SWSD 2026: Not in Our Name​.
A Global Call for Accountability and Ethical Leadership over the SWSD 2026 Conference Leaders' Silence on Palestine

We are a global network of social workers, social care workers, social work educators, researchers, students, retired professionals and people with lived experience of social services who are deeply concerned by the failure of the leadership of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), and the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) to publicly address and stand against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians being perpetrated by Israel during the SWSD 2026 Conference in Nairobi, Kenya in June 2026.

This silence reflects a broader concern about the selective recognition of human suffering and the inconsistent defence of human rights, social justice, and international law. While this call for accountability and ethical leadership focuses on Israel and Palestine, our concern extends to all communities affected by mass violence and humanitarian crises, including civilians in Sudan, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, as well as other communities facing present and future violence, oppression, and violations of human rights, wherever they may occur.

Social work is founded on the principles of upholding human rights, social justice, collective responsibility, and respect for human dignity. The principles at the heart of social work must be applied consistently, regardless of geography, political interests, or whose suffering receives global attention. These are not aspirational values. They are the ethical foundations of the social work profession. When the institutions that claim to represent social work choose not to speak out against mass atrocities or critically examine the oppressive structures that enable them, they fail not only those experiencing violence, oppression, and injustice around the world, but also the professionals, students, and communities they represent.

From June 26 to 29, 2026, the Global Joint Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development (SWSD 2026) was held in Nairobi, Kenya. As the world's largest international social work conference, jointly organized by the IFSW, IASSW and ICSW, SWSD 2026 is held as a platform for practitioners, academics, policymakers, and communities to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and strengthen global networks. This year’s conference theme, “Harambee for Sustainable Futures,” was rooted in the Swahili concept of Harambee, meaning “all pull together,” and aimed to highlight the importance of unity, collaboration, and shared responsibility in addressing global challenges and advancing social justice. The conference organizers highlighted how this theme reflects the profession’s commitment to “collective action in building sustainable, inclusive, and equitable futures.” The timing of the conference makes the leadership's silence regarding the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza particularly concerning and inconsistent with the principles of inclusion and social solidarity.

In particular, we call attention to the marginalisation of Palestine at the conference, alongside the broader exclusion of communities affected by violence and oppression.

On June 23, 2026, three days before the conference opened, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The Commission called on UN Member States to take all available measures to prevent genocide and ensure accountability.

This report added to an extensive body of findings from United Nations bodies, humanitarian organizations, genocide scholars, human rights organizations and international legal experts documenting widespread violations of international law, and either concluding that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people or providing compelling evidence supporting that conclusion. Yet there was no mention of these human rights violations in Palestine by the presidents of the tripartite alliance.

Despite the availability of this evidence well before the conference, the leadership of SWSD 2026, including the IFSW, IASSW and ICSW, remained publicly silent. The conference made no official acknowledgement of the genocide of Palestinians, issued no public condemnation of the actions of the Israeli government, and failed to ensure meaningful Palestinian representation or discussion proportionate to the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe.

This silence cannot be understood as neutrality. Professional leadership carries ethical responsibilities, and silence in the face of genocide undermines the integrity of the profession and erodes confidence and trust in the institutions that represent it.

Following the conference, a descriptive analysis of the publicly available conference programme identified several concerning patterns about whose perspectives were represented and given visibility at the conference. Israel was among the most represented countries at SWSD 2026, despite its relatively small population and academic community, while perspectives on Palestine were largely absent, with only one presentation explicitly focused on Palestine identified in the programme.

Questions of institutional accountability extend beyond the conference programme and public statements, to the operational decisions underpinning the event, including procurement, the selection of service providers and the assessment of potential conflicts of interest.
Paragon Africa, the organization entrusted with the operational management of the SWSD 2026 conference, operates as part of the Paragon Global conference management network. Publicly available information indicates that the network includes operations in Israel and that, according to information available on its website, several of Paragon Global's senior executives have professional ties to Israel.

Tranzila, an Israeli payment gateway, was proposed by Paragon Africa as an alternative method for conference attendees to pay the SWSD 2026 conference registration fees. These connections raise legitimate questions about whether the organizers considered the ethical implications of selecting this conference management network for an international event centred on human rights and social justice. These questions are particularly significant in the context of ongoing international calls for institutional divestment from organizations with ties to Israel and the growing expectation that organizations working in social justice apply ethical scrutiny not only to conference content but also to procurement and operational partnerships.

To address these concerns, we call for:

1) An independent investigation into the governance, decision-making and ethical leadership of IFSW, IASSW, ICSW and the organizers of SWSD 2026, including their silence on major humanitarian crises and mass atrocities worldwide.

2) An independent investigation and full transparency regarding any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest, political influence, or institutional relationships that may have influenced decision-making or public positions concerning the genocide of Palestinians, including the appointment of Paragon Africa as the conference management provider and the ethical due diligence undertaken prior to its selection. This should include whether Paragon Africa’s relationship with the wider Paragon Global network, including its publicly documented ties to Israel, and the use of Tranzila as a payment gateway were considered during the procurement process.

3) A public statement condemning Israel's violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Lebanon, consistent with the ethical principles of the global social work profession.

4) Full transparency regarding the SWSD 2026 abstract selection and programme allocation process, including publication of the selection criteria, review procedures, and anonymized acceptance and rejection data.

To support meaningful change, we recommend:

1) Formally acknowledge the moral injury caused to conference participants by the failure of SWSD 2026 leadership to publicly address and stand against the genocide of Palestinians during the conference, and identify appropriate forms of accountability and reparative action in consultation with affected participants and communities.

2) Establish concrete mechanisms to ensure the meaningful inclusion of Palestinian scholars, practitioners, and people with lived experience in future conferences and relevant governance processes, including through representation in conference planning, programme development, keynote and plenary sessions, and decision-making structures.

3) Establish a permanent programme stream at future SWSD conferences dedicated to human rights, geopolitical conflicts, colonialism, occupation, displacement, and structural oppression, with clear criteria to ensure the inclusion of scholars, practitioners, and people with lived experience from directly affected communities in its planning, delivery, and evaluation.

We acknowledge that IFSW, IASSW, and ICSW have different records of publicly responding to violations of human rights and international law, including in relation to Palestine. What they shared, however, was a politically consequential silence on the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza at one of the global social work profession’s major international gatherings, while Israel’s atrocity crimes continued throughout the conference.

The three organisations have previously shown that they are willing to speak publicly in response to armed conflict, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, by expressing solidarity with those affected, and reaffirming their commitment to human rights and international law. Those same principles must be applied consistently. We regard the three organisations’ silence on the genocide of Palestinians as a critical case with implications for how international social work institutions respond to present and future armed conflicts and human rights violations.

Social justice cannot depend on political convenience, nor can the suffering of communities affected by war, occupation, and humanitarian crises be ignored. If international social work institutions remain silent in the face of genocide and mass human suffering, they fail both the profession and the communities they were created to serve.

Email: swsj2026@gmail.com