Recent Events
The Center for International Social Work Studies (CISWS) hosts a number of events and programs each year to facilitate discussion and shed light on international social work issues.
World Social Work Day at the United Nations
In April 2023, the two CISWS student interns, a social work doctoral student, and four other internationally minded MSW students attended the 39th annual Social Work Day at the United Nations. The conference met for the first time in person since the start of the pandemic and was held inside the Economic and Social Council Chamber (ECOSOC). The program’s theme was “Creating a More Inclusive World: Overcoming Barriers to EnABLE Environments” and discussed social workers’ role in spreading awareness to the social barriers impacting persons with disabilities, and the responsibility we have in creating an inclusive and integrative society that promotes the well-being and autonomy of persons with all abilities. The students also attended Fordham University’s Global Student Conference, “Respecting Diversity Through Joint Social Action: Reframing Disability as Ability.”
In March 2021, both CISWS student interns had the privilege to virtually attend the 37th annual World Social Work Day at the United Nations. This year's presiding theme was Ubuntu, a South African philosophy that translates to "I am because we are." According to the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW, 2021), Ubuntu is "a powerful message on the need for solidarity at all levels: within communities, societies and globally. It is a message that all people are interconnected and that our future is dependent on recognizing all people’s involvement in co-building a sustainable, fair, and socially just future."
United Nations and NGO Committee Work
CISWS student interns Emma Oliver Heintz '22 MSW and Emily Duszlak '22 MSW participated in United Nations (UN) and NGO Committee events and meetings throughout the 2020-2021 academic year. Heintz attended monthly meetings of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (NGO-CSW), while Duszlak participated in the NGO Committee on Social Development.
Both interns also attended the virtual NGOCSW65 forum, presented by the NGO-CSW and the UN. Heintz and Duszlak learned about the status of women on a global scale through the event, with Heintz concentrating on attending events that discussed violence against women and girls (VAWG) and Duszlak focusing on topics including infanticide and femicide. Many of the discussions on violence against women and girls centered on the correlation between stay at home orders and lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increases in such violence. Reiterated in almost of the VAWG events was the
importance of women's roles in government and the recovery COVID-19 process. They acknowledged that stay-at-home orders seemed like the safest options to protect citizens globally, the unintended consequences to women’s safety and wellbeing was compromised, and there was very little forethought for how these orders would affect women and girls. The sentiment echoed through the NGOCSW65 was that for women to achieve gender equality and to end VAWG, women must be at the forefront of decision making.
International Women's Day
Student intern Emma Heintz attended the United Nations and UN Women's virtual 2021 International Women’s Day event. The focus this year's event was on women’s roles during the pandemic and in pandemic recovery. Speakers discussed how women were disproportionately impacted by the virus — evidenced through increases in maternal mortality, gender-based violence, unpaid work, joblessness, and girls being pulled out of school — and how women must be at the center of recovery efforts.