollaborates closely with the agencies of theSocial Protection Inter- Agency Cooperation
Board (SPIAC-B) and the Inter-Agency Social
Protection Assessments (ISPA), both atcountry level and globally. The ICSW has beenan active member of the SPIAC-B.

December 2016
AGE Platform Europe

AGE Platform Europe is an international notfor-profit association established in July 2001
under Belgian law by its founder members:
Eurolink Age, EPSO, and FIAPA. The oldest
European organisation acting in the field ofageing, Eurage, joined the association a few
years later.
AGE is a European network which aims to give
voice to and promote the interests of the 198
million citizens aged 50 + in the European
Union and to raise awareness of the issues
that concern them most. Through its 131
members(including
10
European–wideorganisations),
the
network
represents
directly more than 40 million senior citizens
across the EU.
The AGE mission is to promote older people’s
rights at the EU and international levels, andto support their dignity and their active andtheir active and social life.
AGE has three complementary types ofactivities: policy work, project work, andnetworking between its members and with its
partners and contacts.
Its priorities are: anti-discrimination andequality; social protection, active citizenship.
Each year, AGE holds a General Assembly andissues a final declaration.
You will find below the declaration adopted by
AGE GA on 17 November 2016.
For more information, just visit AGE website:
age-plafform.eu

The full report is available on the EU-SPS website
www.thl.fi/eu-sps

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December 2016
Seize the potential of the MadridInternational Plan of Action on Ageing tostrengthen
equality,
fairnessandcohesion across an ageing Europe!

organisation and functioning.

AGE

with its citizens and create a forward looking

GeneralAssembly

2016

Final

Declaration

Assembly

Institutions,persons,

AGE

membersreconfirm

theircommitment to support the EU to reconnect
society where everyone has a role to play, is

AGE Platform Europe members met at their 2016
GeneralFor the benefit of today and tomorrow’s older

EU

to

call

Memberon

EuropeanStates,

local

and

regional authorities to use all relevant policy
frameworks including at global level to addresseffectively

age

discrimination,

while

valued and supported to lead an active dignified
life regardless of age, gender, race or ethnic
origin, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
This

requiresadopting

comprehensive,

coordinated and progressive policies to address
all aspects of population ageing, building on
relevant

existing

initiatives,

older people’s rights.

current

reviewof

Respect and enjoyment of human rights by(MIPAA or Madrid Plan). Therefore we

strengthening adequately the full spectrum of

everyone is a fundamental feature of ourdemocraticsocieties.

The

right

to

be

respected and treated with dignity, to takepart and be included in society may look fairly
natural to some people, but can be a real
challenge for some members of our ageingtheincluding
2002

the

MadridInternational Plan of Action on Ageing
submit the following recommendations on whatshould be achieved to better protect the rightsof older people in this time of complex
institutional, social and economic contexts inthe EU and at global level.

population. This is all the more true in these

For the full text of the AGE General

tough economic times, when fundamental rights

Assembly’s recommendations, please seetend to be overshadowed by economic concerns.

following pages.

Older

the

Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing

opportunities to participate in society and benefit

must support the respect of human rights ofpeopleshouldnotbedeniedfrom economic and social developments. The
significant social and economic contributions
older people bring to our societies, to younger
generations,tocompanies

andintergenerational

projects

tovariousshouldbesocialcrisisacknowledged.
The

persistenteconomic

andimpoverishing whole groups of our societies,
including older people, combined with the baby-

older people
Older people’s rights are gaining momentum
at the international level with the on-goingdebate on how to improve their protection ontheground,inparticularthroughtheimplementation of the Madrid International
Plan

of

Actionon

Ageing(MIPAA),therecommendation of the Council of Europe on

most

the promotion of human rights of older

recently the refugee crisis, the growing fear of

persons; the work of the Independent Expert

terroristUKon the Enjoyment of all Human Rights by Oldermembership in the European Union, should all

Persons and the UN Open-Ended Working

lead the EU to reconsider its core objectives,

Group on Ageing. AGE welcomes theseboomers’

demographic
attacks,

thepressure,andreferendum

on

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8
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December 2016

developments, but urges the European Union

Increase awareness about the Plan andto build on this positive work-in-progress andinvolve external actors, in particular older

to develop adequate mechanisms to promotepersons, in its implementation, monitoringand protect older people’s rights. In theandmeantime, the MIPAA should be better used toobjectives;

monitor how far older people can equally enjoy
their human rights and what is the real impact

shouldbecomplemented

supportandaddresstheparticularforlife-longlearning;socialnetworks to fight loneliness and stimulate

the human rights of older people. However,social participation; accessible, affordable

despite that important progress, the MIPAA is

and quality health and long-term care; andneither comprehensive nor fully adequate toaccess to goods and services regardless ofaddress older people’s needs and protect theirage criteria;

rights.


