The ICSD Board of Directors has approved the re-establishment of a North American Regional Branch to complement the existing European, Asia-Pacific and Africa branches. This is a welcome development as it could strengthen the ICSD’s presence in North and South America across 23 countries.

The proposal was submitted by Prof Benjamin Lough, Dean of the School of Social Work, University Illinois Urbana-Champaign supported by 23 ICSD members in Canada, Chile and in the US with several US based members having strong academic and personal ties in countries such as Brazil, China, El Salvador, Ghana, Mexico and India.

“This marks an important step toward more inclusive collaboration across the Americas, creating space for engagement and future southern representation aligned with our shared social development goals”, said Prof Lough.

The next steps will involve calling for further expressions of interest from the region, constituting an organising committee to plan the inaugural meeting and to launch the branch at the ICSD’s 25th Biennial Conference.