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Inspirational social work conference in Rwanda great success

From the 19th to 22nd of March 2018, one of the biggest international social work conferences on the African continent took place in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, the Land of a Thousand Hills. Under the theme “Professional Social Work and Sustainable Development in Africa”, 500 researchers, educators, practitioners, policy-makers and students came together in order to discuss key challenges of African societies in the 21st century, to deliberate on the role of social work, and to establish national, regional and international networks. The delegates came from 25 countries in Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.

2 min read · 27. March 2018

Apart from more than 150 presentations, the conference also allowed for social action: On World Social Work Day, participants marched on the streets of Kigali, thus advocating the relevance of social work in sustainable development, social justice and human rights, and making the power of the profession visible to the public. In addition, the delegates gathered at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in order to commemorate the 1994 genocide that caused close to one million casualties, and laid down a wreath on behalf of the international social work community.

The conference was launched under the auspices of CRISOWO, the East Africa Centre for Innovation and Research in Social Work. It was sponsored by APPEAR, the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development, and subsidized by UNICEF Rwanda.

One of the conference delegates called this conference an “inspirational international social work conference”, and indeed, it was. It was another milestone in the achievements of the PROSOWO project with its aim of promoting social work education and practice in the East African Community. In the case of Rwanda, representatives of the responsible Ministry of Local Government have become aware of the potential role of social workers in social development and poverty reduction programmes.

Gorup of people with a big white flag with information on the 28. World Social Work Day on it walking on the streets

Group of people from their backsides marching on the streets

Group of poeople demonstrating and holding white posters and slogans in their hands

Three people posing for a photo while holding a picture of a group photo in their hands

Group of people with serious faces standing and looking at something

Green hilly landscape with fields and earthy roads

Woman holding a microphone in the hand talking to a man

Smiling and dancing woman with beige bandeau and necklace

Man talking into a microphone in front of a conference flag

Two smiling women posing for a picture standing in a big tent

Three men presenting the blue CRISOWO conference T-shirts

Two men standing next to a big information poster

Many people sitting in a room with rows of chairs

Five boys presenting and holding some artwork

Group of men in uniforms marching and playing the wind instruments

Group of people with big information flags marching on the streets

Big group of people posing for a group photo in front of a big conference information poster

Grop of people demonstrating with posters and slogans on it in their hands

Grop of people posing for a group photo in front of a conference poster

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