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Annual Report 2014
Introduction
This report covers the period 1st January to 31st December 2014. ICSW activities for 2014 are reported under the following seven priority areas:
· Social welfare and social development,
· Networking and policy innovations in our work,
· Communicating with our stakeholders,
· On-going global advocacyand socially responsible global governance,
· Regional level cooperation,
· North-South partnerships, and
· South-South policy dialogue.
Highlights of 2014
· ICSW has continued to promote and extend its support and work on social protection systems, including the Social Protection Floor Initiative. The Council has been a founding member of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, bringing together over 80 NGOs working on issues of social protection and promoting SPFI.
· Among a selected few NGOs the ICSW was invited to become a member of Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) established in June 2012 on the recommendations of the G20 Development Working Group. The Board is jointly chaired by ILO and the World Bank, and works on cooperation in the area of social protection to achieve a greater impact at the country level. The ICSW participated in the Board meetings in 2014 in New York in February 2014.
· At the 52nd session of the UN Commission for Social Development in February 2014 ICSW presented both written and oral statements on the priority theme, “Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all”.
· At the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2014 the ICSW submitted a statement to the Commission on the priority theme “Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”, concentrating on the plight of older women and the post-2015 Development Agenda.
· At the Fifth working session of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing in July 2014 the ICSW presented oral statements on protection and promotion of human rights of older persons. ICSW actively participated in the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (www.rightsalliance.org).
· The Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development was held in Melbourne from 9 to 12 July 2014. On the initiative of the ICSW for the first time the joint outcome document-- Melbourne Declaration on Promoting Social and Economic Equalities was adopted.
· The IASSW, the IFSW, and ICSW have worked throughout the year on a common Global Agenda on social work and social development. In 2014 the work on the Global Observatory to monitor the implementation of the Global Agenda has continued and the report was submitted to the Melbourne Conference.
· The above three partner organizations agreed to hold the 2016 Joint World Conference on social work and social development in Seoul, Republic of Korea in June 2016.
· ICSW continues its commitment to two refereed professional journals. ICSW provides Global Social Policy to all ICSW members as a membership benefit and distributes the electronic version of the GSP Digest to a wide network of social policy practitioners. ICSW is a partner with IASSW and IFSW in the journal International Social Work.
· In May 2014 the ICSW in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert Foundation organized a high-level Forum in Rabat on the social cohesion in the Arab world. The meeting stressed the need to recognise and promote the role of the representative organizations of civil society as essential factors for preserving and strengthening the social fabric and social ties.
· The 9thGO-NGOForumheld on the 24th Nov 2014 at Vientiane, Loa PDRwas very successful and resulted in agreed conclusions on SPF initiative and its applicability in the region.The ICSW South East Asia Pacific members from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei presented recommendationson Social Protection Floor to the Meeting chaired by the representativeof the Ministry Of Security of Loas PDR.
· In the spring of 2014 ICSW regional elections were held, bringing new crop of elected representatives to the regional ICSW bodies.
The global and regional programmes are supported through the countless hours of voluntary work by ICSW members.
The administration of the Global Programme was conducted from the global offices in New York, USA and Kampala, Uganda. The programmes in the ICSW regions are coordinated and conducted from the offices of the Regional Presidents.
First priority area: promoting social development, social justice and social welfare
DESCRIPTION
ICSW has a commitment to taking a lead in both social welfare and social development issues.
OUTCOMES
Promoting social protection
This area is seen by ICSW as one of the key elements of progressive social policy. ICSW considers social protection as both a human right and a sound economic policy, and as investment in people rather than an expense. Social protection has been a constant theme in ICSW advocacy efforts regionally and globally. Relevance of social protection has increased in the wake of the global social and economic crisis; however, in many cases on the ground efforts to promote social protection remain fragmented. There is a need for coordinated responses to build forward-looking socio-economic policy aimed at universal public provision of basic social services and basic income.
The Social Protection Floor concept developed by the UN Social Protection Floor Initiative and defined in the ILO Recommendation No.202 is seen by the ICSW as a first step towards universal, rights-based and comprehensive social protection for all. The SPFI is a set of basic social rights, services and facilities that a citizen should enjoy. ICSW promoted the SPFI at global level in its statements to the UN Commission for Social Development in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
ICSW is a co-founder of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors, joining forces with more than 80 NGOs and trade union organizations. The Coalition plays an increasingly important role in shaping the debate, raising awareness, achieving a national consensus on policy priorities and monitoring progress of SPFs. Within the Coalition the ICSW was instrumental in promoting the role of social protection in the process of formulating the new development goals for the post-2015 development agenda. The ICSW intellectual leadership was seen in the role Michael Cichon, ICSW President played in conceptualization of the Coalition goals and proposing important benchmarks for its activities.
The ICSW was instrumental in raising the following concerns: how best social protection could be integrated in the sustainable development agenda, and what means of implementation could be associated with international social protection commitments.
Links with academics in social welfare and development
ICSW continued its commitment to social welfare and social development. ICSW provides a regular update on social welfare and social development issues in the journal International Social Work. Through a financial arrangement with Sage Publications, ICSW provides each ICSW member with an annual subscription to Global Social Policy. ICSW sends the electronic version of the GSP Digest to over 200 social policy specialists throughout the world.
The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development
The International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), ICSW, and International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) started the development of a Global Agenda for social work and social development at the Joint World Conference held in Hong Kong in 2010. In 2011 this culminated in a meeting in Accra Ghana of the representatives of IASSW, ICSW, and IFSW to prepare the document for presentation to the UN on UN Social Work Day in 2012 where the Agenda was formally released. ICSW has made the Social Protection Floor Initiative its major contribution to the combined Global Agenda.
