IFSW Newsletter
ASIA & PACIFIC REGION

This issue includes:
Editorial
News from round-about
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Jan-May 2015 Report from IFAP Regional
President, Mariko Kimura & IFSW Regional
Member-at-Large, Rose Henderson
Report on IFAP President’s Visits to Macau, Hong
Kong and Mainland China
News from Macau Association of Social Workers –WSWD 2015
News from Hong Kong Association of Social
Workers – Supportive Supervision Scheme and
WSWD 2015
News from Indonesian Association of Social
Workers – Psychosocial Rehabilitation Seminar &Workshop 2014
News on the Nepal Earthquake from the Nepal
School of Social Work

Upcoming Events in 2015 & 2016

Editorial
The challenges to coping with the psychosocial
effects of natural and human made disasters aroundthe Asia Pacific region continue to place heavy
responsibilities on all related response and relief
services. In the last 6 months, several countries
experienced human loss, infrastructural andenvironmental damage, the most significant was the
Nepal earthquakes of April 25th and May 12th 2015.
As reported by the Nepal School of Social Work inthis issue, thousands were killed, tens of thousands
were injured and millions struggling to rebuild theirlives. In Sabah, Malaysia, an unexpected earthquake
and its aftershocks impacted the 115 million year old
Mount Kinabalu and killed 18 of the hundreds ofclimbers and guides caught in the rock-fall. Just a few
months before this, Malaysians were caught
unprepared for a serious flood crisis affecting 3
states, for which authorities are still in the process of
mitigating. China is still recovering fromearthquakes, flooding and the sinking of a cruise
ship. There were severe hail storms in Sydney, a train
crash in India, a train derailed and a mosque bombed

Issue 1, June 2015

in Pakistan, a military airplane crash in Indonesia,
and Cyclone Pam which caused widespreaddevastation in Vanuatu.
It has been reported that although tens of thousandsof the population of Vanuatu were affected by thehurricane, there were remarkably only 11 fatalities.
This was attributed by development experts to a
“combination of traditional knowledge, improved
communications
technology
anddisaster
preparedness” (http://www.abc.net.au/news/201504-01/explainer3a-why-was-the-vanuatu-death-tollfrom-cyclone-pam-so/6363970). Certainly there arelessons to be learned around risk reduction, disaster
preparedness, early warning systems, and building
resilience through regional cooperation
According to Natural Disasters in Asia and thePacific: 2014 Year in Review report released by the
UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and thePacific (ESCAP), more than half of the world’s 226
natural disasters occurred in the Asia and Pacificregion last year. It is therefore a priority for IFSWAP
to place emphasis on holding dialogues,
brainstorming, preparedness training and capacity
building of social workers which it did over the past
years. It supported a joint Symposium on ‘Disaster
Management and the Social Work Response’ with the
Malaysian Association of Social Workers in Kuala
Lumpur in August 2007. Japan initiated the Disaster
Management Project which financed 3 workshops inTokyo (2012), Manila (2013) and Jakarta (2014). Dr.
Mariko Kimura, as IFAP Regional President isworking on sourcing for further funding to support
another skills building workshop in early 2016.
Dr. Mariko has also encouraged national associationsin the region to raise funds and donate to the Nepal
Association of Social Workers in support of theirefforts to provide psychosocial support andrehabilitation to the earthquake survivors. In themeantime, the IFSWAP Executive Committee islooking forward to having its regional meeting whilegathering in Bangkok in October 2015 for the
APASWE - IFSWAP Joint Social Work Conference.
High on the agenda is the bidding for the 2017
Conference and the New Definition of Social Work.
See you all there!

