On April 20, the “The Preparation Meeting for the 24th Asia-Pacific Joint Regional Social Work Conference ” was convened in Shenzhen. The Conference is to be held on September 26-29, 2017 which will mark the first time that the International Federation of Social Workers of Asia-Pacific (IFSW Asia-Pacific) chose China to host the event. The president of China Association of Social Workers Gong Puguang spoke at the preparation meeting along with Jin Li, the deputy secretary general of the association. The conference was attended by the director of Shenzhen’s Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, Liao Yuanfei and many other leaders from Shenzhen area.
At the third session of the Conference in 2015, China expressed interest in holding future IFSW Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, but it was not until 2016 that the association chose China as the host of the 2017 Conference. Due to the robust growth in the social work sector in Guangdong and especially Shenzhen, the China Association of Social Workers decided to hold the event in Shenzhen.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Challenges and Responsibility: Innovative Social Work and Sustainable Development,” which encompasses topics such as social risk prevention, public services in a shifting economy, issues with an aging society, etc. Holding this year’s IFSW Asia-Pacific Conference is expected to boost China’s social work sector, social services and cooperation in East Asian countries. In addition, the Conference is also expected to further develop social work across China.
Aside from this, speakers at the preparation meeting announced plans to open a social work exhibition in Shenzhen that will display China’s social work and the characteristics of Shenzhen’s unique social work sector. Shenzhen’s local organization Longxiang Social Work is working on preparation and design for the exhibition, which is expected to open to the public in August of this year.
