World Social Work Day 2018: Social Work and Youth—Towards Inclusive Sustainable Development

World Social Work Day has been celebrated around the globe since 1983. This year, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) teamed up once again with the Geneva School of Social Work and its international partners to mark the Day at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).

World Social Work Day aims not just to showcase the achievements of social work and increase its visibility, but also to highlight its synergies with social development: shared commitments to social justice, inclusive development and human rights. This shared vision is set out in the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development which aims to promote social and economic equality, the dignity and worth of people, environmental and community sustainability, and the importance of human relationships.

Download the Poster for WSWD 2018.

Social Work and Youth. Towards Inclusive Sustainable Development

This year, the international theme of World Social Work Day was “Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability” which the Geneva event addressed under the banner of “Social Work and Youth. Towards Inclusive Sustainable Development”. During this year’s celebration, a 2-day event at UNOG, expert speakers came together with participants in interactive workshops to debate how to leverage the values and tools of social work to enable young people to thrive and contribute to building equitable, inclusive and sustainable communities at the local, national and global levels.

See the Concept Note for more details. Download the Full Programme.

Read the Opening Remarks by Mr. Michael Møller, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Watch the presentations.

Playlist: Social Work and Youth

A Radical Sustainability Perspective on the Challenge of Youth Inclusion Faced by Social Work
Aila-Leena Matthies (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)


Political Extremism among Youth
Sandrine Haymoz (University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Fribourg), Patrik Manzoni (University of Applied Sciences, Zurich)


Rising to the Youth Employment Challenge: ILO Evidence on Youth Labour Markets
Niall O’Higgins (Youth Employment Programme, International Labour Organization—ILO)


Contesting Conceptions of 'Youth' and 'Activism': Experiences from Lebanon
Professor Dina Kiwan (University of Birmingham, UK)


Indigenous Youth as Actors for More Inclusive Societies
Professor Mark Goodale (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)


Social Work and Sustainability: How can young people make social work greener ?
François Gillet (Haute École Bruxelles-Brabant et membre de l’Association Internationale pour la formation, la recherche et l’intervention sociale / AIFRIS)

From some of the participants...

The theme of the Geneva edition of WSWD 2018 resonated loud and clear for Katrina Borromeo, Production Analyst of the State of the World's Volunteerism Report, who attended from UNV. "Defining a new direction for inclusive social work begins with understanding that change must be transformative. Transformative change begins with young people. The research, policies and practices developed for promoting sustainable development should go beyond present generations and also include the youth and future generations", she blogged after the event. "From our 2018 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report research, we found that young people want to play leadership roles by volunteering and to be seen as active contributors to building resilient communities." Read her blog and watch her video from the event here.