IFSW Asia Pacific Report from IFAP
Regional President & IFAP Member
at Large: January – May 2015

Mariko Kimura
IFAP President

Rose Henderson
Member-at-Large

1st Executive Committee Meeting
The first meeting of the IFSW Executive
Committee was held in Geneva on the 15th and16th March 2015. This was the first opportunity
for the new Executive Committee to meet since
the brief meeting immediately following theelections in Melbourne last year and, for those ofus new to the role, I think it is fair to say that
there is a very steep learning curve trying to get
our heads around the roles and the workload –both in process and ahead of us. The diverse
group of people making up the Executive
Committee results in extremely rich debates and I
believe robust decision-making. It was also greatto hear of the range of activities being undertaken
within the different regions. For most regions,this year sees the hosting of regional events andwhilst each of these has their own focus, there ismuch commonality across the globe especially in
relation to the global agenda and other topics ofglobal significance.

IFSW Executive Committee

There has been development of some newpolicies or position statements covering social
workers working in countries other than where
they are based, The Social Work Role in Social
Protection Systems, and International Trade
Agreements/Systems. It is also recognised that
reviewing and updating existing policies regularly
is desirable to maintain an accurate and current
suite of policies.
We continue to value the work of our members
representing IFSW in international forums suchas the United Nations as well as our Human
Rights and Ethics Commissions. Further
development of the position descriptions andterms of references for these individuals andgroups will enhance the clarity andunderstandings of these roles.
Considerable and robust debate was had in
relation to the revision of the Constitution andfurther work on this is to occur prior to bringing
this back to the General Meeting in Seoul.
UN AIDS International Social Workers Day
Following on from the Executive Committee
meeting, we were very privileged to be able tojoin the International Social Workers Day event
hosted by UN AIDS in Geneva on the 17th March2015. The theme was “Ending AIDS, Promoting
Dignity and Respect for All”. It brought together arange of speakers and experts for an informativeand inspirational programme and, in raising theawareness within UNAIDS of the important rolesocial workers can play in assisting with, not only
the eradication of AIDS but also of working within
the communities affected by AIDS.

With UN AIDS Committee Members in Geneva

Launch of Facebook Page
The launch of our Facebook page in February thisyear has provided another important mechanism
for global communication. The work of ourcolleagues in Japan to support the establishment
and ongoing maintenance of this platform ismuch appreciated.
Global Definition of Social Work
During this period, across our region, work
continues with the amplification of the global
definition of social work and we look forward toworking jointly with APASWE during our time in
Thailand to bring this work to a conclusion. We
acknowledge the challenges of international
working groups and again express ourappreciation of the work being done on this topic.
Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement
A newer working group spanning across ours andneighbouring regions is on the Trans PacificPartnership Trade Agreement currently being
formulated by many of our governments. Whilst
this work from an international social work
perspective is just beginning, we recognise thatmany of our members have been actively working
on these issues at individual and/or country
levels for some time. Again, we thank those of ourmembership willing to volunteer to participate inthis work from a regional perspective.
APASWE & IFSW-AP Joint Regional Conference
and IFSW-AP Regional Meeting in Bangkok
We are very much looking forward to our
Regional Meeting in Bangkok in October this year.
Much planning and preparation has been
undertaken already and we urge as manymembers as possible to come together in
Bangkok and make this a successful regional
event. In addition to the myriad of opportunities
to share and learn from the Conference
programme there will be a regional meeting andtime to discuss the definition as well as progress
our regional work on the Global Agenda Reportfor 2016 on the theme of “Promoting the dignity
and worth of the person”. We are delighted that
Dr. Bala Raju Nikku from Nepal has volunteered
to provide leadership for this and plans areunderway for a workshop and panel during ourgathering in Thailand to progress this.
Nepal Earthquake
Finally, for this report, we acknowledge thedevastating earthquake in our newest member
country, Nepal on 24th April 2015. As many of us

live in earthquake affective countries we canrelate to the range of responses at both personal
and professional levels that are required after
such a catastrophic event. Our thoughts are withour colleagues and their families in Nepal as theyjourney through the coming months and years ofrecovering and rebuilding their lives andcommunities.
Reported by:
Mariko Kimura, IFAP Regional President
Mkimura1951@gmail.com
Rose Henderson, IFAP Regional Member at
Large
Rose.Henderson@cdhb.health.nz************************************************