Follow the recommendation of the UN
Independent Expert on the rights of older

Implementation

persons

Strategy (RIS) for Europe, AGE analysed thelevel of advancements in the implementationof the Plan at the subnational and nationalcallingforaan

instrument,

such

as

convention,tohighlight

newbinding

internationalthespecific

barriers that older people face in respect oflevels. Regretting the low-profile of the Plan

their human rights while considering inwithin national policy agendas and the overall

what ways the existing UN Convention onlack of involvement of older persons, their

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities couldorganisations or other relevant stakeholders

already be applied to older people;(e.g. equality bodies, NHRIs, researchers,

national governments, in particular to:

Recognise

live in dignity; access to employment withcontains a number of references relevant toAssembly 2016 urges the European Union andtheirface with regard to: adequate income toexisting policy process on ageing, the MIPAA

private sector) in this process, AGE Generaltochallenges that older people across the EU

and political participation. Contrary to otherRegional

attention

dignity and participate equally in society;their socio-economic activities to cultural, civic

MIPAA

due

ultimately allow older persons to live inWhile the MIPAA is not a human rights

the

pay

help fight ageism in all areas of life, andexercise their active citizenship.

ofin particular thosepotential impact on vulnerable groups,

develop skills and knowledge necessary toWith a view to contributing to the 2017 review

theEnsure that all current and future socio-

Semesterpositive actions to empower older people tovarious challenges that older people face fromof

taken in the framework of the European

by

instrument, it has the potential to address

reformulation

economic reforms,of the existing framework on their lives.
Monitoring

eventualFollow the recent call from the UNECE for
active strategies to meet older migrants’economic, social and health-care needs –ICSW – International Council on Social Welfare

9Global Cooperation Newsletter

December 2016in

increasing

lives of older persons. That will increaseinternational mobility and migration of

order

to

addresstheownership of the process among thepeople at an older age;relevant



its



Introduce monitoring and accountability
mechanisms in order to evaluate progress

protecting the rights of older persons in allachieved across all MIPAA objectives andnational plans, policies and laws;

its

Use an evidence-based approach to policyindicators

in

the

context

of

MIPAA

objectives. Greater emphasis should begiven to social, not only to economic

Regional

Implementation

Strategy.

Having made progress in some areas, thePlan’simplementation

has

been

very

fragmented and uneven, and has nothelped to achieve tangible results acrossall its objectives;indicators, and to the positive impact that

Remove barriers to the participation ofsocialtheolder people and their organisations in theeconomy. Qualitative indicators should bemonitoring and implementation of the Planpromoted and complement quantitative(via more transparency and a genuine

indicators at national and EU levels to

consultation mechanism) with a view toreflect a comprehensive and exhaustive

using its full potential to build consensus

definition and understanding of the notion

among all stakeholders on how to createof the quality of life across the life course.

an inclusive society for all ages. Thatmeasures

may

have

on

Mainstream in the implementation of the
MIPAA

the

quantitative

targets

andindicators on social protection set by otherpolicy frameworks, e.g. the Europe 2020
Strategy

headlinetargets,

theActiveAgeing Index developed by the European
Commission

and

the

UN

Economic

Commission for Europe (UNECE), or whatwill

followas

proposals

from

the

consultation on the EU Pillar of Social
Rights;

facilitate

the MIPAA in view of promoting andmaking on ageing and develop common

andimplementation at all levels;

Apply a rights-based approach to theimplementation of all domains covered byactorsshould ensure that persons are able to age
with security and dignity and continue toparticipate in society as citizens with fullrights.
AGE Platform Europe and its members commit
to engage in a constructive dialogue with theEuropean Union and their respective national
governments and authorities to carry out the
Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.
Social Platform: the largest NGO
platform in Europe

