THE 9th Biennial Conference of the Caribbean and International Social Work Educators will commence on Monday at 8:30 h at the Le Meridian Pegasus hotel in Georgetown.

The conference is expected to unite Social Work Educators, Practitioners, Researchers and Students from at least 16 countries namely the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Israel, Aruba, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Curacao, Netherlands, British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Belize and Guyana.

Discussions on social, economic and other issues will engage their attention for the next 5 days under the theme “Social Work & Development: The Synergy for Realising People Centred Change”.

This event will enable participants to exchange country specific issues and experiences relevant to Social Work and would provide a climate where best practices can be adopted and a collective approach undertaken for the development of a global agenda for the profession.

The conference will be declared open by Ms. Priya Manickchand, Minister of Human Services & Social Security and the keynote speaker will be Mr. Peter Martinez, Minister of Human Development & Social Transformation of Belize. Also in attendance will be Mr. Huey Cadette of Tobago House of Assembly.

According to the Conference Chair, Ms. Barbara Thomas-Holder, a conference of this magnitude will not be held in Guyana within another 12 years, and as a consequence, Social Workers and other interested members of the public should take this opportunity to participate in this event.

For further information, persons can contact the Secretariat at 624-4070, 642-7871, 618-0643.