In July 2023, a symposium was held at the university in Johannesburg, South Africa. This cooperation, funded by the DAAD, is about social work. About globalization. About the SDGs, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to promote the sustainable development of humanity, and the question of what these SDGs mean for social work.
It’s about people in Johannesburg and Durban (South Africa), people in Harare (Zimbabwe) and people in Dortmund. What they can learn from each other. What prejudices they harbor and which of them can be changed and how.
It’s about how these people can advance social work together. And how a temporarily funded cooperation project can become something permanent that the next generations of academics and social workers can continue. GT+SWP was able to enable students from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Germany to take part thanks to your support. It was a very moving exchange that also got the ball rolling. There were also visitors from Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Jamaica.
The main topic of the congress was the question: What do the SDGs mean for social work? “The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are thus more than just a compass in confused times or a playground for transformation research,” emphasized Michael Boecker in his welcoming speech at the congress. “The extent to which they are implemented will have a decisive impact on the lives of further generations and affect humanity as a whole.” The word “decisive” is underlined in his speech transcript.
The UN published the SDGs in 2015. The first three are “Zero Poverty”, “Zero Hunger” and “Good Health and Well-being”, and this is meant globally: not a single person should have to suffer from poverty, hunger and the unhealthy effects of civilization. According to the UN, the SDGs are “a global plan to promote sustainable peace and prosperity and to protect our planet”. You could also say: the biggest and most noble goal that humanity has ever set itself.
According to the UN, all countries have been working on implementing the plan since 2016. The target date: 2030.
To mark the SDGs, the International Social Work Association has set out four pillars to guide all efforts. One of these pillars is: social cohesion and the power of relationships.
We focus on SDG 17 and our aim is to strengthen means of implementation and breathe new life into the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