Report on Presidential Visits to Hong
Kong, Macau, and Mainland China
Dr. Mariko Kimura visited Hong Kong, Macau, andShenzhen and Beijing in mainland China from
April 22nd to April 30th 2015 and held meetings
with local presidents of social work associations
and heads of social service departments. This was
the first time for the Regional President to visit
Greater China after assuming her office last year.
Hong Kong
On April 23rd, I participated in a social work
exchange forum held by Hong Kong Social
Workers Association. Honoured by theattendance of President Dr. Yuk Tak Fun Alice, JP,
we engaged in interpretations and discussions
regarding the New Global Definition of the Social
Work Profession with Mr. Ng Shui Lai as themoderator.
There were some 15 participants, including
practitioners and academics. During thediscussions, there was a concern raised by someparticipants that the new definition has left out
the fundamental and historical ‘person-in-theenvironment’ perspective. This concept willcontinue its existence and we shall keep it inmind. Overall, the perspectives are broader,embracing the social work academic and apreventive emphasis as well as engagement ofsocial systems by professionals as a response to
the changing social environment. This is tosupplement the former definition that the role ofsocial workers is to be ‘the solution of social

problems’. According to some opinions, defining
our role this way is more easily understood by
the general public. Still, many participants sharedcommitment to the idea that the role of social
workers is not limited to responding to directly
faced problems.
Macau
I was thankful to Mr. Andrew Ng, President of
Macau Association of Social Workers, who
extended a kind invitation to me to deliver a shortlecture about the new global definition at the
Macau Social Work Day celebration on April 25th.
Andrew wrote a report to the press on the Social
Work Day in Macau. Macau has a population of
400,000 and similar to Hong Kong, it is a special
administrative region of China after the handoverfrom Portugal in 1999. Therefore, there are still alot of Portuguese heritage and culture remaining
in the territory of Macau.

Macau has achieved economic prosperity throughthe casino industry. There is a rapid increase of
tourists from the mainland. I visited a GamblingCounseling Center operated by a NGO. Unlike Las
Vegas, local people are allowed to visit casinos.
Hence, addiction has become a social problem.
Macau government has introduced a number ofmeasures such as establishing age control forentering into casinos, voluntary registration forgambling rehabilitation program, establishinggambling counseling services, advocate forresponsible gaming in order to combat the issueof gambling addiction in the community.
Mainland China (Shenzhen and Beijing)
Concerning my visit to mainland China, I
originally approached and made a request to Mr.
Zhao, former Vice-President of the China
Association of Social Workers (the current VicePresident is Mr. Liu Jing). I initiated the China
visit with Ms Lu Xiao Wen, secretary-general ofShenzhen Association of Social Workers during
the General Meeting in July 2014 in Melbourne. I
continued the negotiations about the visit via the
support of Miss Irene Leung, our IFAP Honorary
Secretary. Finally after more than half a year’s
communication, the China visit was realized.

Dr. Mariko on a panel of speakers at Macau’s WSWD 2015

The training of social workers is mainly carriedout at two universities. Master’s program only
commenced a few years ago. With the proximityof Hong Kong, Macau draws the expertise andprofessional experience from Hong Kong,
government and non-government. Hong Kong
Social Workers Association keeps a constant link
and partnership with Macau Social Workers
Association in conducting professional sharing
and joint conference. Recently, there are more
Macau young people studying overseas whochoose to return to Macau to work. This brings
remarkable impact on the professional
manpower to the city. Furthermore, I learned
about the latest development of strengthening thesocial work education and related job training inmedical and health field in view of the aging
society.