Promote the MIPAA to make it visible,
transparent and connected to all relevant
governmental actions and initiatives that
impact Europe’s ageing population and therelevant

actorsandfacilitate

implementation at all levels;

itsSocial Platform covers a large spectrum of the EU

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10
Global Cooperation Newslettersocial civil-society sector and is the largest
platform of NGOs in Europe. Formed in 1995,
it has seen its membership grow from 20 at
the beginning to 48 at present.
Its members represent more than 2800
national organisations, associations or othervoluntary groups at the local, regional andnational levels in the EU. ICSW is a memberof SP through ICSW Europe.
Its aim is to promote social justice, equality
and participatory democracy by voicing theconcerns of its members, who are involved in
its work programme mainly through what are
called “Task Forces” (TFs).
The TFs are focused on five main domains:
Civil Dialogue and Social Justice; SocialStandards; Access to Services; Human Rights;
Funding. For example, Social Standards covermatters such as employment and inclusion;Access to Services deals with topics such associal and health services or social economy;
Human Rights advocacy focuses on migrationand solidarity with migrants, equality andnon–discrimination in society.
Some ICSW Europe members (Germany,
Austria, Finland, Denmark from now on) wereand are still active in those TFs: especially
Social Standards and Human Rights.
Accordingtoits
2014-2020
strategicorientation, Social Platform’s latest GA on 27
October 2016
has decided to promote a
2017-2020 programme, which is summarized
in the following text (abstract of the full 15page document).
For more information, see the SP website atsocialplatform.org

December 2016
Social Platform is built does not prevent itfrom having a unique identity of its own. On
the contrary, rather than focusing on
differences, Social Platform enables civilsociety organisations to nurture thoseelements that bring us together. Our sharedbelief that the EU’s policies should be basedon respect for human rights and our common
vision for a socially just, sustainable andcohesive EU are principles that have seared
into our genetic makeup the idea that Social
Platform is more than the sum of its parts –and that out of many, we are truly one.
This plan sets out the strategic actions forSocial Platform for the four-year period 20172020. It is designed to be broad enough tofoster ownership among all members, yet besufficiently specific to frame and organise ourwork consistently so as to have a tangible
impact. As such, it forms the basis of theactivities that we undertake as part of ourannual work programmes for the same period.
The strategic plan builds upon the strategicorientation 2014-2020 1, which defines our
future direction through six objectives, all ofwhich embrace the promotion of human rights
and reflect the work of our members2: peoplecentred services, socio-economic justice,equality for all, quality employment, social
protection, and civil dialogue. By identifying
relevant and impactful actions that take into
account the current political climate, thestrategic plan encompasses these objectives
and outlines concrete ways in which we canadvance them. As such, it will allow us to set
our common values and vision as the silver
thread running through all our activities.
1 See Social Platform’s strategic orientation.
2 See more about our members here.

“The richness of the membership upon which

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December 2016
Specifically, the strategic plan consists of four
strategic actions:- “Leaving no one behind” encompasses
equality for all and access to peoplecentred services.
---“A just economy” addresses socioeconomic justice, quality employment, as
well as the financing of our social
protection systems.
“Buildingbridges”
promotes
activeengagement in a constructive civil dialogue
with key stakeholders at the EU andgrassroots levels.
Finally, “Strengthening the capacity of our
network” lays the essential foundations
that will allow us to achieve our strategic
priorities.

To achieve our four strategic actions, we will
make use of appropriate EU and international
processes and instruments – such as theEurope 2020 and 2030 strategies, theSustainable Development Goals, theEuropean Pillar of Social Rights or the theEuropean Semester – with the intent to makeprogress on our own agenda for the EU.
We believe that, by engaging with decisionmakers and people in the EU to make the casefor policies based on a human andfundamental rights approach, we can help
reduce inequalities and steer the EU towards asocially, economically and environmentallyprosperous future, and by doing so, help
reconcile it with what truly matters – thepeople of Europe.”

