International Federation of Social Workers

The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) is the worldwide body for professional social work. It comprises 120 professional social work associations representing over 3 million social workers. IFSW has formal consultative status with the United Nations and other global bodies. The organisation’s purpose is to contribute to achieving a social just world through professional social work. IFSW and its partners set and review the international standards of social work, the Definition of Social Work and policies that promote good practice outcomes.

The current president of IFSW is Ruth Stark who is a Social Worker in Scotland and member of the Scottish Association of Social Workers.

IFSW’s beginnings date from the early part of the 20th century: at the First International Conference on Social Work held in Paris in 1928, it was agreed an International Association of Social Workers be formed. At the Second International Conference on Social Work held in Frankfurt in 1932, provisional statutes of the International Permanent Secretariat of Social Workers (IPSSW) were agreed by eight founding members: Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. IPSSW was initially based in Berlin.

At the Fifth International Conference on Social Work held in Paris in 1950, an agreement to form a new body was approved provided that seven national bodies became members – achieved in 1956 when the International Federation of Social Workers was formed in Munich. A new Secretariat was established in New York City, sharing offices with the National Association of Social Workers.

In 1958, IFSW with its partners published the journal International Social Work. A further point of development was in 1959 when IFSW was granted consultative status with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

IFSW policy role was expanded in 1960 after the Special Session at the 10th World Conference in Rome and in 1963 when IFSW asked to contribute to UN survey on international training for social workers. IFSW started to regionalise and the first region to be formed was Europe in 1965. This was followed by a Regional Conference for Asia in 1967.

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