From left: Wendy, Irene, Mariko & Justina @ CFSW officeShenzhen is designated as a special economic
region in China and is a city with a diverse
population coming from all over China. On myarrival to Shenzhen on April 26th, I held apresentation and a sharing session in theafternoon on the new global definition for 100
supervisors at a lecture hall of a Shenzhen Civil
Affairs Bureau facility. These participants were
between their mid-20s to mid-30s and have
either completed their specialized social work
training or passed the qualifying examinations.
A recent IFSW News report describes the Chinesesituation as follows:

The number of specialized social workers in China
has reached 300,000, including over 80,000 who
qualified after passing the government exam,according to a government report published in
Beijing on 12 August 2013, and reported by the
Xinhua News Agency in Beijing. In China, “Social
Work” refers to such sectors as social welfare,social assistance, poverty elimination, marriage
and family affairs, mental health, disabled persons’rehabilitation, employment assistance, andprevention of crimes. By 2015 and 2020, thenumber of Chinese social specialists is projected totop 500,000 and 1.45 million respectively,
according to a government plan which calls for
greater efforts to train more social work specialists(citation from the IFSW News website).

Shenzhen: Visit to the Social Service Bureau

Parallel to recent rapid social and economic
development, social problems have been
increasingly manifesting themselves. To decreasestate intervention and to promote the activationof private forces as a government plan, a general
action plan regarding personnel training,education, and qualifying examination is being
carried out on a national level for theestablishment of a system of coordination
between activities by local volunteers utilizing
local organizations and by professional social
work specialists.

Shenzhen: 100 social work supervisors @ the lectureWith regard to this China visit of mine, I would
like to express my special thanks for theinvaluable support from my kind friends, Justina(former IFAP President), Shui Lai (former IFAP
President), and Irene (IFAP Honorary Secretary),

who are not only familiar with Chinese social
conditions, culture and language, but also have along history of involvement in IFSW activities.
Written by Mariko Kimura[English translation by Viktor Virag]mkimura1951@gmail.com***************************************************

Macau Association of Social Workers
Eventon World Social Work Day 2015
In celebration of World Social Work Day 2015, thethird Tuesday in March every year designated by The
United Nations, a brainstorming meeting on the theme‘Dignity and Values’, was held by Macau Social
Workers Association (MSWA), Sheng Kung Hui (SKH)
Macau Social Service Coordination Office and Local
Social Work Professional Development. Professionalsocial workers from Japan, Hong Kong and Macaucame together to share and discuss their ideas on theimportance of development of professionalisation in
local social work. Also, in response to Macau’s social
developing situation, they discussed how to use theideas from the global network to benefit the social
development of Macau.

The event was held at Macau Tower. Valued guests
were invited to attend the event including Ms. Vong
Yim Mui, the Vice President of Social Welfare Bureauof MSAR Government, Mr. Wu Feng, the Assistant
Director-General of Social Work Department, Liaison
Office of the Central People’s Government in theMSAR, and others from the supporting organizations.
Guest speakers included Dr. Mariko Kimura, IFSW 1stVice President and Regional President Asia-Pacific, Dr.
Alice Yuk Tak-fun, the President of Hong Kong Social
Workers Association (HKSWA), Dr. Kam Ping-kwong,
Associate Professor from the Department of AppliedSocial Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Mr. Lee
Kwok Hoo, the Service Coordinator of SKH Macau
Social Service Coordination Office, and Ms. Lee Kuai
Heng, the Chairman of MSWA.

the course, the certified supervisors would be able tounderstand the importance of supervision process,identify the multiple roles and tasks of supervisors,enhance the theoretical framework and models ofsupervision, acquire necessary supervisory skills
without disregard the ethical and legal considerationsof supervision.

