The Department of Social Development & Special programmes will commemorate World Social Work Day. World Social Work Day is an annual event that focuses on Social Work issues and is part of an on-going dialogue on how to address challenging social conditions.
Social work is a profession that promotes social change leading to a dignified life and social justice for all. This year on World Social Work Day, the Social Work Global Agenda will be submitted to the United Nations Secretary General. At the same time, Regional Social Work Groups will submit the agenda to international organisations, such as the African Union, the European Union, Mercosur, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and others.
The Global agenda challenges profession leaders to ensure that nations meet the most basic human rights to food and shelter-clothing and medical care for all people, raise awareness about poverty as human rights violation in all countries and to demonstrate improvements in people’s lives.
The profession has been declared a scarce skill in South Africa, because of the central role the profession plays in the realisation of national priorities such as poverty alleviation and social cohesion. The department since 2007, decided to invest in young people by offering a bursary programme in order to attract young people to the profession.
Through this intervention, 1 150 graduates have been absorbed into the system, including 330 graduates that will be placed next month. The department still wants to attract more men into the profession, who will act as agents of change and assist in addressing various social ills facing our communities.
Objectives of the event:
- To create a platform for recognising the contribution of Social Workers to social cohesion
- To facilitate a dialogue amongst Social Workers and contribute to Social Work Agenda
- To motivate Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers to recommit to the professional ethics and conduct
- To improve the quality of services rendered by these professional.
- To put the profession at the center stage of social service delivery
- To ensure standardisation of services, including the demarcation of the scope of practice of Social Work services.
- To attract prospective students into this scarce skill
Below is the event schedule:
Date: Thursday, 15 March 2011
Time: 10h00
Venue: The Regent Hotel, East London
For more information contact:
Gcobani Maswana
Cell: 082 821 7410
