Moot on social work calls for bridging knowledge gap

PESHAWAR: The Department of Social Work, University of Peshawar (UoP), has organised a conference to bring together academicians and researchers to share their experiences and researches on all aspects of social work.

The two-day conference was titled “Bridging the Knowledge Gap between Academic and Field practitioners”.

It provided a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners, and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns, as well as practical challenges encountered, and solutions adopted in the fields of social work. In the conference, 25 research papers were presented and were divided into 06 themes.

The themes were, Social Work Education and Practice moderated by Dr Beenish Ijaz; Social Work Education and Practice moderated by Dr. Shakeel Ahmed, Child Protection and Social Work moderated by Dr Imran Ahmad Sajid; Women Empowerment and Welfare moderated by Sumera Farid; Social Work with Marginalized moderated by Dr Muhammad Ibrar; Social Work, NGO, and Public Health Dr Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, and Social Work Field Practice, Community and the Law moderated by Nasira Nasreen.

The chair guest of the conference was Dr. Manzoor Ahmad, Secretary Social Welfare, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the vice-chancellor, University of Peshawar also shared his experience with the students, researchers, scholars, and practitioners.

The conference resolved to establish a National Consortium of Social Work that will lead to collaborative efforts across Pakistan.

The idea was presented by Prof Mahnaz Hassan of Punjab University which was immediately consented to by Dr. Beenish Ijaz of Sargodha University, Dr Mamoon Khattak of Kohat University and Dr. Shakeel of University of Peshawar.