World Social Work Day 2021

Background

World Social Work Day

Every year since 2007, World Social Work Day has been celebrated on the third Tuesday in March. This year, it was on 16 March 2021.

The initiative of celebrating Word Social Work Day was approved by the member organizations of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) in 2004. The IFSW describes World Social Work Day as “a celebration that aims to highlight the achievements of social work, to raise the visibility of social services for the future of societies, and to defend social justice and human rights.”[1]

Each year, World Social Work Day focuses on a ‘Global Social Work Agenda’ theme developed via the IFSW in which the British Association of Social Workers is the UK’s representative body. The theme for 2021 is “Ubuntu: I am Because We Are”, which is the first theme of the 2020 to 2030 Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development, agreed in November 2020.[2] Ruth Allen, CEO of The British Association of Social Workers, explained the theme as follows:

The theme for this year is Ubuntu: I am because we are

Ubuntu (Zulu pronunciation: [ùɓúntʼù]) is a Nguni Bantu term meaning “humanity”. This over 2000-year-old philosophy, is found in every country of Africa south of the Sahara, using different cognate terms in the local Bantu language.

Ubuntu: ‘I am because we are’ is a concept and philosophy that aligns with the ethics of social work itself. It reinforces the importance of global solidarity and co-operation as a profession and as societies, particularly as we move through unprecedented and challenging times across the UK and across the world.[3]

Further information is available on the website of the IFSW at: World Social Work Day 2021.

[1]      International Federation of Social Workers, HISTORY WORLD SOCIAL WORK DAY, 26 March 2020.

[2]      International Federation of Social Workers, 2020 TO 2030 GLOBAL AGENDA FOR SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: ‘CO-BUILDING INCLUSIVE SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION’, 2 November 2020.

[3]      British Association of Social Workers, World Social Work Day 2021, 2 December 2020.