Participants at Macau WSWD 2015 event

More than 80 people attended including students andsocial workers when Dr. Mariko Kimura, Dr. Kam
Ping-kwong, and Mr. Lee Kwok Hoo presented to themeeting. In analysis of defects and the ways we met
the challenges of professional development of social
workers, they shared their different opinions on the
new definition of Global Social Work and theprofessionalisation of local social work. During lively
and animated discussion on how to face the challenges
in the future, and what the characteristics of Macao
social work should be, the students and the social
workers benefited a great deal. Meanwhile, throughperformances, such as role playing by young social
workers, and showing a short film consisting ofseveral stories starred and produced by social
workers, the audience now knows more about social
work which is one of the expectations of holding theevent. In addition, the event is expected to encouragesocial workers to continue hand in hand to improve
the professional development of social workers in
Macao.
Reported by: Andrew Ng
Macau Association of Social Workers
andrew121@gmail.com

Supervision class in session

Tremendous work of preparation started last year
when HKSWA secured the funding. After an official
launching ceremony in June 2014, we started the
publicity and recruitment. We received very positiveand encouraging response from NGOs in nominating
their current practicing supervisors to join the firstbatch of SSS. Finally, 34 candidates were selected outof 53 applications. The supervisor-trainees wererequired to undertake 20-hour 6 core modules forsupervisioncurriculum;
20-hoursupervised
supervisory practice with their respective supervisees
at work. The supervised supervisory practice was
highly backed up by a group of 20 very experienced
supervisors, who were recognized by the Scheme as
Consultant Supervisors. They provide coaching, advice
and assessment to the supervisor-trainees throughout
the course.

****************************************************

Report from Hong Kong Social
Workers Association
Supportive Supervision Scheme
Supportive Supervision Scheme (SSS) has been a longpursuing initiative of Hong Kong Social Workers
Association for benchmarking the standard andaccreditation of social work supervision. We finallygained an approval of funds from Social Welfare
Department in launching a 3-year pilot project withthe aims of helping social work practitioners becomecompetent and effective supervisors. We set up a
Steering Committee comprising lecturers fromacademia, senior social welfare management
personnel and experienced social work supervisors
for the course development. Besides that, we solicited
support and advice from overseas academics for acertified curriculum. We aimed at after completion ofConsultant Supervisor Team – Alignment Day

After 7-month pathway, the first batch of supervisor
trainees completed the course requirement withsatisfactory results. Exit interviews were conductedwith each supervisee trainee by our Steering Group
members. Positive feedback from both the trainees
and Consultant Supervisors were received. A research
conducted by academia was incorporated in theprocess so as to assess the effectiveness of the
Scheme. 34 supervisor trainees, our first batch ofcertified social work supervisors in HK, would
graduate on 26 June 2015. We are expecting a second
intake of 34 supervisor-trainees in October this year.

Total number of certified social work supervisors
targeted is 100 in three years.

of social workers and the partnership with theservice users in pursuit of common goal.

We are pleased to share more with fellow social
workers and friends at our website:
http://www.hkswa.org.hk/en.
World Social Work Day (HK) 2015
It was the 8th year for the Hong Kong social welfare
sector to organize a series of activities to celebrate
World Social Work Day 2015. Social Work Day was
highly recognized and supported by 15 social workorganizations, including social work professional
related bodies, training institutes, government, byforming Social Work Day (HK) 2015 Organizing
Committee. Hong Kong Social Workers Association
took the chair for the Organization Committee. This
was a genuine joint partnership with all concerned
collaborators in achieving a common goal of excellingthe social work profession and its contribution incommunity.

