Global Agenda (2010-2020)

As social workers, educators and social development practitioners, we witness the daily realities of personal, social and community challenges. We believe that now is our time to work together, at all levels, for change, for social justice, and for the universal implementation of human rights, building on the wealth of social initiatives and social movements. We, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), and the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), recognise that the past and present political, economic, cultural and social orders, shaped in specific contexts, have unequal consequences for global, national and local communities and have negative impacts on people. Specifically, we recognise that:

• the full range of human rights are available to only a minority of the world’s population;
• unjust and poorly regulated economic systems, driven by unaccountable market forces, together with non- compliance with international standards for labour conditions and a lack of corporate social responsibility, have damaged the health and wellbeing of peoples and communities, causing poverty and growing inequality¹;
• cultural diversity and the right to self-expression facilitate a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence2, but these rights are in danger due to aspects of globalisation which standardise and marginalise peoples, with especially damaging consequences for indigenous and first nation peoples³;
• people live in communities and thrive in the context of supportive relationships, which are being eroded by dominant economic, political and social forces;
• people’s health and wellbeing suffer as a result of inequalities and unsustainable environments related to climate change, pollutants, war, natural disasters and violence to which there are inadequate international responses.

Consequently, we feel compelled to advocate for a new world order which makes a reality of respect for human rights and dignity and a different structure of human relationships⁴.