An international profession with commonalities and differences: Social work responses to COVID-19 where local is global and vice versa

Abstract

Both in the professional field and in the international academia, we always say that social work is an international profession with local practice and global implications. Of course, we have formed a few international or regional social work organisations for the pursuit of our ideals and exchange of ideas, such as the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). In fact, our International Social Work (ISW), as a professional and academic journal, is serving as a platform and network for sharing and advancing the mission of the social work profession globally by revisiting, researching and reflecting on local social work practice in different parts of the world. In this forum, perspectives on concepts, content, contacts and constructs of meaning are examined by the global social work community.