About us
The Union of the Social Professional Organisations was founded in 1995 as an umbrella organisation whose main objective is to represent the interests of social professionals and social NGOs and to control policymaking in the social services sector. Its founding president was Professor Dr Zsuzsa Ferge.
The Union of the Social Professional Organisations was founded by the four major social professional associations:
- the Hilscher Rezső Social Policy Association
- the National Association of Hungarian Family Support Workers
- the Association of Schools and Teachers of Social Work and Social Assistance in Hungary
- the Hungarian Association of Social Workers.
The Union was founded on the conviction that it is in the common interest of social policy makers and social work practitioners working in different fields, as well as social work educators in various training institutions, to conduct social policy and social work to a high standard and in accordance with the principles of the Code of Ethics for Social Work.
To the Union was subsequently joined:
- National Association of Social Workers in Health Care
- National Association of Services for the Homeless
- Hungarian Association of School Social Workers
- Association of Farmstead and Village Trustees
The member organisations of the Union are also either umbrella organisations of other organisations or associations with extensive individual membership. The Union of the Social Professional Organisations covers the whole country and has an extensive network of partners and information.
The Union of the Social Professional Organisations is linked to international organisations such as the International Federation of Social Workers and the International Association of Schools of Social Work.
3Sz continues to be open and welcomes all national networks of social organisations.
The main goals of the Union are:
- to contribute to the development of civil society by supporting the values of solidarity and equal opportunities.
- to help disseminating social policy knowledge and information on social problems by publishing books, studies, and research papers.
- to contribute strengthening the influence of civil society in social issues.
- to assist the well-based decision making in social policy by co-operating – whenever it is possible – with national and local government agencies, providing background information and policy statements.
- to ensure continuous professional and civil control over social policy decisions and institutions.
- to help the process of self-organisation of the social profession by assisting the development of co-operation networks among different scientific, educational and practitioner workshops, contributing, at the same time, to strengthen the prestige of social profession.
- to represent and defend the interests of social profession by monitoring the work and life conditions of fieldworkers, by developing and monitoring training and operating standards, by developing the Code of Ethics for social work.
The Union plays an important role in renovating the social-political dialogue system with different actors of social provision. the Union expert group develops positions on various social care issues and regulatory changes in social policy.
The Union has a wide range of experience regarding national and international projects and partnerships. Through our professional network we can reach the most authentic experts of any kind of social provision or sociological research field in Hungary.
Member organisations
The following organizations give us membership:
- Hilscher Rezső Social Policy Association
- Hungarian Association of Social Workers
- Association of Schools and Teachers of Social Work and Social Assistance in Hungary
- National Association of Social Workers in Health Care
- National Association of Services for the Homeless
- Hungarian Association of School Social Workers
- Association of Farmstead and Village Trustees
Leading bodies
The leading bodies of the Social Professional Association: