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The next issue of Social Development Review will be edited and
produced from the ICSW office in Bangkok. Until now, SDR has been
published in Canada. The change marks a transition point in the
development of ICSW as a global organisation. We now have global
offices in London, Kampala and Bangkok. When Denys Correll was
appointed Executive Director of ICSW a year ago, he set out to
establish the three global offices as one virtual office. To this
end, Kampala is now responsible for membership development and
Bangkok is assuming responsibility for communications including
the ICSW website and Social Development Review.
As Social Development Review will be produced out of Bangkok,
this will be the last issue to be designed by Green Communication
Design and produced in Montreal, Canada under the direction of
Sandra Green.
It is opportune at this point of transition to pay tribute to
the Social Development Review designer Sandra Green and the many
others who have had played a crucial role in shaping this important
forum for perspectives on social and economic development worldwide.
ICSW’s Past Presidents Dirk Jarré, Julian Disney
and Qazi Faruque Ahmed have each made substantial contributions
to the development of the Social Development Review concept. Julian
Disney, in particular, was instrumental in seeing the vision for
Social Development Review achieved. Journals reflect the effort
and initiative of many people. The major persons who have been
crucial in the establishment and development of Social Development
Review are, Lilian Chatterjee who first edited the magazine and
envisioned its mission; former staff editors Colleen Hoey and
Nandini Saxena who balanced editorial responsibility and subscription
management and John W. Foster, who has been a guest editor on
a number of occasions.
The Social Development Review began as a successor to ICSW’s
NGO Summit Newsletter, which was published between 1994-95 and
was widely distributed at the Preparatory Committees for the World
Summit on Social Development and at the World Summit on Social
Development itself. The ICSW NGO Newsletter was the only NGO publication
focused exclusively on the Summit process. After the Summit, it
became clear that there was a need for a continuing ICSW publication
that built on the success of the ICSW NGO Newsletter. Thus, Social
Development Review was conceived and born. The first issue of
the SDR was published in August 1996 and launched at the 27th
International Conference on Social Welfare in Hong Kong.
Through Social Development Review, it has been possible to:
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Monitor and review the progress of national and international
commitments made at the World Summit on Social Development.
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Disseminate information on social development issues and activities
worldwide.
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Bring news and information of NGO activities, projects for social
development to the attention of other NGOs, governments and
intergovernmental agencies.
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Form an important link between local, national, regional, international
and intergovernmental layers.
For over seven years Social Development Review has been distributed
throughout ICSW’s global network of organisations, as a
membership benefit. It has been subscribed to by many other NGOs
as well as multilateral agencies, governments, academic institutions
and individuals. The Social Development Review has been made available
at the annual UN Commission for Social Development, numerous ICSW
Global and Regional Civil Society Forums and major international
conferences including Geneva 2000 and Financing for Development.
The publication of Social Development Review has been made possible
through the generous financing of the Canadian International Development
Agency; the Department for International Development Cooperation,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland; the Department for International
Development, UK; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands;
the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Swedish Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Division of Social Policy.
ICSW is grateful to all the talented contributors who have made
this publication pre-eminent in global civil society.
Solveig Askjem
Vice President, ICSW
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