GLOBAL COOPERATION NEWSLETTER
July 2012
In this issue:
Joint World Conference on Social Development
Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board
New ICSW Board and Management Committee
Progressing towards 2015: The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012
New from OECD
United Nations Social Development Network (UNSDN)
Joint World Conference on Social Development
July saw over 2,500 social workers, social work academics and practitioners in social development
meet in Stockholm. The programme was outstanding and our Swedish hosts deserve extensive
thanks for a remarkable conference.
The opening address was given by ICSW President, Christian Rollet on behalf of the InternationalAssociation of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), ICSW and the International Federation of Social
Workers (IFSW). Extracts follow. The full text can be found at www.icsw.org“Welcome to the second joint global conference on: Social work and social development: action andimpact! It is a ‘joint’ conference because three organizations have decided jointly to convene it. Let
me introduce these three partners. The IFSW is the global federation of national social workorganizations in 90 countries, representing over 750,000 social workers. The IASSW is aninternational community of schools and educators in social work. IASSW speaks on behalf of 2,000schools and 500,000 students. The ICSW is a global NGO which represents tens of thousands oforganizations actively involved in the promotion of social development in more than 70 countries.
Globalisation is too often reduced to a financial process or considered as an economic issue. Whenheads of States meet to find ways to solve the continuing economic crises their agenda is mainly amatter of economics. But we know from experience that sustainable economic growth is notpossible without paying attention to social issues, and we may add environmental issues.
This is why IASSW, ICSW and IFSW are working on a ‘global social agenda’. A first draft wasadopted at the end of the conference in Hong Kong. This was a first step. At the beginning of thisyear, through a consultation process within our respective memberships, but also open to larger
networks, we developed a new version, and we chose Social Work Day on 26th March 2012 tolaunch and disseminate it. The Agenda is an evolving document as it needs to be framed in thecontext of both global events and the issues being considered by global and regional bodies. So it
will be updated and you will have the opportunity to be involved again.
We would like to bring these essential issues into the post-MDG process - that is to say thedevelopment of a new set of goals for world development after the end of the MDGs in 2015. We
think we have a role to play to make new goals more people centered and more consistent with thefinal declaration of the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development held in 1995. We wouldPage 1 of 4

like to introduce a development goal focused on the reduction of social and economic inequalities.
For that purpose, we may refer to the adoption by the recent International Labour Conference inJune 2012, of a recommendation for the global adoption of a Social Protection Floor, a path touniversal access to basic services and to the provision of a minimum pension to people unable towork.

Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board
ICSW President Christian Rollet represented ICSW at the first meeting of the Social Protection
Inter-Agency Cooperation Board which met in New York at the beginning of July 2012.
The objectives of the Board are:
To promote social protection as a top priority at the global, regional and national development
agendas;To discuss pragmatic approaches in advancing interagency policy coherence;To enhance coordination and collaboration among international institutions in providing
advisory services, especially at country level, when supporting developing countries in
improving their social protection systems;
To promote the exchange of knowledge, policy experience, good practices, as well as data andinformation.
The Board is chaired by the ILO and the World Bank and includes representatives of IMF, UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, WFP, regional developmentbanks, regional economic commissions, other relevant international organisations, bilateral
institutions from G20 and non G20 countries working internationally at country level on social
protection advocacy, financing and/or technical advice. In addition the Board has invited social
partners including large NGOS with a major work programme in social protection to attend
meetings
asobservers.
The Board will promote global advocacy activities and initiatives and advise on the implementationof joint activities to support knowledge-generation and help meeting country demands for social
protections systems. This will include: Evidence-based advocacy on “what works”;
 A research agenda to fill needed knowledge gaps;
 Monitoring global developments on social protection;
 Knowledge sharing and capacity building (including South-South transfers);
 At the request of country governments, multi-agency advisory and technical assistance work inpilot countries, with ad hoc task forces established to address specific concerns as appropriate.