Hong Kong was hardly beaten by the politicalpolarization and civil movements in community overpast year. Social workers were clogged in the midst ofvalue and ethical dilemma when facing thetremendous political and social changes. While every
sector in society was under pressure, the objectives of
the Social Work Day 2015 were set at reaffirming andrestoring the social work values and mission amongst
our fellow social workers on one hand; and strivingforthecontinued
commitment
towards
serving/empowering the needy as well as pursuingsocial justice.
Three major events were launched:i) The Annual Marathon on 4th January 2015 kicked
off the commencement of the Social Work Day(HK) 2015. We broke the record with over 800
participants joining the event this year. Apart fromsocial workers and social services employees,
there were over a hundred users and their family
members took part in the “1 KM event – walk withyou”. The Annual Marathon signified the solidarityii) In order to engage more stakeholders, particularly
the service users, and get them aware of the workand contribution of social workers in thecommunity, we launched a special activity, called“Together we celebrate the Social Work Day”. We
distributed 300 birthday cakes to social workers,social work teachers & students. Each would
group at least 8 users, volunteers, colleagues or
students for sharing the cake while sharing amessage or stories on our Social Work Day
website as well. Through such, the message ofSocial Work Day reached over 2400 people andwas widely publicized in the community.

iii) The Social Work Day (HK) 2015 event fell on 17
March 2015. In response to the current HK
situation and challenge faced by social work
professionals, we set the theme as “Social Work
Dream – recovered and regenerated”. The aim wasto revitalize the social work value and mission
among our fellow social works through a reflective
process. We adopted “playback” techniques byengaging the participants in sharing their personal
experience and stories in their social work
pursuit. Over 200 social workers and social work
students joined the event. The interactive play anddiscussion during the event effectively put theparticipants to experience and reflect the values
and commitment of our profession.
We continued to ride on the Social Work Day (HK)website as a platform for our fellow social workers
and public in assessing the information of the events,
the profession and social welfare sector. It was
beyond information that the website served as aplatform for expressing the appreciation andcompliments in recognition of social work
contribution in society. We also received feedback andcomments from our social workers and publicregarding the current social issues.
More information about the Social Work Day (HK)
2015
can
be
found
on
the
website:http://www.ctgoodjobs.hk/events/socialworkday_20
15/event.asp

representatives of various professional associations towork on these key issues.
Rose Henderson, IFSWAP Member-at-Large was the
keynote speaker at the seminar, and she spoke on
New Zealand’s Perspectives of Multidisciplinary andIntegrated Models of Psychosocial Rehabilitation
across a Mental Health System.

******************************************************

Indonesian Association of Social
Workers
Seminar & Workshop: Psychosocial
Rehabilitation in Indonesia
8 – 9 November 2014
The Indonesian Association of Social Workers, jointlywith The Indonesian Association of Psychosocial
Rehabilitation (a member of the World Association of
Psychosocial Rehabilitation), organized a full-day
national seminar and a full-day national workshop on
Psychosocial Rehabilitation.
The seminar was held at Duren Sawit Psychiatric
Hospital, Jakarta on November 8, 2014. The workshop
was held at Santika Hotel, Depok, West Java, on
November 9, 2014. The event aimed to identify thelessons from the progress of psychosocial
rehabilitation in Indonesia under the broad theme of‘Psychosocial
RehabilitationinIndonesia,
Multidisciplinary and Cross-Sectoral Integration:
Implementation to Policy, Education and Practice’.

Rose Henderson with members of IASW & IAPR

The seminar welcomed over 150 participants from allover Indonesia, as well as representatives of mental
health professionals, government institutions,
hospitals, students and caregivers in Indonesia.
The workshop invited 60 professional participants(psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses,
occupational therapists and social workers),
academics, policy makers, caregivers as well as

The workshop discussed the following sub-themes:
1
Aligning
understandingofpsychosocial
rehabilitation among the professionals to reach aconsensus, increasing the understanding of the duties
and functions of each profession, and also identifying
psychosocial rehabilitation models that have been
implemented in the field;
2 Identifying policies that can support theimplementation of psychosocial rehabilitation andidentifying policies that are considered necessary to
be developed as well as setting the pace of thestrategy;
3 Formulating academic strategies that can be
implemented through the curriculum of each
university and discipline, to be incorporated andtaught to students.