The Global Agenda Observatory structured around the four themes of the Agenda is aimed at gathering evidence on its implementation. The meeting of the partner organizations in Seoul in January 2014 was instrumental in advancing the goals of the Agenda.
Social protection interagency meetings
SPIAC Board has been established and started working
ICSW is one of a few international NGOs that have been invited to participate in the recently established Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) created in June 2012 on the recommendation of the G20 Development Working Group presented to the G20 summit in Los Cabos, June 2012. The Board aims at sharing information and promoting cooperation between partners in the area of social protection at the international and national levels. The Board is jointly chaired by the ILO and the World Bank. In February 2014 the ICSW representatives participated in the meeting of the Board held in New York. The key outcomes of the brainstorming meeting was discussion of the concrete proposals and options on how to position social protection issues in the formulation of the sustainable development goals, including possible goals, targets and indicators. The link between the Board and the Social Protection Floor Initiative was upheld and clarified; the existing SPFI continues as planned under CEB mandate (UN-initiative) and its activities would be strengthened with a broader SPIAC-B perspective, while the Board could build on the experience accumulated in the SPFI, especially at the country level.
Signature campaign in support of the Social Protection Floor Initiative
ICSW supported and promoted the New York based NGO Committee for Social Development signature campaign in four languages in support of the Social Protection Floor Initiative. The signatures were used as an advocacy tool at national level and at the UN during the Commission on Social Development 2014, as well as Commission on Status of Women 2014.
Health Promotion Forum Geneva November 2014
ICSW supported the Forum organised by the Alliance for Health Promotion (A4HP). The forum was conducted to exchange ideas and practices and take a snapshot of current approaches, evidence, challenges and opportunities. It provided an opportunity to mobilise partners and members of the NGO community to participate in the planning, development and actions to fulfil the goal of A4HP to speak as a single unified NGO voice on key policy issues.
Second priority area: Networking and policy innovations in our work
DESCRIPTION
ICSW has a substantial global network of members, related individuals and organisations that are a powerful force for change.
OUTCOMES
Joint World Conference on social work and social development in Melbourne
The joint world conference of International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), ICSW, and International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) was convened in Melbourne from 9 to 14 July 2014. The conference examined the promotion of social and economic equalities—the priority theme of the Global Agenda. The participants expressed profound concern about the growing inequality between and within nations, deploring its negative consequences. For the first time the Conference adopted the outcome document—the Melbourne Declaration which was proposed and drafted by ICSW and supported by the partner organizations.
State of the Global Organization and regional challenges
The ICSW General Assembly meetings took place in Melbourne, Australia on 12 July 2014 in the wake of the Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development. The delegates considered the most acute issues contained in the report on the state of the global organization submitted to the General Assembly by ICSW President Michael Cichon, paying particular attention to the issues of membership, budget structure, resource mobilization and the coordination of long-term plans with immediate priorities. The need for financial sustainability was emphasised. Revamping and updating of the global ICSW website along with improving work on the regional newsletters published by ICSW were seen by the delegates as important steps in increasing the profile of the organization globally and regionally.
The General Assembly expressed its strong appreciation for the work of the ICSW staff, and also expressed gratitude to the ICSW representatives who participated in the preparation of Joint World Conference in Melbourne, serving on the International Steering Committee and the International Programme committee, contributing to a very successful outcome of the Conference.
The General Assembly concluded its work with election of Mrs. Mirtha Sosa Crevoisier (Uruguay) as a vice president of the ICSW.
The ICSW Management Committee during its regular meetings convened over Skype paid constant attention to the coherence of efforts in implementing decisions of the GA and the Board.
Keeping the membership informed
The two global offices have maintained a high level of networking and keeping the Board, Management Committee and members informed of matters of interest from other regions or sectors. The Global Newsletter has become a knowledge- building platform for presenting most update information on social protection and SPFI globally and regionally. In both the global and regional Newsletters, members are informed of research into social development in their countries or regions. The featured articles and information materials presented at the Global Cooperation Newsletter highlight best practices and ongoing efforts of ICSW members at the global and national level to address the needs the people in vulnerable situations.
Cooperation with other International NGOs
Apart from the role played by ICSW in the Global Coalition for Social Protection described above, ICSW continues active tripartite cooperation with its sister organizations—IFSW and IASSW.
ICSW meets annually with the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) to further discussion on social policy and joint efforts. In 2014 the meeting was held in late January 2014 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The ICSW submitted recommendations to the International Steering Committee that eventually led to fine-tuning the key themes of the Melbourne Conference compared to the original proposals by the Local Organizing Committee.
Global Agenda Observatory
At the meeting in Paris in November 2012 the IASSW, IFSW and ICSW considered specific actions in the context of the implementation of the tripartite Global Agenda adopted earlier that year. In order to gather evidence about the activities of social workers, educators and social development practitioners who support the implementation of the Global Agenda and in order to give visibility and credibility to their contributions and promote further action, it was decided to establish a Global Agenda Observatory.
This new entity is structured around the four themes of The Global Agenda commencing with the theme of promoting social and economic equalities. The themes to be covered in subsequent years include: promoting the dignity and worth of peoples, working toward environmental sustainability and strengthening recognition of the importance of human relationships. A focus on ensuring an appropriate environment for practice and education will be maintained throughout. The Global Agenda Observatory is conceived as a mechanism for monitoring and reporting upon the implementation of the Agenda Commitments.