At an event held to mark World Social Work Day on 17 March, participants representing schools of social work, nongovernmental organizations, the United Nations and countries explored ways in which social workers can join efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
The meeting, which was organized by the International Association of Schools of Social Work and the International Federation of Social Workers, with support from UNAIDS, celebrated the contributions social workers make in providing social and health services to vulnerable populations and looked at how best to collaborate on the AIDS response.
During the meeting, held at UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the participants called for dignity and respect for all, including poor and marginalized people that social workers often work with. Since HIV does not exist in isolation or relate solely to health, an integrated approach was recommended to address psychological, physical and social needs.
The participants acknowledged that gaps exist in the AIDS response, and noted that social workers can contribute significantly to ensuring that no one is left behind.
Social workers can make a difference by scaling up proven social policies and social protection programmes that focus on key populations and by extending their services to locations where there is the greatest need for them.
The International Association of Schools of Social Work and the International Federation of Social Workers pledged to expand their partnership with UNAIDS and to apply the principles of social work to the AIDS response by protecting the rights and dignity of people accessing HIV services.
“People living with HIV and people most affected by HIV have multiple and often intractable needs that no one sector can provide effectively. The social work profession and social protection programmes connect people to services and make services work for people.”
Mariângela Simão, Director, Rights, Gender, Prevention and Community Mobilization, UNAIDS
“Social workers accompany people through the emotional and psychological journeys associated with HIV infection. This is a very personal experience and impacts on the outcomes and later life experience of people living with and affected by HIV. To ignore investing in this part of the complex matrix of HIV will result in the “sticking plaster” approach rather than long-term sustained recovery.”
Ruth Stark, President of the International Federation of Social Workers
“People who are most vulnerable—sex workers, injecting drug users, transgender people, men who have sex with men, women and children affected by HIV—need great attention from social workers and social service workers, who can ensure that social protection programmes reach them and they are treated with dignity and respect.”
Vimla V. Nadkarni, President of the International Association of Schools of Social Work
“I understand disclosure of HIV status to be a two-sided process: it takes me as a person living with HIV to talk about it and my community to accept me. To achieve zero discrimination, we need to support more proactively the complex process of disclosure. That is, to accompany those living in fear, evaluate what they need to overcome it and empower and enable those who are disclosing to do solidarity work in their communities.”
Romy Mathys, Positive Council Switzerland