New ICSW Board and Management Committee
Following the election process the following were elected:
Global Management Committee
Global President: Mr Michael Cichon
Global Vice President and member elected by members paying five or less shares: Mr CharlesAbbey
Global Treasurer: Ms Judith Kaulem
Member of the Management Committee elected by Members paying six or more shares: Ms Eva
Holmberg Herrström
Global Supervisory and Advisory Board
President: Mr Michael Cichon (Non-voting) Switzerland
Treasurer: Ms. Judith Kaulem (Non-voting) Zimbabwe
Vice President: Mr Charles Abbey (Non-voting) Ghana
Regional Presidents
Central and West Africa: Mr Amacodou Diouf Senegal
East and Southern Africa: Mr Bernard Elizabeth Seychelles
Middle East and North Africa: Mr Driss Guerraoui MoroccoPage 2 of 4

South Asia: Mr A. S. Shenoy India
South East Asia and the Pacific: Ms Braema Mathiaparanam
North East Asia: Professor Cha, Heung Bong Republic of Korea
Europe: Mr Christian Rollet
Latin America: Ms. Mirtha Elizabeth Sosa Crevoisier Uruguay
Executive Director: Mr Sergei Zelenev will succeed Denys Correll as Executive Director on 1stAugust 2012.

Progressing towards 2015: The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012
In response to the request of the UN General Assembly for periodic
assessments of progress made in achieving the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG Indicators –led by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) – hasproduced the yearly “MDG Report.” The 2012 report highlights several
important milestones that have been reached ahead of the 2015
deadline, as it reports on progress, as well as the lack thereof, inachieving the MDGs.
The report gives a clear idea of where future efforts should be directed to, highlighting that farreaching efforts are needed to make sure that the MDGs will be successfully achieved by 2015.
From UN NGLS Update http://www.un-ngls.org/newsletters/newsletter.php?id=721

New from OECD
Social Institutions and Gender Index
Social and legal discrimination against women remains a major obstacle to economic developmentin emerging and developing countries, according to the latest edition of OECD’s Social Institutionsand Gender Index (SIGI). http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/59/34/50283714.pdf
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals - More money or better policies (or both)?
Issue paper (PDF - 441 kb) http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/27/50463407.pdf
Pensions: Raising retirement ages and expanding private pension coverage essential
Governments will need to raise retirement ages gradually to address increasing life expectancy inorder to ensure that their national pension systems are both affordable and adequate, according toa new OECD report. At a time of heightened global economic uncertainty, such reforms can also
play a crucial role in governments’ responses to the crisis, contributing to fiscal consolidation at thesame time as boosting growth.
Over the next 50 years, life expectancy at birth is expected to increase by more than 7 years indeveloped economies. The long-term retirement age in half of OECD countries will be 65, and in 14
countries it will be between 67 and 69. The Pensions Outlook 2012 says that increases inretirement ages are underway or planned in 28 out of the 34 OECD countries. These increases,
however, are expected to keep pace with improved life expectancy only in six countries for men
and in 10 countries for women.
Governments should thus consider formally linking retirement ages to life expectancy, as in
Denmark and Italy, and make greater efforts to promote private pensions. For the further details:
http://www.oecd.org/document/35/0,3746,en_21571361_44315115_50555875_1_1_1_1,00.html
Growth in health spending grinds to a halt
The OECD reported in July that growth in health spending slowed or fell in real terms in 2010 inalmost all OECD countries, reversing a long-term trend of rapid increases. Overall health spending
grew by nearly 5% per year in real terms in OECD countries over the period 2000-2009, but thisPage 3 of 4was followed by zero growth in 2010. Preliminary figures for a limited number of countries suggest
little or no growth in 2011. The halt in total health spending in 2010 was driven by a fall of 0.5% inpublic spending for health, following an increase of over 5% per year in 2008 and 2009.

For more detail go to on trends in health expenditure got to:
http://www.oecd.org/document/39/0,3746,en_21571361_44315115_50655591_1_1_1_1,00.html

United Nations Social Development Network (UNSDN)The Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) of the United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) has launched a new web portal (as a pilot) project called
United Nations Social Development Network (UNSDN) to share knowledge and good practices
among social development professionals worldwide on ageing, civil society, cooperatives, disability,employment, family, indigenous peoples, poverty, social integration, technology and youth. UNSDN
is uniquely positioned to disseminate information and knowledge produced by the United Nationssystem in the area of social development, particularly on the three core issues of poverty
eradication, employment generation and social integration. UNSDN will act as a major interface
between DESA’s work in the area of social development and that of its partners involved inadvancing the global social development agenda. The portal can be accessed at:
http://www.unsdn.org.
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, Plot 4, Berkeley Lane, Off Lugard Avenue, Entebbe, Uganda
Phone: +256 414 32 11 50 Website www.icsw.org Email: icsw@icsw.org
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