World Social Work Day 2012-Minister hails social workers’ positive impact on communities |21 March 2012
The full text of Mr Meriton’s message reads:
“Every third Tuesday of March, the world comes together to celebrate World Social Work Day. On this special day social workers around the world celebrate their achievements and reflect on what work still has to be done to help individuals and groups of people in finding ways to empower themselves in dealing with complex situations so that they live a better life.
“This year’s local theme is: ‘Social workers united in working for Seychelles’.
“Through partnership, social workers and social development professionals can create a united platform to strengthen the ‘dignity and worth of the person’, help reduce ‘social and economic inequalities’ and emphasise the importance of ‘human relationships’ in a ‘socially sustainable environment’.
“At a time when we are raising awareness on how to tackle developmental challenges there is a need for better networking and connectivity so that we facilitate the opening of doors for service users and offer solutions for a wide range of issues.
Although at times social work practice is invisible, the impact of social work is tremendous. Even though social workers are faced with many obstacles, they never give up because of their determination to make a positive impact on their communities.
“As social workers they make essential contributions to the promotion of social cohesion, both through preventive work and through their response to social challenges. Social work is therefore an investment in the current and future welfare of our communities.
“I take this opportunity to wish all social workers a Happy Day. Strive for a better community and for a better Seychelles.”