Reported by:
Nurul Eka Hidayati & Erna Dinata
nurul_en@yahoo.com**************************************************

News on the Nepal Earthquake
Disaster Social Work: Experiences of Nepal Schoolof Social Work
Republic of Nepal struggling to write its own new
constitution has been hit by two devasting earthquakes

in less than three weeks, killing thousands, injuringtens of thousands, and leaving millions more with theburden of rebuilding their lives. The Government of
Nepal has adopted the National Strategy for Disaster
Risk Management 2009 based on Hyogo Framework
for Action (2005-2015). In addition the Local Self
Governance Act 1999 gives local bodies the authority
and responsibility to design and implement disaster
responses, but ironically no budget is allocated tothem. As a result the disaster prevention andawareness work largely carried by the non state actors
in colloboration with the government agencies.
April 25 and May 12, 2015 Earthquake Disasters in
Nepal
Right in the first week after the disaster struck on 25th
April 2015 (with Gorkha district as epicentre), NSSW
students and faculty came together and with self-care
responded with relief materials bought on loan andreached Sipapokhari VDC (9 wards and about 1000
families in each of the wards) which is outside of the
Kathmandu Valley. On the basis of experience andinsights acquired and also the request for support
received, NSSW decided to expand its work in other
districts also. A virtual helpline for self-care of students
and faculty has been set up by Prof. Lena Dominelli
and her colleagues. NSSW faculty members also got intouch with IASSW, APASWE and IFSW to share andalso seek their support to continue their work in
disaster affected areas. In the first week itself, NSSW
students and faculty have established links with local
key informants, district development and VDC level
officers and most importantly with the police who are
involved in the relief and monitoring activities.
Fortunately, many individuals and agencies came incontact with NSSW, visited the campus and held
discussion with faculty and students available. In thenext few weeks, a lot of development took place.
To share a few examples : NSSW graduates are hiredby Karina Slovakova, Emergency Field Project
Coordinator of the Magna Children at Risk, Nepal
after many discussions with Pradipta Kadambari, CEOof NSSW. NSSW will be happy to work with Magnafurther. Similarly, Mercy Malaysia also came in contact
with NSSW and discussions are going on to work
together. Students of NSSW are now assisting Mercy
Malaysia in translation during their psychosocial
support program in SANKHU (Kathmandu District).
Prof. Jacquleen Joseph of TISS (Tata Institute of Social
Sciences) and her colleagues visited NSSW and held
discussions with NSSW on areas of collaboration.
These discussions have led to further expansion of
NSSW work to other places. As of now (it is going to
be one month on May 25th of the mega disaster of
Nepal), NSSW students and faculty together with TISS
(India) students and faculty have been involved in
psychosocial support work and data collection in 6

VDCs (Village Development Committees) in 3 districts
namely: Sindhupalchowk, Kathmandu and Dhadhing.
Brief Needs Assessment and Psychosocial Support‘Do no harm’ is the principle that guided NSSW work in
its response to disasters. In Sindhupalchow district(consisting 68 VDCs and we are working in 3 of them)alone, more than 3057 people have died and 860 were
injured and about 3000 people remain unaccountedfor. According to district authorities and other reports
more than 63,885 houses are severely damaged and2,751 houses are moderately damaged. Hospitals andhealth centres have been flattened, and those still
standing have numerous cracks making themsusceptible to collapse. Air remains the only means oftransport to reach mountainous areas where roads
have been damaged or blocked. We can imagine thescale of devastation. We will come to know exactly the
number of deaths and damage to shelters in the 3wards where we are working soon.

By the middle of June all the 6 teams (each team about
8 = 6 students and 2 faculty) will be back to
Kathmandu. By then we shall have the data for about
60,000 families from 6 sites. On this basis we will
make evidence based policy recommendations to theGovernment of Nepal and also come up with possible
social work interventions to be implemented.
From the direct observations and field visits of theteam members, we already knew that shelter is a big
issue as many families have lost their homes orpartially damaged. Schools, temple and community
halls are also damaged. Sanitation and hygiene may
become a bigger issue once the monsoon sets in early
June. Once the monsoon season starts, people can nolonger live outside in tents and make-shiftarrangements. We need to find quick and appropriate
means and ways to help families to live together.

