NATIONAL CONVENTION

Rationale and Objectives

PASWI has regularly organized national and regional conventions, training workshops and forums on various social issues, which are deemed relevant to the practice of social work and other allied professions. Recently, PASWI has given special focus on COVID-19 as it has been the centerpiece of policy and program discourses - due to its impact on the economic, social, psychological and mental lives of individuals, families, communities and institutions across the globe.

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As of July 6, 2021, approximately more than 1.4 million people had been confirmed as infected with the COVID-19 virus in the Philippines. Of this figure, almost 1.37 million (or 94.8%) had recovered and around 25,296 (or 1.75%) had died (Department of Health). New COVID-19 cases have continued to spike in many parts of the country while in some areas including the National Capital Region (NCR), cases have slowly declined. However, the latter situation could easily turn to bad or worse as new and more highly infectious COVID-19 variants emerge, and as strict compliance to key health protocols is poorly observed.

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While vaccines are already available, only about one-fifth (20.8%) of the world population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of this figure, only 0.8% of people in low-income countries had received at least one dose (ourworldin data.org). As of July 4, 2021, more than 11.7 million Filipinos had been vaccinated against COVID-19, of which around 8.839 million had received 1st doses, and 2.868 million had 2nd doses. (Department of Health). The figure is still far from the government’s goal of at least 50 million individuals inoculated to achieve “population protection (Philstar.com).

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Whilst the current health state seems dire, there is now a growing optimism that the pandemic will soon be over once nations have reached the so-called ‘herd immunity’. Elsewhere in the world, life now has a semblance of normalcy as hundreds of thousands of people are free to roam around and to resume their economic and social activities as they did during the pre-pandemic days. In the Philippines, however, such a situation is still remotely possible given the continued rise in COVID-19 cases and the low vaccine utilization rate.

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As COVID-19 cases grow, social workers are continually beset with the challenge of assisting individuals and families affected by the pandemic. They remain greatly enmeshed in the situation that it has affected both their professional and personal lives. After more than one year since the onset of the pandemic, social workers could now share their vicarious practice experiences, including the lessons and insights they were able to gain from these. As a proactive stance, social workers should also anticipate a return to normalcy no matter how remotely possible it is at this stage. Thus, PASWI has decided on the theme “Social Work in the Midst of and Beyond the Pandemic: Pains and Gains” for its upcoming 2021 National Convention.

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The four-day Convention broadly aims to provide a venue for the sharing of experiences, challenges, lessons and insights amongst social workers as they responded to the pandemic as well as their perspectives on how to better prepare themselves for a post-pandemic scenario.

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The Convention is divided into the following sub-themes:

1. Global and National Frameworks, Approaches and Strategies to Combat COVID-19

2. Challenges and Gains in the Application of Key Social Work Principles

3. Sharing of Experiences, Challenges, Lessons and Insights from Implementing Social Interventions to Address the Pandemic

4. Professional and Personal Challenges Faced by Social Workers in Various Practice Settings

5. Preparing Social Workers for a Post-Pandemic Scenario