Professor Antoinette Lombard
The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development, established in 2012, is a commitment of social work and social development educators, practitioners and international, national and local organisations throughout the world to action for a more just and inclusive society. The Global Agenda is committed to four themes that are respectively researched and promoted in cycles of two years per theme.
Representing the social work educators in the capacity as Chair of the Global Agenda for the International Association for Schools of Social Work, and coordinator of the Global Agenda in Africa, Professor Antoinette Lombard of the Department of Social Work and Criminology at UP leads the research on these themes. In its third year of implementation, 2015, the focus was on the theme: Promoting human dignity and worth of all peoples.
The resilience that people show despite their adversities make them critical partners in finding innovative social and economic models. Research findings indicate that central to ensuring that people would want to participate in social change efforts is that they first and foremost must experience being valued. It is important, therefore, that through the lens of human dignity, people and groups who are vulnerable are not viewed as powerless victims, but rights holders with strengths, voice and agency.
Serving a broader social justice agenda, forums for open dialogue among educators, practitioners and students on themes related to human dignity are critical to identifying areas for joint advocacy and awareness raising. No resources or time limits are required to show respect – it is in the moment, in the opportunity, and it is either immediately experienced or a missed chance.
The Africa region’s themed reports are included in the Global Agenda Report, which is released bi-annually at the joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development. The Global Agenda’s next theme for research towards a just and inclusive society is: Promoting environmental and community sustainability.
