The 24th annual Social Work at the UN Day brought together over 800 social workers, students, and educators to share and learn about “Women and Development: Best Practices.”  The conference, held on March 23, 2007 at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, was organized by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW).  Several NASW-NYC members were involved in planning this conference, Dr. Michael Cronin, main IFSW representative at the UN and past chair of NASW International Committee; Dr. Janice Wood Wetzel, IASSW main representative and co-chair of SW Day at the UN; Moira Curtain, IASSW representative and current co-chair of NASW-NYC’s international committee; and Dr. Elaine Congress, IFSW representative at the UN and past president of the NASW-NYC Chapter.

The dual purposes for the day were to expose social work to the activities of the UN and to also expose the UN to the profession of social work.  

Quoting the Chinese proverb, “Women hold up half of the sky,” Ruth Messinger, MSW, the day’s first speaker, added that in the developing world women hold up much more than this.  For this reason her agency, American Jewish World Services, seeks to unite grassroots organizations which were founded, run by, and serve women.  Although this goal is accomplished in a variety of ways, American Jewish World Services has developed one unique approach.  Peer exchanges are conferences on one central topic in which grassroots organizations from around the world are able to learn from each other how their organizations can grow and have the greatest possible impact.  Only the grassroots organizations are invited, no outside authorities, making them the experts on the topic resulting in a highly empowering experience. 

A natural result of globalization is an increase in migration, particularly in the developing world.  Migration is increasingly being feminized as over 50% of migrants are women who primarily find themselves in informal, exploitative jobs.  S.K. Guha of UNIFEM, specifically the Asia Pacific and Arab States Section, strives to empower and protect women migrant workers by working at the macro, mezzo, and micro levels.  This multi-level approach has resulted in policy changes and new laws promoting gender equality, increased dialogue between sending and receiving countries, and the development of trainings for new migrants.   Their strategy to encourage communication between nations serves as a best practice model to other organizations as it helps to remove some of the negative effects of migration for women.

As Jacqueline Moturi Ogega so clearly stated, social work has a female face.  Therefore, the Woman’s Mobilization Program of World Religions for Peace seeks to harness the leadership skills and power of African women as a dynamic force for change.  Furthermore, as a large percentage of Africa has strong religious beliefs, the faith of these women is viewed as the foundation for their social work.  They are able to be bearers of hope because of their belief in a living God, and they are “always smiling” even in the face of horrific destruction and despair.  This inspiring strength stands out as an example to all other organizations.  Even though the women come from a range of faith backgrounds, they are able to experience solidarity, expressed in the traditional saying, “I am, because you are.”