News & Events

On December 7th, the “Belt and Road” + UN Sustainable Development Goals Chiang Mai Summit Forum hosted by the Sichuan Haihui Poverty Alleviation Service Center and co-organized by the Thai Friendship Without Borders Foundation and the Thai Life Gifts Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand was successfully held in Haihui International Public Welfare Park. Nearly 80 experts and scholars from China, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and other countries, non-profit organizations, ethnic tribes in the mountainous regions of northern Thailand, and communities in the Mekong Basin of Thailand attended the meeting.

Dr. Ku Hok-bun, the Director of China Research and Development Network of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Ms. Yip Sui Kan, the Executive Director of Peking University-The Hong Kong Polytechnic University China Social Work Research Centre also attended the meeting.

The theme of the forum is the “Belt and Road” initiative and the going out of Chinese social organizations and academia under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Social work and community development, and the water resources management of the Mekong Basin were discussed.

Experts and scholars from China and Thailand were invited to make keynote reports on related topics, aiming to in-depth exchanges and discussions on social work and community development issues under the new global situation and challenges, and to promote communication among the people in China and neighbouring countries for developing a platform for wider exchanges and cooperation between non-profit organizations, academia, and other non-governmental forces to promote social work, community development, cultural exchange and environmental protection, so as to contribute strength and wisdom to achieve sustainable development.

At the opening ceremony, Dr. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, a senior professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Chiang Mai University, presented that under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the private forces of countries around the world need closer cooperation to reduce development inequality within and between countries, and further close the gap and make sure no one is left behind.

In the forum, Dr. Ku Hok-bun made a keynote report on the theme "international Social Work Development in the Context of the Belt and Road Vision". He introduced the background of the Belt and Road, pointed out the challenges it faced and the opportunities for the development of international social work. He proposed an inclusive model of international social work with ideas, values, methodologies and strategies for action.

（Dr. Ku Hok-bun making a keynote speech)

The forum is a combination of academic discussions and field investigations. A field study in the minority tribe project sites and potential project communities in the northern mountainous areas of Thailand was arranged.

(Pramote Eua-amnua, the President of the Thai Friendship Without Borders Foundation, showed the group the ‘Leadership training camp’ project)

“Belt and Road”+UN Sustainable Development Goals Chiang Mai Summit Forum Opening Ceremony
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