Why does social work need to be ‘international’?

Social work is a local practice but a global profession.This is the reality and our common understanding so far among social workers in different parts of the world.The condition and context for this perception are the social work profession is functioning in a 'global village' in which our distance becomes closer.Human beings are based on the common facts and face the common fate.At the same time, our communication and exchange are increasing.We learn from each other.There are cooperation and collaboration among social workers from various parts of this global village.For example, organizations that host this journal, the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) are key facilitators in bringing the profession and services together at an international level.They provide a forum for global conferences, exchange, dialogue, debate and consciousness on matters that are central to social work development and more broadly to social development.Across borders, cultures, identities, faiths and geography, the promotion of social work as 'international' is a unifying concept.It provides a basis to join in struggles at local and global levels.This was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when we were faced with extraordinary challenges that shut borders and personal contact.International social work reinvented itself, and there was a resolve to assist through whatever means was possible, often this was a rapid development of new methods such as virtual practice (O' Leary and Tsui, 2020a).The local and global sharing of practice responses became a world forum for social work to share ideas and experiences as the profession.This challenged social work to adapt to ethical and justice dilemmas not previously encountered (O'Leary and Tsui, 2020b).As the world emerged from the pandemic and international social work re-emerged with strong resolution to face the challenges post pandemic, in some ways, it was 'Back to the Future' (O'Leary and Tsui, 2023a).In the post-pandemic world, international social work has been challenging assumptions and taken for granted power relations across the profession and the contexts in which it operates.Discussions have centred on how social work can engage more critically in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using interconnected practices globally to strengthen international collaboration (Boecker and Boecker, 2024).This is especially relevant to the Global South and