Why an international social service?

Modern social and economic developments have led to an increased mobility of people. In fact, for a wider and wider variety of reasons, people leave their country of origin and are thus forced to face personal and social problems linked to confrontation with ethnic and cultural environments different from those of their country of origin as they try to integrate into the new scenario. In order to help people who find themselves in such a situation was born the International Social Service (SSI), that with it’s national branches, associated offices, delegations and correspondents is in more than 160 countries in the world.

History

The idea of creating an international social service was developed in 1921 when delegates of 17 nations met at a world conference in Stockholm to discuss the social consequences of the First World War. In 1924 the International Service for Migration was founded, although at the time it was essentially restricted to countries of Europe and North America. In 1946, the service changed its name to International Social Service and the organization’s network was extended throughout the world.

Inspiring principles

By 1924, this independent organization had already adopted a statue which can be summarized into five fundamental principles:

· the service must be provided independently of any political or religious conventions;
· national branches must be constituted for the most part by citizens of the respective country and must have a legal status recognized by the legislation in force in the country;
· while establishing a programme which answer the needs of the country in which it operates, each branch must nevertheless keep its obligations to the common international service in mind and always use professionally qualified staff;
· any information deriving from the practical implementation of the service must be the subject of studies whose purpose is to find solutions to problems on a national and international level;
· ISS’s resources are constituted by the branches, each of which must contribute according to its possibilities to the general expenses of the central headquarters.

Aims and objectives

Pursuant to the statue, the aims and objectives of International Social Service are:

· to help those who, as a consequence of forced emigration or other social factors of an international character, must support personal or family difficulties which require professional support in several countries or action in the new host country;
· to study, from an international point of view, the conditions and consequences of migration on an individual and family level and, on the basis of such studies, to formulate recommendations or take actions necessary on a more general level;
· to inform professional sectors of public opinion regarding the needs of migrant individuals and families;
· to develop and maintain a network of branches, affiliated offices and correspondent organizations able to answer the needs for support of individuals and families who turn to ISS.