Conference – Social Work as a Human Rights Profession
9-10 December, 2022
Purpose of the conference: The purpose of the conference is to raise awareness about social work as a global profession focusing on human rights of global citizens
Motto of the conference: Advancing human rights in global social work profession The conference is dedicated to 18 years work of Georgian Association of Social Workers
Disclaimer:
This conference is devoted to the Human Rights Day (every year on 10 December) — the day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.
Analysis of social work development internationally shows that the social work practice has developed disparately in the context of separate nation states and it is idiosyncratic to the concrete cultures and countries. However, in the course of the transnationalization of social problems in the globalized world, the importance of human rights as a strong instrument in the field of social work becomes more significant. Thus, it is critical to raise importance of social work as a global profession, so called “super national” and scientific field concerned with global issues (e.g. as refuges, IDPs, asylum seekers, public health issues, victims of gender based violence, disabled people, children in the state care, street connected youth, homeless people, elderly, and etc.) to meet ongoing globalization discourse and global political and economic processes including the War in Ukraine. One direct way of promoting social work as a global profession is to facilitate international encounters with international students, professors, practitioners to contribute a mutual understanding of the global social problems through inclusion and social network formation.
This conference will be of most interest to social work students, lecturers and practitioners who are professionally active or have an academic interest in social work or in an area related to human rights. Social work and human rights are frequently encountered when working with vulnerable groups such as children or migrants respectively when working on issues related to the right to health or to social problems like poverty, social exclusion or discrimination with regard to a person’s identity, gender or race.
Social Work Students and Professionals have a voice to build global social work profession in the globalized world to contribute towards improving the human rights of global citizens.
The conference is co-organized with the support of the EU funded project “Strengthening Social Protection in Georgia” implemented by Expertise France and Czech Development Agency.
Duration of the conference: 2 days
Conference Format: Conference will be held in hybrid regime in face to face and Zoom format at once
A guide for submission of abstracts:
We encourage submissions in three directions:
- Research papers that describe how research has contributed to changes in individuals, organizations, communities, and policies in terms of accomplishing human rights. The challenge is to describe what has changed as a result of the research not just the research per se. Community partners, research participants, policymakers, and other research partners are welcome as co-presenters.
- Critical reflections on social interventions and programs that are accomplished and based on human rights framework. how the program can better achieve social change and human rights in general. How might we better define issues and engage program participants? What designs, methods, analysis, and means of dissemination maximize public impact? How can social work researchers, program developers lead in engaging community and influencing social policy?
- Social Action Projects that aim to increase awareness on human rights. It might include videos on performed activities, social service projects, and etc. with the aim to achieve lasting, positive change within their communities.
Abstracts are encouraged in all substantive areas promoting awareness of human rights domestically and internationally.
Cluster areas are:
- Adolescent and Youth Development
- Aging Services and Gerontology
- Child Welfare
- Communities and Neighborhoods
- Disability
- Gender
- Health
- Inequality, Poverty, and Social Welfare Policy
- Immigrants, Refugees, Internally Displaced People
- Mental Health
- Military Service Members, Veterans and Their Families
- Race and Ethnicity
- Substance Misuse and Addictive Behaviors
- Sustainable Development, Urbanization, and Environmental Justice
- Violence against Women and Children
- Work and Work-Life Policies and Programs
Each topic can be discussed in a local and international context.
9th of December: Student Part (In English, translation will be provided)
Georgian and foreign students from the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Finland will participate in the conference.
The first day of Conference will be held in Hybrid regime. The students from Czech Republic and Lithuania will present their papers from their countries via Zoom platform. BSW and MSW Students and recent graduates from Ilia State University and Tbilisi State University Georgia will participate and present their papers. After presentations a special discussion session will be organized. Translation from Georgian to English and from English to Georgian will be provided.
10th of December: Including human rights issues in Social Work Curriculum and Challenges for Social Work Education in Georgia (In Georgian)
The second day of the conference will be dedicated to the roundtable discussion on dynamics of social work as human rights profession development in Georgia and lessons learned. Professors from Ilia State University, Tbilisi State University and Educational Experts from GASW and other state, international and local organizations/stakeholders will participate as Key Speakers. Discussion will be mainly focused on the challenges of social work education in Georgia and plans of development of academic programs in social work at the Georgian universities in general.
In parallel to discussion panel a workshop will be organized for students. The topic of the workshop is human rights and social work education – practicing human rights in social work.
Abstract submission:
The deadline for the submission of abstracts to the conference is November 30 th, 2022.
To apply please send e-mail shorena_sadzaglishvili@iliauni.edu.ge Abstract submission language: English.
Abstract submissions should include the following:
Title of the presentation
Name and affiliation of the author(s)
3-5 keywords
The abstract body (300 words or less, maximum 3000 characters) should follow as much as possible the below structure:
o Background/Context
o Research/Paper objectives
o Methodology if applicable
o Main results and/or implications for social work education, practice and/or research
o General conclusion
All submissions are made by November 30th, 2022.
Please address any enquiries about the conference to e-mail shorena_sadzaglishvili@iliauni.edu.ge with “Abstract Student Conference” in the subject line.