January 2014 – Thang Long University, Vietnam 

January 2014 – Thang Long University, Vietnam 

International conference on “Social work capacity building: Response of Social Work Education to Social issues in Vietnam: international Perspectives and Indigenous Response”.

IASSW creates spaces for strengthening of social work education particularly where professional social work is newly emerging and needs support from an international forum. One strategy is to organize seminars/workshops/faculty development programmes in partnership with the school/department of social work that hosts the IASSW Board meeting.

The meetings were preceded by a joint international conference on “Social work capacity building: Response of Social Work Education to Social issues in Vietnam: international Perspectives and Indigenous Response”. This workshop was organized by International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), Asia & Pacific Association of Social Work Education (APASWE) and Thang Long University, Vietnam Federation of Vocational Training & Social Work, University of Labour and Social Affairs, Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam. This workshop was supported by IASSW, UNICEF Vietnam and Thang Long University.

The participants of the workshop included 32 professors (IASSW Board members from different continents) and 250 others from universities, colleges, social work centers in Vietnam. Representatives of several Ministries namely of Training and Education, of Labor, Invalid and Social Affair (MOLISA), Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, also participated. The workshop consisted of two plenary sessions and four parallel sessions. Most of the Board members made presentations along with social work faculty from Vietnam.

In the inaugural address, President of IASSW Prof. Vimla Nadkarni stressed that “the training of social work is facing many challenges at the global scale. The world today is full of fluctuations in economic, political, social, climate change; conflicts within and between countries deeply affected the lives of the poor and the vulnerable people. That requires huge involvement of social workers. ”

The conference highlighted that the profession of Social work in Vietnam in recent years has focused on the major issues of ensuring social security and human security that contribute to the stability and development of society. Social work provides support and help to disadvantaged and marginalized groups, to facilitate their integration into society. The International Conference on Social Work in Vietnam created a favorable environment to share experiences on research, training and practice of social work among social work professionals in Vietnam. The workshop participants also shared experiences of training, research and  social work practice, discussed coordination and cooperation between countries to support the development of social work opportunities and collaborations with Vietnam.

Programme Schedule