ACOSA welcomes members from any part of the globe.  ACOSA reaches out to international colleagues in a number of different ways.  Two Board members represent the interests of global issues: Shinichi Murota from Japan, and Akwugo Emejulu from Scotland.

ACOSA has been a collaborating organization for the UN Social Work Day held each year at the United Nations in March.  On March 28, 2011, the theme was “Promoting Human Rights Through Social Work and Social Welfare”.  In addition ACOSA was a co-sponsor of a Symposium at the University of Pittsburg’s European Union Center of Excellence in May, 2011.  The Symposium, organized by ACOSA member Tracy Soska, established a Transatlantic Dialogue on Comparative Perspectives for Community Work/Organizing and Social Inclusion.

Members of ACOSA are involved in a number of cross-national collaborations including helping to start a social work program in Ethiopia at Addis Ababa University; consulting with the child welfare and nonprofit sectors in Romania; evaluating good practices of social service delivery in South Eastern Europe; engaging in research and consulting on social service policy and programs with NGO’s and national and local governments in Croatia, India, Israel, Japan, and other regions; responding to the needs of immigrants and refugees in the U. S. and other countries, especially countries in Africa; and leading courses in the summer that introduce social work students to other cultures and alternative ways of responding to social issues.

ACOSA’s  sub-committee on best practices leads a book discussion at the Council of Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting and has provided information alerts on the website regarding books and articles that give us more cross national information about best practices.

We hope you will join ACOSA in promoting discussions across borders that can contribute to improved well-being for all people everywhere.

Shinichi Murota and Akwugo Emejulu