Upcoming Events in 2015…

NSSW extends sincere thanks and gratefulness to allsocial work colleagues all over the globe for their time,counsel, funds mobilisation, and kind support to ourefforts on the ground. Ms. Pradipta Kadambari, the CEOof NSSW stated: “We are committed to extend further
resources of NSSW to work with these communities
for the next few months and perhaps years. We dohope that you all continue to be with us and together
we shall make a difference to lives of people of Nepal.
We are making every effort to increase access to basic
needs like shelter and primary care to these families tostand up and regain their strengths”.
The insights of NSSW and its disaster social workshows that schools of social work despite limited

The theme of the 19th International Symposium:"Transforming Society: Trends and Models in
Community Leadership and Social Development" deals
with key international social development issues andsocial change at the local, regional, and international
levels. It emphasizes good governance, as well as newand emerging issues in social development requiring
attention. Strong community leadership is needed totackle the problems of an increasingly polarized andtroubled world.
Website: http://www.unisim.edu.sg/ICSD2015
Contact: Dr. Steve Chan
Conference Secretariat: icsd2015@unisim.edu.sg.

resources can make a difference to the lives of disastersurvivors and communities. NSSW appeals to theinternational community of social work to extend
further support to continue its long term recovery
work in the selected 6 VDCs in Nepal. It believes that
this disaster also gave them an opportunity to learn
from the communities and work towards integrating
disaster social work component in the social work
curriculum, teaching and training at NSSW. The fact is
Nepal lies in the seismically active zone and anotherdisaster soon is not a thing of past. As a school ofsocial work, NSSW believes that it is its responsibility
to nurture communities to be resilient to disaster andthat can happen when the social work students aretrained and prepared to work with communities.
For more information, please visit our website:www.nepalschoolofsocialwork.org or
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/www.nepalschoolofsocial
work.org
Please support our colleagues fundraising efforts for
NSSW: http://www.gofundme.com/nepalsocialwork.

******************************************************APASWE-IFSWAP Joint Regional Social Work
Conference 2015 – Thailand

Dates: October 21- 24, 2015
(with Pre/Post Conference Workshops)
Venue: Dusit Thani, Bangkok, ThailandConference Secretariat: Thai Association of Social
Work and Social Welfare Education (TASWE),
Room 301 Social Administration Building, Thammasat
University, Bangkok, 10200 Thailand
Telephone: (66-2) 613-2501
Fax: (66-2)224-1365
e-mail: apaswe_ifswap2015@yahoo.com******************************************************IFSW Asia Pacific Regional
Committee
President:
Mariko Kimura (Japan)
Member-at-Large: Rose Henderson (New
Zealand)Secretary:
Irene Leung (Hong Kong)
Treasurer:
Michiko Hirata (Japan)
Members:
Sung-Kyung Kang
(Korea)Karen Healey (Australia)
Eva Ponce de Leon (ThePhilippines)
Sharima Ruwaida Abbas(Malaysia)
Elsie Lee (Publications
Secretary, Malaysia)
Ex-Officios:
Ng Shui Lai (Human
Rights, Hong Kong)
Elsie Lee (Ethics
Representative,
Malaysia)
Regional Advisor: Justina Leung(Immediate Past
President, Hong Kong)
Editor: Elsie Lee (Malaysia)
Layout: Jodi Johnstone (Australia)
Publisher: Griffith University for IFSW Asia
Pacific Region (Australia)
Note to Contributors:

Upcoming Social Work Conference in2016

Call for Abstracts:
Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education andSocial Development 2016 (SWSD2016)

Please send items, stories and articles
preferably in MS word format as well as
photos to the Editor, Elsie Lee at
elsilee@gmail.com.