Organisation of the international conference
that is going to take place in Moscow (RussianFederation) on 18-19 May, 2017.
The Russian partners were represented by
Evdokiya I. Kholostova – Director of theInstitute for Additional Professional Educationof Workers for Social Services; Irina V.
Mkrtumova – Deputy Director of Research,andNatalia F. Rigina – Head of theInternational School of Social Work, both fromthe above-mentioned Institute;Igor V.
Kulikov – the Adviser of the Department ofLabour and Social Protection of the Populationof Moscow; and Olga E. Gracheva – the First
Deputy of Head of the Department of Labour
and Social Protection of the Population of
Moscow.
The theme of the conference is: “Humanwell-being,socialcohesionandsustainable development: the quest for
responses to contemporary challenges”.

Upcoming Moscow Conference 2017
ICSW Europe Board met Russian partners in
Vienna (Austria, November 11-12, 2016) todiscuss the preparations for and the

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December 2016

For the conference in Moscow 2017 ICSWEurope is cooperating with Russian partners –Institute for Additional Professional EducationofWorkersforSocialServices(http://skts.sk/clanky/konferencia_moskva/presentation_Moscow.pdf) and the Departmentof Labour and Social Protection of the
Population of Moscow.
More information about the upcoming
conference will be available in the next ICSWEurope Newsletter issues.
(by Gabriela Siantova
Newsletter editor)

–

ICSW

EuropeUseful resources and links—thefinds of the month
Financingsustainable
development:
Movingfrommomentumtotransformation in a time of turmoil,
UNEP, 2016, 20p.
Unlocking finance forsustainable
development
isachallenge for our times
that must be addressed.
Financing
Sustainable
Development:
MomentumtoTransformation
highlights real options to
do just that.
For more information:
http://unepinquiry.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/09/Financing_Sustainable_Development_Momentum_to_Transformation.pdf

Older citizen monitoring: Achievements and learning,
HelpAge International, London, 2016, 30 p.
Older
citizenmonitoring is a social
accountability
tool
and a process that
promotes
dialogue
betweenolder
people, civil society
organisations,
governments
andserviceproviders.
Groupsofolder
atthe grass-roots
level monitor their accesspeopleto the services that they are entitled to andlobby for improvements. The present report
reviws the HelpAge network’s experince
since 2002.
For
more
information:
http://socialprotection.org/discover/publications/older-citizen-monitoring-achievements-andlearning

Letter from the ICSW President.
Dear members and friends!
As the year is coming to its close, I would liketo send greetings to you all. It is difficult to saythat it has been a good or a peaceful year. We
are all aware that a war is going on in the
Middle East, and innocent people are dying asa result of attacks on civilians. We are awareof children who are hungry or are starving todeath. Our generation has access to so muchinformation that we should know better andshould work to bring an end to all suffering.
Let us hope that all this knowledge is notwasted and that 2017 will be a better year.
What this year brought to ICSW?
We have a new President, and Michael Cichon
has been succeeded by me, Eva Holmberg
Herrström.
Thank you, Michael, for your dedicated workfor ICSW over the past four years!

ICSW – International Council on Social Welfare

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Global Cooperation Newsletter

December 2016
This year we had a Joint World Conference of
ICSW, IASSW and IFSW in Seoul, Republic ofKorea. It was a well-organized, very successful
conference that brought together more than
2,500 participants.
In the fall, we have increased ourmembership: new members joined, and oldmembers have come back. In 2017, I want tostrengthen our members' influence on the
global program and global activities. The
activities should demonstrate our diversity. I
think we need to focus on one area at a time.
Therefore, in December you will receive aquestionnaire that focuses on issues of genderequality and reducing violence against
women. That survey will then be continued
with a focus on other areas that we areworking on. The idea of the survey is to gain afoundation of solid knowledge for the debate
and to point to where the welfare deficiencies
are found, putting emphasis on pursuing
active socio- economic policy. The knowledge
will be built on the experience of our members.
Hopefully, most of you will answer thequestions by 31 January 2017.
During 2017, we plan a new media policy,
including better use of social media. We hopethat you, our members, will become active
participants in the debate on social media.
Next year, several regional conferences arescheduled. I hope that you will have an
opportunity to attend those events so as toshare your knowledge and make new contacts.
I will participate in some of them. It is
important to me to have an opportunity tomeet you and have a dialogue with you.
Hoping to meet many of you over the nextyear, I wish you all
A Happy New Year
Eva Holmberg Herrström
LL.M.
President ICSWICSW – International Council on Social Welfare

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Global Cooperation Newsletter

December 2016

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ICSW – International Council on Social Welfare