List of IASSW Committees

The International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), established in 1928, currently has several different committes that work across different aspects of Social Work.

Here is a list of all IASSW Committees.

The IASSW aims to promote the development and expansion of social work education, in accordance with its mission statement and based on peer consultation. To this end, the IASSW Capacity Building Committee provides Programme Consultations, supports the development and maintenance of Regional Resource Centres, and plans and implements regular capacity building workshops/conferences.

The International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) is a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 1947. IASSW is particularly having a team at New York and Geneva and in process of representations at Bangkok, Nairobi, and Vienna.

IASSW UN NY team publish regular news letters. You can read all newsletters here:

The Women’s Interest Group (WIG) raises awareness of the global gender inequalities among women, men and those people who identify as gender fluid and non-binary. It raises awareness and advocates for human rights and social justice from a social work perspective. It focuses on the structural and personal inequalities experienced especially by women in the areas of education, paid and unpaid work, violence against women and girls, the gendered ethics of care, women reproductive rights, gender pay  and pension gaps, gender equality in academia and the loss of women across the career trajectory and their absence from senior academic positions and other identified critical issues. The Women’s Interest Group has been represented on the Board of Directors since 1992, an important development achieved by the leadership of Professor Lena Dominelli (UK) and Professor Carolyn Noble (Australia). It developed from the Women’s Caucus Group, founded in Montreal in 1984 with Professor Joan Gilroy of Dalhousie University in Halifax Canada as the first chair. In 1992 in Washington DC, USA the Women’s Caucus Group changed the name to the Women’s Interest Group and was chaired by Professor Janice Wood Wetzel. Since then the WIG has had a seat on the Executive Board of the IASSW. Since its inception, the WIG has focussed on identifying and raising awareness of women’s issues for social work, through conferences and symposiums, promoting women’s issues through the social work curriculum and an annual survey on teaching gender and women’s human rights issues across the member schools.

IASSW initially set up the Disaster Intervention, Climate Change and Sustainability Committee in 2010, following the failure of the UNFCCC COP meeting in Copenhagen in 2009. Its aim was to prepare policies, materials and inputs into the United Nations’ discussions on climate change and other disasters.

The Disaster Intervention, Climate Change and Sustainability Committee has organised side events linked to COP meetings since that time. These have highlighted the roles that social workers play in climate change disasters, with an emphasis on upholding people’s rights and social justice in poor communities most affected by climate disasters ranging from floods, droughts, extreme weather events, storm surges, and hurricanes. These include displacement of people, loss of lives of people and livestock, destruction of the environment and debris clear-up.

Now, the Disaster Intervention, Climate Change and Sustainability Committee has contributed to the understanding and addressing the impact of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus that has spread to 180 countries across the world endangering lives and economic development.

For this new crisis, the committee would like to hear from you and learn how you have contributed to dealing with the crisis in your school, community, and family. Please contact the Committee Chair, Lena Dominelli by email at lena.dominelli@stir.ac.uk

Social distancing can still include communicating with and sharing our stories with one another. The human spirit, kindness, compassion, and solidarity will defeat the coronavirus! Social workers have these characteristics in abundance. Let us share this optimistic message with those we encounter virtually or otherwise.

Every ten years, the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) conducts a world census of social work education programs offering at least one-degree program in social work.
The major outcome of the census is a directory of contact details for all social work education programs in the world.

Launch Of Global Directory Of Schools Of Social Work Census 2020

IASSW Census Directory was launched on 30th August, 2021. More information is available here: Launch of Global Directory Of Schools Of Social Work Census 2020