ICSW has concentrated principally in recent years, on the fundamental social problems of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion. These were the key themes of the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) in Copenhagen in 1995 and we have campaigned vigorously for implementation of the agreements made at that Summit.

Our work also covers a wide range of other issues in the fields of social welfare, social development and social justice. They include access to welfare and health services, social security, food and nutrition, education, housing and human rights, as well as many aspects of governance and economic policy.

Some of our recent activities in these areas are summarised below.


Global Meetings
  • ICSW’s Global Conference is held every two years and covers a wide range of social development and social welfare issues. It usually attracts thousands of participants. Recent and future venues include Hong Kong 1996, Jerusalem 1998, Cape Town 2000, Rotterdam 2002, Kuala Lumpur 2004, and Brazil 2006.
  • A Global Social Development Forum is convened every year in New York immediately before the meeting of the UN Commission for Social Development. It is addressed by leading governmental and civil society experts from around the world.
  • Other global forums have been convened on particular topics, especially in relation to implementation of the WSSD.

Regional Meetings

  • ICSW’s Regional Conferences are held every two years (recent venues include Oslo and Taipei) and attract many hundreds of participants.
  • A series of more than 30 Regional Civil Society Forums on Social Development have been organised in venues such as Amman, Baku, Bangkok, Brisbane, Durban, Guatemala City, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Lusaka, Nairobi, Port of Spain, Santa Cruz and Windhoek.
  • Regional conferences have also been organised on topics such as social security, families, disability and health care.

Publications
  • From 1996 to 2004 ICSW published a quarterly magazine Social Development Review. This publication commenced as a follow up to the 1995 World Summit for Social Development (WSSD). SDR contains news and views from experts in civil society organisations, universities, governments and intergovernmental organisations.
  • We also published a series entitled the Copenhagen Papers, which includes policy papers, reports of conferences and other material relating to implementation of the WSSD.
  • Other recent publications include Globalisation and Social Development and briefing papers on Civil Society and regional groupings of governments including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC). Each publication focuses on creating and enhancing the interface between civil society and regional intergovernmental groupings.
  • In addition to this there are Annual Reports and monthly newsletters for members at both global and regional levels.
  • Our website, www.icsw.org, carries a wide range of information and references in relation to social development and social welfare.

Advocacy
  • In recent years, ICSW has addressed global and regional meetings of United Nations organisations such as the Commission for Social Development on numerous occasions. We have done so on our own behalf and sometimes on behalf of all civil society organisations attending the meeting.
  • The policies advocated at these meetings have been published in widely-distributed policy statements. Our policy views have also been published in Social Development Review, the Copenhagen Papers, and publications by the UN and other organisations.
  • ICSW delegations have also met on many occasions with senior Ministers around the world, officials of the UN and other key international organisations, and other people with key responsibility for making or implementing policies in our areas of interest.

Training and Support
  • Capacity-building workshops have been conducted recently for our members and other civil society organisations in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. They include topics such as management, fund-raising, research and advocacy.
  • In recent years, ICSW has obtained funding to enable more than 200 representatives of our members and other civil society organisations to attend important international conferences and join in ICSW delegations.
  • Our membership support service has assisted many of our members around the world with information and advice about a wide range of policy and management issues, and with promotion of their own conferences and other activities.