BU Research Blog

Today, Tuesday 15^th March 2016, is World Social Work Day. Whilst the growth in ‘world this’ or ‘world that’ day may cause some to groan and turn off, there is tremendous importance in World Social Work Day because of it focus on social justice, wellbeing and positive change for individuals, families, communities and states.

This year’s theme for World Social Work Day is Human Worth and Dignity, something important to all our hearts, and central to contemporary concerns as the Syrian crisis continues and, unfortunately, exemplifies the state of much of the world. As a precursor to celebrating the day, the Department of Social Science and Social Work has been fortunate to host two important international speakers. On March 3^rd, our visiting fellow and co-author with Prof Jonathan Parker, Prof Dr Maria Luisa Gomez Jimenez from the University of Malaga introduced aspects of the housing crisis in Spain, outlining some of the ways in this problem might be addressed. Yesterday, Dr Bala Raju Nikku, founding director of the Nepal School of Social Work (NSSW) and visiting senior lecturer at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, where he worked alongside Prof Sara Ashencaen Crabtree and Prof Jonathan Parker, took time off from his COFUND fellowship at the University of Durham to speak about disaster social work. He used the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal as his focus. The NSSW and Dr Bala were active in providing social work support after the earthquakes and responding rapidly so that students could engage in the work and learn through service delivery, whilst being able to understand and theorise at the same time.

Human worth and dignity are central concepts which are often trivialised or ignored in contemporary society. If we are to engender social trust, positive relationships and a co-produced future not based on profit alone but on reciprocity, compassion and sustainability we must engage with these concepts. This year’s World Social Work Day helps us do so.

Jonathan Parker & Sara Ashencaen Crabtree