Under the patronage of H.E. Mr. Osama bin Saleh Al Alawi, Minister of Social Development of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and with the participation of official and civil delegations from GCC countries, the workshop on updating and activating the Unified GCC Ethical Charter for Social Work Professionals kicked off in Manama.

The workshop is jointly organized by the Executive Bureau of the Council of Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs of GCC States, in collaboration with the Gulf Association of Social Workers and the Bahrain Society of Social Workers.

The event represents a new step in the ongoing process of adopting and developing the Ethical Charter, which was first approved in 2019, with the objective of unifying the professional principles that guide social care and development practitioners, and enhancing integrity and professionalism in the provision of social services across various sectors.

The workshop comes at a time of rapid social and humanitarian shifts in the region and the world, necessitating continuous updates to social work policies and methodologies, in order to strengthen public trust in service-providing institutions and elevate the competence of practitioners in line with standards of responsibility and ethical conduct.

The program features technical reviews and discussion sessions on the Charter, along with proposals for its activation at both national and GCC levels, contributing to the development of professional governance mechanisms within the social affairs sector across the Gulf region.