ICSW held its biennial international conference in Cape Town, South Africa from 23-27 October 2000. The conference was entitled "Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Development - Challenges for the 21st Century" and brought together 804 participants from non-government, academic and government backgrounds and from 71 different countries. The conference provided participants with an opportunity to exchange practical ideas and experiences of social welfare and social development and learn from first hand observation of innovative social welfare and development activities.

The conference included a number of simultaneous symposiums which featured expert speakers from NGOs and governments from all parts of the world, workshops on a very wide range of social development topics, poster displays and field visits to community-based projects in the vicinity of Cape Town. Many of the papers given at the conference can be found in this section of our website.

The conference was organised by ICSW in conjunction with two leading South African NGOs, the National Welfare, Social Services and Development Forum (NWSSDF) and the South African National Council for Child and Family Welfare (SANCCFW).
 

Conference Programme


Themes

ICSW convenes a major international conference every two years to stimulate discussion and ideas on a wide range of social development issues, The Cape Town conference placed a special emphasis on ways of reducing poverty and social exclusion. A detailed and final programme of symposium and workshop topics can also be found in this section of the website.


Opening Plenary Session

The opening plenary session was addressed by the Hon. Zola Skweyiya, Minister for Social Development from South Africa. In his presentation, the Minister drew attention to the serious challenges facing the continent and South Africa in particular in reducing poverty and providing basic services for the poor. He also drew attention to the increased burden placed upon the provision of services by the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.


Symposiums

In a new format introduced for this conference, ICSW decided to hold a number of simultaneous symposiums which would allow time for greater discussion and interaction on topics than had previously been the case with large plenary sessions. There were a total of six simultaneous symposium sessions, with two or three symposiums in each session making a total of 13 in all, six of which enjoyed simultaneous translation into French and Spanish. The symposium topics included:

The speakers represented a wide range of interests from leading civil society organisations in Asia, Africa and Latin America, four Ministers of State from Germany, Malaysia, Rwanda and South Africa and leading governmental and intergovernmental representatives from the World Health Organisation, the United Nations and others.


Regionalism and Social Development

One symposium featured an analysis of the potential for regional intergovernmental bodies such as the Southern African Development Community, Mercosur and others to play a more active role in determining social policy issues at a regional level. The session also considered the role which civil society organisations can play in promoting the discussion of equitable social development policies at a regional level. Two authoritative speakers on this topic, Manuel Chiriboga, Executive Director, Asociación Latinoamericana de Organizaciones de Promoción, (ALOP) in Costa Rica and Professor Vivienne Taylor from the University of Cape Town addressed this issue drawing on particular examples in Southern Africa and in Latin America.


Workshops

The Conference included more than fifty workshops on a very extensive range of topics. Many workshops focused on practical questions of daily relevance to people working in the areas of social welfare and social development and featured case studies of best practise from around the world. Others focused on matters of broader policy and analysis including an update on the implementation of the UN conferences relevant to the conference theme.

Some workshops were organised by organisations themselves and included the Commonwealth Foundation, Charities Aid Foundation, International Social Service, HelpAge International, Action Aid Africa and others.


Side Events and Social Programmes

ICSW held a meeting of its biennial governing body, the Committee of Representatives that elected ICSW's Executive Committee and its new global officers.

A number of organisations including the Commonwealth Foundation and the Salvation Army held international meetings immediately before and after the conference.

A number of visits to innovative social welfare and social development projects were arranged by community based development and welfare agencies in Cape Town and elsewhere in South Africa. The field visits were organised under the following topics:

  • Women's Projects
  • Job Creation
  • Housing
  • Family and Children's Services
  • Youth Projects
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Substance Abuse
  • Mental Health and Disability Programmes
  • Refugee and Settlement Services
  • Care of Older People

An opening reception was addressed by the Presidents of both local host organisations, the Mayor of the Cape Metropolitan Council and the Premier of the Western Cape Province. Other social events which allowed for networking and informal discussion amongst participants included a cultural evening and a conference dinner.