THE 3rd EAST AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

By: Institute of Social Work Student Organization - ISWOSO on 06:59

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Tanzania is the first country to host the International Social work conference which bring together different countries across the East African Regions. 

Dr. Zena Mabeyo from Institute of Social Work and the President of TASWO as well as PROSOWO team, during the opening speech of the 3rd East Africa Regional Conference on Social Work and Social Development.

During the welcome speech Dr. Zena Mabeyo - the president of Tanzania Social Workers Association at Lush garden Hotel, she said that she feel honored and in need happy to host the 1st country and the 3rd East African International Conference of social work while we are on the sixth decade of the professional practice.

Social work profession has a long history in EAC, as in Tanzania it begun in 1947, and it was not until 1998 in Rwanda and 2004 in Burundi that was initiated respectively. Although the profession contributing toward solving pertinent individual and community problems in the communities of EAC, but the major question that remains unanswered is to what extent is this known by key policy and decision makers?

Despite inadequate understanding the profession still have the common professional challenges within those EAC, which includes that the profession is not very strong, is not widely used by the target population, is not regulated/protected by law, is inadequately financed, over relies on western models and literature, in not well informed by the indigenous empirical evidence and does not fully translate and integrate the developmental approach, says Dr. Zena Mabeyo.

Participants

Therefore the aim of this International conference is to share and learn from each others experiences as well as dialogue about the impact and implications of global transformations into our local realities.

This is a two day conference which held after the yesterday social work days commemorated here in Arusha and the key note speaker were expected to be Dr. Gidraph Wairire of University of Nairobi, Prof. Janestic Twikirize from Burundi, Prof. Helmut Spitzer of Carinthia University of Applied Social Science - Austria, Charles Rutikanga of the University of Rwanda and Prof. Zena Berhanu from Addis Ababa University.

Prof. Helmut Spitzer from Austria, presenting the paper - Social work as a profession and a discipline: Reflection on the East African Context

Prof. Rwegoshora reading Conference Resolution to the Guest of Honor 

During the closing speech the Guest of Honor, Hon. Agustine Mahinga (Minister), he said that, Economic Development should also move in line with Social Development and social workers are the drivers of that development, and advice social workers to put more effort using collective action, because social workers are the Social Engineers, and documents has to be prepared to be presented in the Parliament and he would like to be the Ambassador for social workers.

The Guest of Honor the Minister of Foreign Affairs, East Africa, Regional Wise and International Relation Hon. Augustine Mahiga addressing the conference before the closure.

Group Photo.