Global Agenda for Social Work 2012

Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development

• Developed by international social work organizations (IASSW, IFSW, ICSW) in 2012
• Provides a framework for addressing societal challenges and relevant social issues
• Focuses on social and economic equality, human dignity, environmental sustainability, and human relationships

World Social Work Day (WSWD)

• WSWD theme changes every two years, aligning with Global Agenda objectives
• 2017 and 2018 themes: Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability (at UN in Geneva)

Background to Social Work and Environmental Sustainability

• Environmental Crises: Industrialized production and consumption harm the environment (water, air, soil), causing climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss. This threatens future generations.
• Social Crises: Social problems, like poverty and discrimination, disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Environmental crises exacerbate these issues, creating a triple injustice.
• Triple Injustice: People with less responsibility for environmental crises are often most affected and have fewer resources to address their situation
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Adopted by UN in 2015, encompassing 17 goals and 169 targets promoting social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Aiming for human rights, gender equality, empowering women and girls, social protection, etc
• Social Work’s Role: Social work is increasingly recognizing the link between environmental issues and social problems. Emergence of "Eco-social work," "Green social work," and "Ecological social work" as new paradigms.

Social Work Approaches

• Emphasizes understanding the connection between human communities, their environment, and ecosystems.

• Promotes development that accounts for ecosystems and the balance between human beings and ecosystems

• Aims to lessen the impact of human activities on the environment.

• Employs methods like individual/family counselling, group/community work, child care, social education, training, capacity building, and advocating for human rights.

• Adheres to the IASSW/IFSW Statement of Ethical Principles and relevant national codes of ethics.